Готовый перевод Его не звали, но он приперся / They never called, yet he is here: Глава 22

Chapter 22

I hate it, I hate the triple-fucked swamps with all my soul, I hate them to the point of black dots in front of my eyes, I hate them to the point of cracked teeth, I hate them more than I once hated Monday morning, though it seemed impossible to do more. And yet, I am forced to admit that, right now, the swamps are playing in our favor, not in the favor of our opponents.

Northern Woods was an old and ancient forest, and there were many rumors about it, but despite all the scary rumors, it had been explored by Melareth's forces from the ground up. I believe this forest was scrubbed of all possible monsters or other threats before the construction of the Stone began. At the same time, the terrain itself was undoubtedly studied like the back of their hand, simply because it was easy to do and it didn't cost the unwilling explorers themselves anything. All the same, while the fortress was being built, they had to keep the soldiers and huntsmen busy.

Those days are long gone, and the forests have gone feral again, but the traces of that same cleansing are still visible to my keen eye. The first was that we saw no sign of any powerful monsters, but my clairvoyance picked up the echoes of very, very old battles in which the monsters had lost to the well-coordinated human machine. Those old maps, which they couldn't help but make, must have rotted and decayed and turned to dust by now - no one had left Stone territory for any important or not-so-important raids in the past century. And yet, the locals must have known the forest far better than all of us put together, and specialists capable of tracking a wounded group in the forest simply must be a lot. There had to be, or else I would have to declare all my opponent's idiots, which they were not. Scum, bastards, and bestiality, obviously, but idiots they were not.

On the other hand, the swamp adjacent to the Woods looked much more promising to all of us than the forest, which was beginning to look deadly uncomfortable. I can't argue with the fact that the swamp can be explored just as well as the Woods itself, but our company has the Ygra, and they obviously don't have the Ygra. If anyone can hide there and hide us in the swamps and marshes, it's her. And yet we must hide, for only Hans, whose luck arouses evil envy, and Ygra, in whose case the envy arouses endurance, can continue the journey. The rest of the team, including myself, are about to fall to the ground. And if in my case it will not be so fatal, then Losius and especially Taria must be treated quickly and properly, or they will simply die of intoxication.

We've been running for almost six hours, and we're running pretty fast - our high stats and skills allow for more than that. But even we have a limit, and rest is necessary. I'm not sure if our enemies are on our trail. But if they haven't already begun pursuit, they will in the next couple of hours. As soon as the Shoreless Eye is able to recharge, it will use its resources to create a new passage arch, right after the previous one. Only this time the portal will not be punched into the nearly destroyed Stone, but into the battlefield, next to the outer ring. And then the timer will start ticking much more rapidly.

I don't believe in the fact that they won't find our footprints, not on a dime, not at all. If I were alone, I'd be able to hide thanks to my skills - high stealth would allow me to leave no trace, and the shadow steps would lead me through another realm without leaving a single clue in the real world. Hans and Ygra are very cool at covering their tracks, moving like the inaudible rustle of the wind, the flap of a bird's wing. But we will be confronted by a real elite, among which can not be no less than the owners of the pumped up skills and all sorts of exotic classes. Our trail will be found and set upon.

It is possible, only possible, that they will not do it immediately, taking their time. There's a chance that they'll start losing our tracks from time to time, but there's no reason to believe that they won't take it again. Pursuing us at the same speed we're moving won't work for them, except we're already on the edge. We must drop down and at least try to detoxify quickly before Taria's liver and kidneys turn to mush. After that, the gap will only shrink until they catch up with us. We'll get away from the scouting party even now, but after all, their only purpose will be to give a glare. And after our location is established, a classic driven hunt will begin, where we will be given the role of game. That is if the enemy doesn't risk using the Shoreless Eye and dropping the guards right on our heads so that we're guaranteed without a chance.

That's why we're in such a hurry to the swamp, where it will be harder to find traces and easier to hide. There, among the marshes and lonely islands of dry land, I have some chance of sheltering us all with Dream and trying to buy at least a few days' rests so we can rush forward with renewed vigor. Without such a danger to the health of Taria, Losius, and Hans, who were slowly beginning to give up, I and Yggra could run for at least a week. Then it would have been bad, but I would have won the week by making my opponent lose track of me.

Alas.

However, our enemies were no better off now - while they were gathering, while they figured out where to run, while they finished their inspection, we could have plenty of time. That's why, just as I began to sense that my comrades' alchemy would soon finish them off, I stopped heroically and gave the long-awaited command for a halt. A halt for everyone but myself - even if I fell off my feet, I was obliged to make sure that the others continued on their way. They could carry me alone, but I couldn't carry them all.

"Lie down, lie down, and I'll come to you." My hands begin to glow with golden light, picking up all kinds of leaves and sticks from the ground, processing them into essence. "Now Uncle Kostya will heal you, heal and cure everything. Why are you all so pale?"

They went pale not from fear, but the beginning of organ failure. There are shades of green in there, too, so now we're some kind of world-class troll team. We've pissed off Melareth so much that the King himself isn't running after us, dropping bricks and his slippers. Shadow tentacle pulls closer trunk with the rest of the alchemy: nothing combat in it, just healing potions and detoxifying agents, which I prepared with a huge stock - I knew where I was going and how we would return.

The easiest thing was with Ygra. I honestly thought that I would have to turn her off with a trigger, but the green giant somehow managed to understand what was going on, realizing the degree of danger. In any case, I only needed one more small barrel of the detox tank I had prepared especially for her to completely neutralize the effects of the booster, which the ogres were drinking in buckets. She drank three and a half liters of the nasty stuff in one gulp, and then made a pitying face. Given her size and her beastly expression, it was almost comical.

It's all right, the taste is far from pleasant, but there are no intestinal upsets or bloody vomiting. Indeed, the absence of serious side effects is more a consequence of high stats and an extremely strong body, which was enough even so small thing. Well, sometimes it's the little things that save the day, and now I don't have to worry about the big and mighty Ygra's hand tremors and shortness of breath.

Second in line was the panting Hans, who was slowly starting to hallucinate, as if he were on an overdose of amphetamines. The man was lying on his back, gazing silently up into the night sky, where the first ray of sunrise was beginning to light up. He could not stand so much because of fatigue as because of severe dizziness, next to which any hangover would be a slight runny nose at most. Add to this the colors that were beginning to get confused and the "northern lights" in the sky, existing only in his imagination, and you realize how far the pathfinder had driven himself. And he wasn't a young boy to have to endure such exertion for a long time.

He didn't even pay attention to the few cuts I'd made, from which I got blood samples. I couldn't be sure what the side effects would be, so a lot of the pre-made concoctions still needed final mixing. It's like, you break a drug into blocks, and only by mixing them do you get a ready-made potion. This is a very painstaking method that requires much more effort and time, but the efficiency is much higher because in the result I will get only those effects that I need right now, while the standard potions, poured into bottles, will have a certain amount of invested magic, which will become unnecessary or even harmful. There's so much crap in our bodies right now that even a measly little thing can break that camel's backbone. That's why I'm trying to match the potions as much as possible so that every grain of essence will be put to work and not be slagged off in the exhausted body.

The rolling drops of blood between my fingers made me wrinkle my nose in anger - too little blood in this cocktail, while the charged magic is much more than the norm. Yes, we'd discussed all of this before I'd started matching individual potion complexes, but it was still a mistake to agree to pour them all at the highest bar. On the other hand, if it hadn't been for that decision, they might not have been strong enough to fight, which would have resulted in the ignominious death of everyone but Ygra.

I stirred the final version of the concoction and slipped it under the nose of a grinning Hans - he couldn't even look at alchemy right now, not to mention nausea that was building up. Actually, mixing so many potions in one bottle is a recipe for explosions or other unpleasant effects, but my skill allows a lot. The large flask I shoved in is a mixture of several dozen ready-made potions of extremely narrow application, held together and not in conflict only thanks to the mythical class of the cook.

Quietly swearing - I'm too busy to listen to it - Hans silently drinks the contents of the flask in a gulp, like a shot of dwarf water, which I'd call pure alcohol. The stuff tastes like that for sure, but to add flavor stabilizers to it would be foolishness of the titanic scale. He's not a little boy, he'll tolerate it, especially since the drug would induce vomiting anyway - the fastest way to rapidly cleanse the body. No, it is possible to force all the shit out of the body through other orifices or even just together with sweat, but it is too long, and time is now worth its weight in gold.

While Hans calls for Cthulhu under the nearest tree, I move on to restore Losius. I'd like to start working with the rapidly dying Taria, but getting the aristocrat out would be trivially easier and faster while working with the girl would take an incredible amount of effort, after which I definitely wouldn't stay up. The classic dilemma of a military doctor is that you have to save the lightly wounded first, because while you are dealing with the heavy ones, some of them will have time to die despite your efforts, and the light and medium wounds will move into the category of heavy ones. Emotions are habitually brushed aside, and I get down to business again.

First I get rid of the nobleman's slowly inflaming wounds without proper care because a quick bandage at most stopped the blood but certainly did not get rid of the need for disinfection. Losius, by the way, is also good, as he forgot about the possibility of just watering the wounds with a couple of potions that I made specifically for that purpose. No, he didn't forget, though, just that one of the blows turned the vials on his belt into glass crumbs, ruining all my hard work.

A steal of a shadow and already my long-suffering side, shoulder, and back have several painfully aching bruises, cuts, and cracks in the bones. The fever had also started to rise, indicating an infection had been dragged over me. The body, even weakened, began to repair the damage immediately, but I wasn't paying attention. I act radically, transforming the damaged areas of my body into a rapidly regenerating Shadow Form, for which these scratches are almost as dangerous as crunching some hare's Ygra. I could have transferred the wounds to the green-skinned one, but she was too hungry and very exhausted, so I decided not to take any chances.

I don't feel good about this method of treatment, either, by the way. My mind is too tired to fight, and my body, which has become a Shadow, presses inexorably on my brain, trying to convince me of the need to heal my wounds in the most effective way possible: with other people's lives and souls. It's getting harder and harder to fight off the pesky voices and laughter in my head, but so far I'm doing fine. My form pulls strength from the home realm gradually replenishing my reserves and repairing the damage. Even the intoxication is wearing off! I can't help but notice that my body is regenerating even without the method, but I've been doing way too much alchemy and most of that recovery is just to keep the sludge in my blood. The perks work, and the Mystic Alchemist's passive skills work, but they are not enough.

I'd like to clench my teeth, take the full Shadow Form, and dive into the deep levels of the realm for half an hour, after which I'd be back in reality as good as new. Except I'm too tired and exhausted and fucked up, and even my heroic resilience has limits. I won't go back, or, more likely, I won't be me.

The moose doesn't swear, just looks around with a hazy look, and silently crawls over to Hans to help him with his call. I leave them alone, too, and with some difficulty I regain my human form, taking a moment to breathe calmly and evenly. I almost snapped when the partial transformation began to swiftly take over my entire body. I was in the end only my face and part of my left leg was in human form, and the rest was a black silhouette of a three-dimensional shadow, or rather, a Shadow. It was probably best not to use that method now. The wounds on me had already healed completely, and the reserve was about a sixth of what it was.

It should be enough.

Taria looks bad, very bad. We're all just chipper by comparison - her insides are failing already, literally dissolving in the muck that's now replacing her blood. I shouldn't have given her the shadow-form potion, not at all - it was too toxic, as was the mental stabilizer, without which the previous compound would have been fatal. Her effectiveness in combat had undoubtedly increased almost tenfold, but it was still worth knocking her out with a hook to the jaw and leaving her out of the fray.

Alchemy isn't going to help, not at my level and not with the resources at my disposal. If I had my lab here and lots and lots of time, I could try to do something. In theory, my essentialism might allow me to literally heal with the laying on of my hands, pulling the harmful essence out of my body. In reality, it would require a concentration and skill that I, in this state, do not have. It's not even about the low skill index, but about the fact that I simply cannot use essence for such a purpose without prior training. I can disassemble Taria into reagents even with my eyes closed, but practicing healing, and such a high-class one at that... I'm not that class, not at all.

I could try to use Shadow Creation by placing a realm entity in the girl's shadow, which would heal and restore her. The odds are better, but it would still kill her, if not the poison, then the Shadow itself, tearing apart the fragile mind of Taria, who was no longer protected by my compounds.

I had to settle for the only obvious course of action - the same shadow-stealing. I remember being able to transfer alchemical intoxication to another person when I saved the life of a little elf in a slave trader's camp. Here's another reason for you to practice, Kostik. Eat up.

I don't even think about transferring the damage to a set of green boobs, though it's a tempting thought. With her stats and survivability, she'll take the poisoning much easier, and it'll be as natural for her to regenerate her insides as it is to breathe. But she won't be able to move for the next twenty-four hours. Now let's turn to simple physics and mathematics, which argue that dragging me unconscious and Ygra unconscious are two big differences. Literally big differences.

A completely healthy Taria opens her eyes as if awakened from a prolonged nightmare, and I roll away from her and start vomiting pieces of my intestines. I turn to the Shadow Form again, starting to regenerate rapidly, knowing at the same time that I won't be able to hold on much longer, I'll go insane. And if I drop the Form, I'll be dead in minutes from the damage and poisoning that have become too much for even me - my intoxication is still there.

"Tin?" It doesn't even take a high intuition to know how bad I feel right now. "Tin?"

"Prey. Monsters. Beasts. Alive. Now." I speak syllable by syllable, barely keeping my wits about me, realizing that I'm already out of time.

Ygra jumped to her feet, almost running circles around me, and I took control, pointing my finger in the right direction. I don't do well with pedobears, but this teddy bear will serve a good purpose. The ogre not only understood my words about prey but actually brought the bear back alive, even breathing, even if it was a little bruised.

I'd never had such fond feelings for this fool with pebbles instead of brains, but she was saving my life right now. She sniffed quickly, then darted off in the direction I'd pointed, and in literally three minutes she dragged the occasional crawling beast away, ignoring the fact that the desperately fighting predator was trying to gut her. Green and steel skin doesn't always cut it, and regeneration continued to work.

A clawed shadow paw slammed into the side of the desperately roaring bear, and then life itself flowed into me. This beast was strong and old, at least three decades of age yes, at an eighteenth level. No wonder its claws could still scratch lightly at an ogre that couldn't afford to kill it or cripple it too badly. A detached thought flashed through my mind that I hadn't put the right command in her head through dreams. So she thought of it on her own? I'd have to figure out a way to thank her, other than the most obvious way I could think of.

In a minute, all that was left of the bear was a dried-out corpse covered in a leaky skeleton, and I was able to throw off my Form. My internal organs were relatively normal, resembling innards rather than a soup of some kind. I could breathe again, as my lungs were working and even nausea, though not gone, had receded. There is no way to call me healthy, but I am not going to die anytime soon. And then my stats and perks would work, restoring what could still be restored and not letting the rest be ruined.

That's it.

For the next week, I'm strictly against any realm manipulation, unless I want to give up my soul to the realms. My mind resembles a tea bag that has been used twenty times in a row - it will crumble to ashes in no time at all. It is no longer up to me to save our company.

I vaporized all the traces we'd left behind, including the vomit and the bottom-drained bear carcass, using the last crumbs of my strength before my body fully returned to human form. And then I almost fell to the ground, picked up by several pairs of hands at once. Oh, I'm so sleepy...

Just to sleep a little...

"Tin, don't you fucking pass out!" A scream and a few slaps in the face make me conscious and furious, and I have trouble suppressing a sincere and reflexive urge to reach for the shadows. "Tin, what's wrong with you? Tin!"

"Norm." I wheezed, not even trying to make out who was talking to me. "I've pumped you out, even Taria. I'm out of the fight now. You can carry me any way you want, or leave me right here, but don't wake me up."

"I'll twist your balls off for that kind of suggestion, you bastard! You could have..."

As I turned off, I realized that the last words belonged to Taria, the healthiest one among us. Apparently, in my attempts at trauma treatment, I had taken all of her wounds and injuries. Ironically, it was the one who was dying a few minutes ago who was now the most combat-ready of us all.

But my dreamless sleep was waiting for me.

I woke up feeling surprisingly well. My head ached, I had a mutant hedgehog in my stomach, my breathing was hoarse and irregular, and my heart was beating frantically and out of rhythm as if it were my last effort. And yet, compared to what I'd felt before I'd passed out, even those pains seemed insignificant.

Judging by the fact that the rocking was not observed, we are now in a break, and if we evaluate the surrounding silence, the whole honest company is simply knocked out. On the one hand, irresponsibility, but on the other hand, the simple beasts will not be able to get close to us unnoticed because of the danger sense, and against a full group of liquidators we will not do anything in such condition, but die (be captured, with special bad luck) sleepless and tired.

When I opened my eyes and looked around, I noticed that at least Hans was still awake, even though he was lying with his back against a nearby tree trunk, pretending to be asleep. It's a sly but stupid thing to do - it's better to rest, but it's not for me to judge an ex-soldier for whom such reflexes are already ingrained in the subcortex.

"How is it?" I can barely hear myself say it with my lips, knowing for sure that this guy, with his perception, would hear me.

"Quietly." The pathfinder answers just as inaudibly, making me read his lips through the sphere rather than listen to the answer. "Yesterday, several times we saw suspicious birds flying over the forest too purposefully. Apparently, the masters of the beasts brought their pets down. We were not noticed, fortunately, there were bushes, and then a small wood, where we hid, under the branches."

"Yeah." The other voice was much louder, and it was a woman's voice, too. "Only two hours were lost before the creatures flew away anyway."

"How's your health?" As quietly as before, I ask Taria, already knowing the answer.

"I'm alive and cheerful and deeply unhappy, Tin." It turns out sarcasm can be conveyed even in a whisper, though I already knew that. "Thank you... really, thank you, but don't scare me like that again. When you cramped up, and then you started bleeding from your mouth, I thought that was it, you'd run away."

I'm silent, for there is no other way. I thought so myself, and if there hadn't been a high-level beast that had miraculously entered the Woods, that would have been where my story would have ended. It would have been a shame, a real shame. But I had a reasonable answer to Taria's accusation, too.

"You were dying." Short and succinct. "Dying because I gave you the highest grade of potion, and I miscalculated the effects on your body. It was the only way to get you out."

"I'm going to kick your ass." She argued. "I'll just get up and kick you, and I don't care the fact that you're sick right now. Fuck that kind of nonsense, Tin. You can find three people like me in every fucking ditch, and there's no one to replace you. You're... You're just..."

A few breaths, after which the woman calmed down and was clearly ashamed of her breakdown, or rather of the emotions and feelings she showed. The next phrase was addressed not to me, but to the silent Hans, who was carefully pretending to be a log.

"If you tell anyone, I'll make you eat nails." And there was such confidence in her words that even I believed that she would make me do it. "Especially to the painted dude. Not a word to him."

"I got it, I won't say a word." Said Hans, restraining his laughter.

"I didn't hear a thing." A long-awake Losius backed him up.

"Faggots." The offended woman summed it up succinctly and then said with the utmost seriousness. "I'm glad you're alive, Tin. Sleep it off, we'll get you out of here, just don't drive yourself into the grave again."

"We?" Now I could really feel the almost primal rage in the words of the always cold-blooded aristocrat, even though the conversation was still conducted exclusively in whispers. "You haven't been dragging anyone for a minute! On the contrary, you were dragged along with him, even though Tin had healed you completely!"

"I was mentally with you..."

I didn't listen any further, gradually sinking back into a dreamless sleep. They haven't caught up with us yet, which means that everything is fine, and we just need to regain our strength. I don't know how far we have walked, how much further to the swamp, or how far away our pursuers are, but I can only have faith in my companions, hoping that they will not fail and will be able to get out of the rapidly slamming trap.

The second time I woke up, I woke up to an audible and pulsating slurping and a silent swearing as I was nearly dropped into the wet mire. My brain still hurt and refused to think, but before I blacked out again, I could see the morning fog and a very distinctive landscape. My clairvoyance nearly blew my brains out of my ears, but I realized that we were headed for the swamp.

I also realized that they hadn't found us yet, but they were firmly on our trail, so the gap was gradually closing. Delay now is like death, because we have less than half a day, at best. That is unless the enemy decides to teleport a blocker team in our path. Hans had undoubtedly done his fair share of wandering, avoiding the straight line, but that was hardly enough.

Now that we've reached our goal, following the group's trail will be much harder, which gives us a slim chance, especially given Ygra's skills, whose presence I can only guess at. Now that I'm weakened to the limit, she might be standing right in front of me, but I won't sense her unless she wants otherwise.

I close my eyes again, drifting off into the kingdom of dreams.

This time I was awakened by the realization that my body was in a critical state. I didn't mean the injuries or even the pain, but the mithril hard-on that wouldn't let up. If it were not for weakness, in the very first moments after awakening, I would have been guaranteed to pounce on the nearest female, unaware of my actions. Fortunately, I was too weak at first, and then the Inward Sight triggered, letting the huge dose of pheromones in my blood disperse, which caused me to fall into such a state.

I think I can guess who was carrying me through the swamp.

A small suspicion.

After spending a few minutes cleaning myself up, I open my eyes, which I immediately widen in surprise, rolling them out of their orbits. First of all, we're in a pretty good hut. Second of all, I don't feel anything at all with the sphere. No, I shouldn't be able to feel anything in this exhausted state, but not that literally!

It reminded me of the way Ygra hid from me on that unfortunate night in the swamp when she almost killed me and ate me, but it was quite different. At the very least, the strange shroud of swamp energy covered not Ygra, but the space around our small camp, wrapping it in a cloak of mud that was as impenetrable as it was invisible against the swamp.

I really, really wanted to see the status of my very first companion. What had the system given her that she had learned to make such fancy places? I remember the readings I got from the clairvoyance back in the magical swamp, and I can tell you that swamp ogres can't do that. The tribe that Ygra came from certainly didn't, because there were no shamans or mages among them, only hunters and gatherers!

"What's going on?" I ask, and then I start coughing, coughing up the waste products in my body.

No, this symptom is good news, indicating the removal of toxins, but the process itself was not more pleasant. Instead of answering, I was offered a mug of some kind of decoction, not alchemical, but ordinary.

"Drink up, I gathered it myself," Hans grumbled in a tired voice. - "We managed to walk and hide, though I didn't believe it already. In the end, I'll bet the damn birds spotted us after all. Ran through the swamp, and then your titsy greens did something and hid us like pennies behind a belt. Losius swore there were a couple of waves of search magic, but I didn't feel a thing. The ogre first slept, then went to fetch meat, then slept again, and now she sits and looks up, sweat dripping off her like from a plowman on a hot day. Can't get near her, turns your fucking brain off. Even had to swallow the potions again, the ones you made against her shit, but I think it's all good."

While Hans briefly recounts the chain of events to me, I do drink first the herbal remedy for the cold, then the hot chicken broth, and then just listen without interrupting. According to the tracker, they were almost found, but never caught up, having simply lost them in the marshes. The Ygra managed to use some kind of monster-like ability to hide us from the search, and the swamp itself is too big and difficult to search for us without magic scanners and sensors.

Losius is out now, because he's been hit as hard as Hans, and he's even less able to move through the woods and the driftwood than Taria, who's also out. They really ran the rest of the way without giving themselves a minute's break - they were catching up with us and were about to take us into the ring. Now the swamp wasn't flooded with hundreds of jaegers yet, largely because they hadn't had time to pull in yet, but it was a matter of time.

There was no strength to run, but I could try to find a lodge in the marshes where I could hide. The King's Chancery would have a way to get some of the swamp classes involved, so I wouldn't risk assuming that Ygra alone would be enough to hide us all from the search. She will hide easily and without problems - she will dive into the mire, leaving only her nose on top, and will sit there for a week, falling into a kind of trance. It will only be possible to find her in this state if you know where to look, or if you have a really cool level and class.

We're a different matter because right now only Hans can hide his presence. I need rest and more detox, Taria hasn't mastered her skills well enough, and Losius doesn't know how to use them at all. They probably found us by the trail he left behind, not by Hans's, but I can't guarantee it.

Good opening.

It is possible to enter into the equation yourself.

Ygra was getting tired, gradually giving up more and more. The dome she kept around us might have existed autonomously had it not been for the active search that was pounding into the area like a stubborn military man knocking on a conscript's apartment. He can't see him, and he's not even entirely sure that's where the guy is lurking, but he suspects and listens carefully to the quiet rustling behind the door.

I lifted my head, ignoring the sweet and inviting scent emanating from the green-skinned woman's feverish body, and then pulled my clairvoyance in the direction of my gaze. My head almost does not hurt, and clairvoyance itself loads my brain more than my body or energy structures, which is why I allow myself such a strain.

Above, the birds are hovering above us - a whole flock, flying in a huge funnel. No, not like that. Something about a hundred birds create a kind of circle, a couple or three kilometers in diameter, inside which the birds create a smaller circle. The distance between the individual winged spies is great, so it's not even immediately obvious that these are not individual birds running around, but for my clairvoyance it's obvious.

I have no idea who's in charge of those birds, or if he's alone, but this bastard has turned the feathered bastards into the basis of a search ritual of enormous power. If it weren't for the unexistence, I'd be ruined now, for the search net is very sensitive to attempts to squeeze it with clairvoyance. It was a trap that was left behind on purpose, literally begging the probable sighter to look closer, more closely, to make sure it would catch on.

They are not looking specifically here. I'm sure, not because of clairvoyance, but because of trivial logic. A hovering pentagram of living carriers of magical manifestation covers a very large area, but it is still limited. If they were sure that we were in this particular area, they would simply scour the place, and then send soldiers to comb the area. Maybe they wouldn't have taken such drastic measures, but I got the direction right.

Not.

The bastards managed to spot the group before entering the swamp, then lost the trail. Now they're combing several squares at once with rituals, simultaneously forcing us to sit and keep our heads down, trying to hide. Just wait a little longer, and the funnel ritual will move a little to the side, trying to find us in a different place.

As if just waiting for that, Ygra immediately relaxed, exhaling in relief, and I noticed how the clear structure and mechanism created by the hovering beasts quickly crumbled into separate elements and shifted in a new direction. They have left, but they promise to return, as more and more people will be arriving as time goes on, eager to mingle with our company. I have no idea when they will decide to admit defeat, or if they will at all, but given the information I've obtained, it won't be soon at all.

"Y? Yours alive! Ygra glad!" The green-skinned ogress deep and chesty voice made me jump, reflexively assuming an attacking stance. Ygra rarely speaks, and even a single word has to be squeezed out of her, even though she knows how to pronounce them. Such a sentence from her mouth evoked surprise mixed with suspicion of her sanity. It was almost a complete thought, expressed in two sentences at once! For her, it was as if it were a proof of Fermat's theorem!

"And I'm glad to be alive, too, Ygra." I'm careful when I say it, and I know she's listening to me at the same time. Moreover, in the eternally dull eyes of the swamp ogre, I can see the work of thought, as if she was not just listening to my words, like a lapdog, but trying to understand them. "Are you okay?"

I ask the question not out of stupidity, but to see how much my companion had changed in such a short time. I am sure that before the assault she was as stupid and lustful as ever. Now she has clearly wised up, and wised up noticeably, at least to use simplified but still coherent speech.

" Ygra good! Tired! They look, and Ygra hides!" And then, after a short pause. "Is Ygra good?"

Wow!

Yes, she talks like the world's dumbest goblin, but compared to the level of intelligence she showed before, it's like heaven and earth. I didn't know whether to be glad or afraid. Knowing that the ogres were waiting for my praise (and the instant orgasm provoked by the praise), I found nothing better than to simply agree with her argument.

"Yes, Ygra good."

I immediately regretted what I had said, but luckily the ogre had enough sense not to moan, experiencing a violent orgasm and spiking my head with a new batch of killer pheromones. A little more and even I will have a hard time neutralizing them, especially in my current state. It's a good thing the rest of the team is in the opposite corner of the safety aisle, or they'd be covered in it by now.

The next thing that followed was a half-hour dialogue, during which I almost didn't have to yell and foam with rage, revealing the situation from the necessary side. I was happy that the ogres had wised up, but I wish she had stayed as stupid as she was, but at least she was predictable and understandable. Now I do not know what to expect from it! I need to penetrate her dreams and look more closely into her mind, but that takes time, energy, and a full reserve, while I have nothing so far.

From the explanations I received, it was obvious that Ygra's brains were added as a result of completing our "quest" and receiving a reward from the system. How else to interpret the phrase "Ygra is dumb but beat the iron bug, and then Ygra is smart" is impossible for me to imagine. Well, or I'll assume that the late old Leroy beat her brains in with an iron hammer in the style of the unforgettable Waha. In that case, I'd like to go back to the battlefield and take that hammer for myself.

Ygra can't describe her newfound skills and abilities, even though she has the intelligence of a goblin rather than an ogre, so I'm left to speculate on my own. The idea of just asking her to send Status comes after half an hour of careful questioning, making me wonder which of us is dumber now, but that's another story.

Before demanding the status of a green-skinned woman, I still analyze what I have heard and realize that the asshole, of course, is deep and wide, but we are not as deep in it as I initially thought. Yes, they are looking for us, and in a very professional way. Yes, one of the birds did see our group, but she simply could not see anything, as we quickly disappeared into the driftwood, after which the feathered lost us. Since it was just before the entrance to the swamp, the pursuers had no time to chase the entire flock of "Alurey Edition drones" to the desired point. Looking for a swamp ogre in the swamp is not a task for amateurs and not even for pros, there is no fact that in Melareth there will be owners of suitable classes.

Of course, there are still the rest of us, but the bonuses Ygra received from the System and the levels she took allowed her to hide us from the gaze of others, even if only for a short time. Besides this attempt to build a search ritual circle using enchanted birds - clairvoyance claims there were some runes on the feathers - there were several other scanning impulses. And, to be honest, the probability of our success was not as low as I had initially thought in a fit of panic. It is much more likely that the enemy would think that we were able to accelerate our movement, hiding in the depths of the swamp, than to guess that we are now sitting in place, barely a dozen kilometers deeper into that swamp. Undoubtedly, they will leave someone here to guard, look for and surround, but the most militant uncles and aunts will go deep into the swamp. Fight and search, find and fuck. Or did it write differently?

So we've got a head start, even if it doesn't last long. Eventually, they'll realize that we've screwed everyone over again, or they'll just find a ritual that will break through Ygra's defenses. Our job is to recover and get out of the fog before they succeed. The mission, let's be honest, is very difficult, but in the light of the chances we had in the storming of Stone, the notion of "difficult" no longer counts.

"Ygra good?" Once again she asks me without embarrassment at all.

Yeah.

Now the idea of using pleasure triggers to train Ygra seems even more shitty to me than before, even though it seemed like it could go no further. Why couldn't the System have given her a similar level of intelligence and vocabulary a little earlier? It would have been a lot easier and clearer to me then, instead of all this!

"Ygra good." Tiredly I agree, carefully promising myself to fix the ogre's brains back if that's even possible after so many days in which she's made herself addicted and I've carefully trained the right reactions in her.

"Ygra want! Come on, Ygra, good? Now!" Just after cumming, this infestation immediately began to pester me, as if casually exposing her body at the right angles, using the skill of the attractive body to the maximum. And the cocktail of pheromones intensified dramatically, tuning in on me alone. The most fucking frustrating thing is that you can't even tell her off for such pranks, because for her, "smacking her over the head with a club and into a cave" is standard courting practice. What the fuck, System? Where the fuck are my harems of busty hentai elves? Yeah, in the name of the admin, why should I have to go through all this?

I would have given in to the pressure of the green one by now, especially since the only thing that scares me outwardly is her size. But, for the sake of the boards, fucking such an idiot is painful to my self-esteem! Even with the fact that she's gotten a little smarter. Especially given that fact!

From behind me came a muffled croak in two voices - Losius and Hans were awake, and their hearing, thanks to their high perception, was very good. The ogres' voices are, oddly enough, quite sonorous, so they could hear everything that was going on, catching gag after gag. They weren't laughing now, just because they didn't want to wake the only sleeper in our company. If I hadn't wanted to punch them both in the face, I'd have been grateful - that's who, but Taria wouldn't have been ashamed to make fun of what she'd heard for the rest of eternity.

I snapped a tricky combination with my fingers, forcing the ogre to concentrate on watch and surveillance, and then sharply lifted two pebbles from the ground, hurling them directly over the heads of the two clowns. The perception of them, as I said, is good, so they heard and perceived the threat.

"Not a word to Taria." And, not letting them answer or contradict me, I throw a few more pebbles. "Not one goddamn word. It never happened, never happened at all. Didn't it?"

A few more stifled sounds of horror and despair (there was no laughter there!), and then two arms went up in a synchronized gesture of affirmation. The sounds of horror and despair intensified, threatening to wake Taria, but the guys were able to get their emotions under control.

I didn't have the energy for anything else, so I silently gave up on everything and everyone, crawling back to my bed, turning off faster than my head touched the rolled-up cloak. The short conversation, the constant alchemical dissociation of the pheromones that had entered my body, and a bit of clairvoyance had exhausted me to the brink. I could have stood a little longer, but I wasn't much use for now anyway, so I fell asleep immediately, going back to a dreamless sleep.

Before I closed my eyes, I felt a light touch, as if something or someone was unhappy with my decision. I should have thought I'd forgotten something, but I brushed my intuition aside, shutting down again.

Ygra realized that she'd better stop producing pheromones before disaster struck. The main "reasoner," though, was Taria, who did not hesitate to walk up to the ogre and tell her directly, partly through gestures. Even her special method of persuasion wasn't necessary; her natural charm, her shamelessness, and her experience with the not-so-smart members of the human tribe were enough. According to Taria, even Ygra seemed intelligent in comparison to some of her acquaintances... at least, her current version of her.

Although being near Ygra for so long made the dancer a little drunk, she was up to the task. I felt like an idiot, even if it was completely undeserved. Well, almost undeservedly. Before, Ygra was too dumb to understand the very concept of muting pheromones, especially since I didn't even know if she could suppress them at all. And the appearance of the gray matter in her skull was such a surprise to me that I did not even think of such a way of solving problems as "trivial to ask".

I didn't risk trying to take control of the ability I'd recorded in the Status through dreams. I was afraid of breaking something in her already stupid head. In short, Kostya approached the problem from a scientific and magical point of view, poking around like a blind kitten, and then recognized the direction of research as unpromising. And Taria just did it, apparently unaware of the methodology of the scientific approach.

The only thing I could do was to nod with a smart face, chew empty porridge - I didn't risk straining my stomach, and take a couple of very light detoxes, carefully monitoring my condition, after which I fell asleep again. I didn't resist the urge, letting the waves of the rolling earth beneath me carry me to the land of the merry ponies.

Whatever Ygra is doing, this something grows stronger every day. Initially, the swamp energy rose in a dome around us, reflecting, absorbing, and redirecting search impulses. At the same time, the swamp power itself somehow managed not to show up on searchers' radars. It's logical when you think about it - even if the search didn't show our tracks, the very presence of a concentration of some incomprehensible magic would be a very distinctive sign.

Now, two days after our "anchorage," the small island of land in the middle of the swamps resembled some kind of spatial... No, not a fold or a lacuna, but rather an anomaly. Surely it would be much harder to get to this place than it would be in a normal space, despite all my navigational skills. Something reminded me of the way my shadow energy distorts reality like plasticine, but this energy was not from realms, it was like something else. I doubt that there is a Swamp realm somewhere, for it is too strange even for Alurea, but from somewhere this power comes, obeying the intentions of a rather tired Ygra.

The shadow sphere is still almost inactive, which makes me feel like an old man who's lost his glasses. Not blind but even the remnants are enough to make me worry. My green trouble will overdo it, and then we'll spend the rest of our lives in the swamps, unable to get out of here.

The health of the team is gradually improving, despite all the stress we've had to endure. Taria is already laughing merrily at Hans' tales, the number of which never ceases to amaze us, Losius is quietly meditating, as if trying to figure out his new skills, and Ygra is slowly eating all the prey that comes within her grasp. As for me, I'm almost out of intoxication, so I can fight almost at full strength... physically. I won't risk drawing strength from the realms for another week, nor will I work with the essence of Ferer's soul.

SInce the entire swamp is regularly scanned by some strange scanners, we are in no hurry to leave the island. Accordingly, hunting causes a lot of problems, because the only hunter that can both bring prey and hide from the sudden search impulse was Ygra. And she is needed here, for without her presence the defense will not last long. She can leave for an hour or two now, so she can easily provide her sustenance. And we, not to be foolish, don't take the girl's bread, eating the food we've saved up. She's still begging for some, but the reason's clear - her regeneration, which saved her life during the battle, makes her hungry. Not that she'd driven herself to the breaking point, but she hadn't had time to hunt properly since then.

The swamp ogres, despite the need for fuel for their bodies, may not eat for a very, very long time, but it doesn't add to their kindness and peacefulness, and it weakens them. I remind you that Ygra was the only one keeping a barrier over us, which depleted her already small supply of magic energy (I remember that her magic stats were almost zero). And since there is no magic, the source of energy was the life force, which needs to be restored.

We didn't interfere with her snacking, but we fiercely defended our meals, albeit without much success. The leaden-headed vermin could make pitying faces just as well as the earth's kittens. Her facial expressions were enriched in no time at all after the ring's alteration. The ogre recovered a hundred percent, no buts at all. Now she could repeat the last battle for an encore without ill effects, though I would be wary of giving her the same amount of potions.

Suddenly there was nothing for me to do: without my main forces, I was just as useless as the rest of us. Ygra didn't need any help and was doing just fine on her own. My comrades played cards, inviting me as well, but after a couple of dozen games, I got a little tired of it. Anyway, when I realized that there was nothing left to put off, I did what I should have done a long time ago. I'm talking about the status check.

The first thing I did was to start checking what skills I developed, starting with my most familiar Shadow. It was surprising, and even gratifying, if it weren't for the fact that I had almost brought myself to an ignominious demise. It used to make me angry and promise myself to take it in stride, but now I was... no, I'm not used to it. Rather, I have resigned myself to the fact that I will always find a place and time to once again try to kill myself against the wall. I no longer even want to "pump up", being well aware of the dangers of such movements. Training is one thing, but trying to take another level in a class skill in one fell swoop is quite another.

But my reluctance to take risks no longer means anything at all. I constantly have to jump over my head for survival. Simply because I regularly find myself between the choice of "trying to plunge even deeper into class, with an almost guaranteed probability of death or worse" and the equally fun "just die with a guarantee". So far I've been lucky, but how long will that luck last? When would I finally get an answer from creation? In theory, after the titles, promotions, and levels I had taken in the Stone, I could relax a little-not many things that would make me dive even deeper into my powers... But who am I kidding? Such things and entities are guaranteed to be found, encountered, and forced me to save my skin again. What else could it be? So that Kostik, yes a quiet life, weak enemies and stupid opponents? No, no, no, no, we're in a slightly different story.

I don't even have an elven harem.

Bastards.

Okay, back to the topic of the development of our idiot, which is Kostya. Open Status showed my progress, forcing me to read through the dry lines, while straining my clairvoyance, trying to understand what exactly in these dry lines is not written in even the smallest handwriting, but is implied by itself.

Form of Shadow: 4/9

Allows you to give your entire body the properties of Shadow while in the material world; allows you to freely manipulate the shape of your own body while in Shadow form; allows you to completely ignore any physical or even severe magical damage if it is inflicted on a body part that has taken Shadow form; allows you to freely navigate through relatively deep layers of Shadow, taking a more suitable form for being there; allows you to take limited-not-anthropomorphic forms while in reality; allows you to noticeably increase the volume and power of your own body by adopting a shadow form; when in the Shadow form, the characteristics increase depending on the degree of change.

Aegis of Shadow: 3/9

Allows you to manifest a realm incarnation of Shadow around you, using it to reduce the impact on your body, mind, and soul; greatly reduces the impact of skills designed to counter shadow classes; catastrophically increases stealth when applied; allows you to sift some damage by redirecting it to the Shadow realm if the impact force is not high enough, it will be completely ignored, without additional energy waste; when using the Shadow Form, the cost of maintaining the Aegis becomes extremely low.

Creation of Shadow: 3/9

Allows you to use inferior and weak shadows as material, changing their essence with your will; allows you to implant obtained essences into stolen shadows; allows you to work limitedly with signed contracts, throwing a summoning loop on material carriers; at certain costs, allows you to change contracts or intercept others; allows, to the limit of effort, create Shadows from stolen images, lives and souls, giving them the essence you desire in very limited ways.

Manifestation of Shadow: 2/9

Allows you to quickly regain strength in battle and after, drawing energy directly from the Shadow; at maximum concentration allows you to increase the influence of the Shadow on reality in a certain area; allows, at the limit of concentration, to link areas of reality with the Shadow, breaking the metric of space.

So, what are the positives here? Well, for starters, the Form of Shadow confirms its chthonic creepiness, but is still an extremely useful thing. As much as I downplay the importance of this skill, it was the one that allowed me to retrieve trophy artifacts and a flask of Hestia from the Stone, which I literally wrapped in my own body, turning into a kind of shadow cloak. And while I was traveling through the Mist-filled fortress, it was very useful to spread myself out thinly on the ceiling, seeping through the remnants of normal space that were not already filled with the damn fog.

Manifestation of Shadow suddenly opened up in a slightly different way and a very useful one at that. At first, I thought of it as a simple amplifier with the ability to make Shadow breakthrough or even a permanently working door. Now I'm beginning to suspect that its ultimate purpose (or one of them, since mythic classes are too multitasking) is to be able to create stable portals through Shadow.

Here are what I think, gentlemen. We have a piece of reality and a piece of Shadow. We have a skill that is capable of linking these pieces more closely together. So far, only the ones that are "on top of each other," that is, the very contamination of the area by a hostile force and the opening of gaps in the Shadow. In such a place it will be much easier for me to fight and hold my ground, even against a much more dangerous opponent. But this is a method for the most extreme situations.

A clue was given to me by what happened during the spatial storm when I was nearly whipped into interdimensional dust. I was still tying the pieces of space together, but after the anomalies stirred the shards of the universe, I continued to feel the connection between them. It would be logical to assume that, at my maximum skill level, I would be able to link different parts of Shadow and reality, creating passageways between them. I stepped into one shadow and came out a hundred kilometers to the south without wasting any energy at all. It's a nice perspective, but it's too far away. Add to that the general danger of the skill, and you can see why I would prefer to pump it exclusively by the direct investment of points. Really, in that safe way, I'd like to pump all my classes. But that's just the way it always is.

I have already thought about Creation of the Shadow and the prospects of using it in conjunction with Essentialism, and I have found it interesting. In the future, I will use this gut feeling trick more than once, but the recipients on whom I will use the disguise or the entities I've created in their shadows should only be those whom I won't feel sorry for. I can't say that this is positive information, but I've met a shitload of guys who I don't feel sorry for, and I'll meet more.

The most useful and desirable enhancement was the development of the Aegis, which confirmed all my expectations. It's not just armor or a powerful shield, no. I now see and understand that the Aegis ща Shadow does not protect, but does not allow a blow to be struck, turning the user into the alive portal to Shadow. Anything that hits you, anything that hits your body, it all just disappears, sinks into oblivion. Combined with the Shadow Form, I will not be afraid of being hit at all... most of them. The biggest advantage would be that this way I wouldn't have to waste my reserve. A normal shadow barrier, no matter how strong it is, will lose its power with each attack on its structure. Aegis just eats energy, not paying attention to individual blows. Yes, particularly powerful attacks will make her spend more energy, but honestly, it's easier to dodge.

Okay, shadows are good, but I have to remember the rest. The Dreams helped me just as much, especially in the battle with Ferer, who countered the shadow class like a godsend, nearly killing me, as a Hero should in a battle with a Villain. I open my Status on a new page, nodding to myself in satisfaction for my ingenuity.

Soaring in the Dreams: 4/7

Allows pulling Dream energy into reality, freely accumulating it, controlling it, and using it for a wide list of actions; the accumulated energy has significant plasticity and degree of variability of influence on Reality; allows using the accumulated energy as a bridge to interact with the Dreamworld, while remaining in Reality; allows on the limit of concentration to distort the metric of Reality, using accumulated energy as a shield, blade or tool.

Edge of reflections: 4/7

Allows any reflective surface to be used as a window to observe a specified target; target selection is determined by clairvoyance skills; allows penetration through most types of protections, including exotic and unique ones; distance to the observation target plays no role; allows a wide range of effects on the observer through reflection; allows, with effort, to use reflection as a passage to the Dream realm, going there with the corporeal body.

​Weaving of Dreams: 4/7​

Allows you to create incredibly complex and multidimensional structures in the dream world; allows you to generate animated Dreams within your woven dreams; allows you to give a Dream spawn a will; allows you, at some cost, to subjugate many Dream spawns to your will by giving them a varied list of orders; allows you to change the essence and basis of the Dream inhabitants you meet, reshaping them as you see fit; allows you to work with Dream matter to create defensive and attacking structures.

Well, there's no question that number one on our "how to kill yourself by stupidity" list, called the Edge of Reflection, is at the top of the list. I don't argue with the fact that being able to use not only the Shadow but also the Dream to move around is very inspiring. That is until I remember what it was like to be in such an unsteady space. Or what my body looked like after I left the Dream and the amount of effort it took to regain my human form. The chthonic monstrosity that I looked like immediately after the end of my involuntary journey through the Dreams was a creep even in comparison with the Shadows, who, I note, can themselves discover hundreds of new shades of the meaning of the word "monstrous monstrosity".

No, no, no, until I close the skill, learning to stay in the Dream as easily as the shadow steps are easy for me, I will use reflections precisely as observation platforms of ultra-long-range fire. If the System hasn't lied to me, then using the edges I can easily find the right person on the other side of Melareth, go through all the protection on the bunker in which he will sit, then give him a nice nightmare on Elm Street and just as easily go for a coffee. At maximum, I probably wouldn't even need to wait for the target to fall asleep.

Already now I can use my Soaring in Dream as a full-fledged weapon and defense, Ferer is a witness to that. I may not be as powerful as the shadow class, but I can still use it. And something tells me that this is exactly how the Soaring-Reflection mix works: like a guidance system for an intercontinental missile. If The Shadow will allow me to destroy whole armies, then Dream will not allow hiding from me with the help of distance and strong walls. The Admins knew what they were giving me!

At the same time, the skill of weaving is designed for survival inside Dream. The skill allows me to create various designs and effects that allow me to not just tear the enemy with claws and harnesses of energy, but also something more complicated. The ribbons I used to fight off the visiting nightmares were just the tip of the iceberg. And if I used both Soaring and Weaving at the same time, would I be able to repeat such tricks in reality?

Hm.

Not now.

But later I will probably be able to because it will be in the style of the System, as well as of my class. I'd like to live to see those days, having accumulated enough points to close the second rank of the class. Why won't anyone give me the "kill twenty rats and forty goblins, and get a hundred skill points as a gift" quest? Better not, though, or else, knowing the admins, every rat will be the size of Bobik and at least a legendary monster. And all my intuition is screaming at me that I just didn't exaggerate one bit.

I can do without additional quests, the one I already have is enough to make me think about the meaning of life, the universe, and all that.

Alchemy, strange as it may seem, was also boosted, if only by a single point. I was also able to increase the Vessel, which is not surprising if you remember how much I had worked with it during that time. The useful thing became even more useful, more capacious, and more versatile. If it hadn't been for this improvement, I wouldn't have been able to shove the essence of the Hero I killed into the Vessel without spoiling it.

Vessel of the essence: 3/7

Allows to accumulate a very significant amount of essence in one's own body; allows to create of compositions from stored essence; the vessel cannot be detected by scanning skills below Mythic rank; the vessel cannot be emptied by specialized skills below Mythic rank; allows, with some effort, to sort and filter the essence in the vessel; allows to put stored essence into stasis without letting it change its concepts or mix them up.

It was the last line that was the key to my success, allowing me not only to pick up the pieces of Ferer's soul but also to keep them from getting "ruined". As an example, let's take ordinary grains of wheat and try to count them. As long as the grains remain grains, they can still be separated and counted, even if it is a difficult task. But once the grains are ground into flour, they can no longer be separated. Essence, even properly stored, tends to "turn into flour" over time. This is a natural process for such a substance, for that matter. The essence stays in an ordered form only as long as it has a material anchor - no anchor, then there is no structure.

For a spherical potion in a vacuum,
+*+*+

this fact means nothing - because the concept of renewal used to create regenerative potions does not depend on the "age" of the essence. If you store the gold dust properly, you can use it equally effectively even after many years. Even later, when you prepare a potion and give it material embodiment, the essence will stop mixing and turn back into an alchemical preparation. That is why it is so difficult to create formulas from the essence alone - even for me, it is difficult. You always need an anchor - particles of ingredients or at least trivial water... or even just air, but still something tangible. Even those potions where I used only air and dozens of types of essences had a shaky material manifestation.

This enhancement of the Vessel is not at all for storing the essence of the dead so that later one can interrogate it. The essence of the enhancement is to create complex combinations of essences, put them in stasis, create new ones, and only then mix all available combinations. Roughly speaking: an opportunity to either complicate the recipe by giving the composition new properties without reducing the old ones and without increasing the toxicity, or to significantly reduce the complicated and long process of making some preparation.

The way I used the new features was a testament to my imagination and sick fantasy. It was as if I had decided to cremate a corpse in the oven in my home kitchen, but had somehow miraculously managed to do so. And why did I get the feeling that I was using my microscope... no, I wasn't hammering nails, I was performing an autopsy? It's definitely just hypnosis, I'm telling you.
*+*+*

After experiencing the viewing of the upgraded class skills spectrum of emotions, I do not want to open titles, because I do not doubt that the System will again troll me and unreasonably call me bad words. And I am a creature gentle and airy, I can not be called names because I have paws!+*+*

Putting jokes aside and swearing to myself not to fall for the admins' provocations, I silently opened the list of titles and began to read through the available awards. I was pretty sure they were there - it was almost impossible not to feel the gain in stats, especially when I had a spare moment.

A Step Beyond the Edge (Dream): Many places are better to talk about in a whisper. Some places are dangerous to even think about. Places whose very essence will reshape you into something that doesn't even have a name or description. And yet, sometimes you meet people who have even been there and come back. You have become such a person, which gives an unflattering indication of your intellectual development. The Dream Realm is not what it appears to be, and very few people get out of that place the way they got in. We will not comment on your idiocy, but simply give you your reward, trying not to smash our faces against the wall. Bonus: +10 to all stats, +15 to the Dream stat, +2 class ability points.

I'd seen it somewhere before, but it was a slightly different realm, and there were fewer insults. Well, to be perfectly impartial, the last time I did it I didn't know how dangerous The Shadow could be. That dangerous, I mean. But I knew, knew, or suspected, about the Dream, but I stuck my head right in its maw anyway.

There was no other choice - my clairvoyance had foreseen my doom just a second before it came, and I had no choice but to jump into the unknown. I jumped, almost died, got my title, and came back- the same as usual, welcome to my life. I wasn't even shaking at all! Part of the calm was due to the burnout and the combat situation, but most of it was just me getting used to the fact that some shit was always falling on me. Or I fell into it, which was a situational dependence.

The stats and the two extra points are, of course, as pleasing as my survival too. It would be easier to clench my teeth and promise myself that "that was the last time," and maybe I could even believe it.

It was a shame they didn't give me anything for the Mist, but I was fortunate enough not to dive into it completely. I could feel the floor of the stone under my feet, and I used it to guide my clairvoyance, trying to escape the trap.

By the way, I'm more surprised by the fact that I didn't get a title for summoning a legendary creature like the High Shadow into reality. At first, I resented the fact that I'd been screwed over for the title of "Summoner of the Legend," but then I realized that I'd been too puffed up to do any of the work. Or rather, my clairvoyance told me, but it was almost the same thing.

The point is that to gain the very title of "Summoner," one must not just pierce the legend's path into the real world by inviting it to the buffet, but also bind and subdue the summoned creature. I limited myself to using the Right of the Shadowborn, which caused the Shadow to attack not me, but the tasty and useful humans who were so close. Fair enough on the one hand, but the other...

I wanted to get myself together one day, prepare properly, and do a proper summoning of a High Shadow, according to all the rules and then get the right title and the moral satisfaction. Maybe I'll do it someday - a legend-level Shadow contract is not something I can just refuse. It's not easy to get one, either, but that's the details.

Okay, what else have I got good there?

Hero Killer: They say that Heroes don't die, but you didn't believe that maxim. When you met your more powerful counterpart in battle, you not only managed to resist, but you won, defying wounds, fatigue, and common sense. Such battles always put you on edge when two points of view, two truths, two views of the world collide, seeking to disprove all that your enemy has become. It's a regular Tuesday for those who have been able to reach your heights, but how can we not give away a legitimate reward? Bonus: +10 to all stats, +5 to all class stats, +2 class ability points.

It was no surprise, either - if I got titles for killing or even simply "viewing" legendary monsters, I couldn't be left without a reward for defeating someone who was their natural enemy. I would not have been surprised if I had also been given some kind of "aura of villainy," but apparently the world did not consider killing a Hero to be anything so terrible. When you think about it that way, many of those who got the stolen class through sacrifice should have that title, too. Maybe a slightly different one and the reward might be lower since it wasn't a one-on-one killing, but they would get something.

I hope hard beating!

The title doesn't evoke any special feelings - we were, we fought, I won and continued to be, and he was gone. I felt more pity for the simple soldiers and fighters who died for a piece of enchanted Stone they didn't give a damn about than I did for the dead old ritualist. It wasn't even a matter of emotion; most of them had no idea what it was they were guarding. But they died by being in the wrong place at a very bad time.

Ferrer knew about the Summon and Yoke. He could not have been unaware. He confirmed that knowledge with his own words and actions! The old prick was strong, mighty, and truly, without any discount, great. He was a Hero, who had received his title by right, by his deeds, having deservedly ascended to a new height. It is impossible not to respect such people and non-humans, it is impossible to consider them as dust underfoot...

But he knew.

He knew what was being done to the summoned, knew the consequences of these actions, and even took part in them himself. By Alurei's standards, paying with the life and freedom of an outsider is just an incredibly lucrative price for anything. For getting an epic or even legendary class, for a new artifact in the treasury, for a loyal and powerful servant you can trust with your life - all this had to pay for the pathetic life of a dull soul that no one would grieve or cry about. Sure as he was of himself - he didn't even consider this taken life as payment for what he had received.

For him, the price was weeks and months of calculations for the ritual, the hiring of a host of auxiliaries, the training of apprentices, the wasted reagents and magical artifacts - that was what he considered the real price. The lives of those to whom power was bestowed out of nothing, simply by the fact of being summoned, were dust to him. He despised the Chained Ones, despised them as much as his mind and spirit could allow, despised them for their drabness and weakness, for being granted a power they did not rightfully have, for which they did not lift a finger.

He didn't care about their pain, their worries, or their death.

Pawns are alien to him and to the world itself, having no right to yell after they have been empowered, after the frantic sums spent on them, after they have been summoned.

I couldn't disrespect him, couldn't despise him the way he despised the likes of me, I just couldn't - Ferer Roche was too strong and bright a person. But at that moment, when I was the same pawn, the same nobody from nowhere, the same gray nothingness with the System's wings that lifted my kind to the top, the moment I tore his soul apart with the desperate and hateful cry of a dying, ceasing to be a Hero... it almost made me feel good.

For me, a stranger here like all of us, such an outcome, such a terrible, pitiful, and ignominious death of a truly great man, a true Hero, it was incredibly sweet.

Right one.

Before I came to the Stone, I had feared that my resolve would not be enough to continue my crusade, my war on the world. I worried that sooner or later I would get tired and settle somewhere in the middle of nowhere, leaving my mission to those who would come after me. Wasn't I the only one lucky? So there will be another one like me one day. Someone unnoticed lucky, a pawn forgotten under the chess table.

Now, after this battle, after seeing and touching with my own eyes what and who the local, real, Heroes were, I wouldn't be able to give up. I just can't. Not after all I've been through. For by abandoning my battle, by spitting on it, as I should have done from the beginning, I would serve to confirm everything that Ferer thought of me.

And I don't want to be a pawn, even if it's forgotten, buried in a corner under the baseboard, and of no interest to anyone. I don't want it. If there's one thing I want, it's to take the board in my hands, stack it up, and smack those who think they're players over the head with it. I want to punch and beat bitches until they're dead, and then just as much more, just for moral satisfaction.

As such, there was no pathos monologue. I just asked myself how I felt about the title, thought about my motivation, and that was it. War had already been declared, the first moves had already been made, and my heartfelt speeches would not change anything. I can, of course, stand on a podium (or climb a tree), and then say loudly and well what I think about the situation, maybe even call heaven to account, and swear on my Status that I will fight, for the Heroes I will avenge. I could, yes, but why should I?

So I limited myself to a brief introspection and continued scrolling through the messages from the System, hoping for a few more fun titles. There are never too many free stats, and it would be useful to pump up my skills with points, instead of developing them by sticking my head in an industrial press, hoping that my head would be stronger.

Creator of the Legend (The Fall of Stone): Few people manage to enter the legends, there's no need to hide them. Heroes are forgotten, deeds are devalued, and the inexorable passage of time erases memory in the same way that the flames of war burn the books in which they recorded what memory has forgotten. There are hardly many who will talk about your deed, and you will be silent ahead of them all. But there was a deed, there was a battle, there was a victory. The fortress, which was called the Stone, was a stronghold that even a mighty army could not crush, and who offered to take it by storm would be called a madman. Are you and the handful of those who came with you to the battle to be called insane? Your future is unclear, your prospects are blurred and your chances of survival are remote, but you created this legend yourself. Bonus: +5 to all stats, including class stats; +1 class ability point. Note: your reward as a Hero is significantly reduced.

It's cool you are on TV. Kostik. *+*+*+*+

I guess I won't show this particular title to anyone... though, fuck these pranks! I won't show anyone my Status anyway, whether the title is there or not. I could say that being among the true Legends, in the sense of those who created the Legend, flattered me, but I'm not going to lie, especially when I don't even believe in this lie myself.

I wish the System would have given me more rewards and bonuses instead of high-minded bragging because it's not enough for such a high-minded description. And what does it even mean to diminish my reward because I'm a Hero? No, I don't mind if my comrades-in-arms get more bonuses, I don't mind at all and I'm even for it with all my limbs. It just doesn't make any goddamn sense!

All right, what's the status there anyway?

Name: Konstantine
Race: ??huma??
Level: 33

Titles: Hero; Silent Assassin; Night Master, Thunderstruck; The Legend Seer; The Legend Killer; Withstood; Sighted Mentor; A Persistent Guy; Those who've seen a lot; Soul of a Mocker; Marathoner; Invisible Mentor; Walking Through Enemy Formation; Gifter of Fear; Holding on to Shadows; Beyond Existence; Stepping Over the Edge (Shadow); One Against Many; Anti-Hero; In the Embrace of Shadow; The Price of Humanity; The Right to Power; Size Does Not Matter; Face Taker; Step Over the Edge (Dream); Killer of Heroes; Creator of the Legend (The Fall of Stone);

Characteristics Points: 20
Class Points: 9

Characteristics (standard):
Strength: 130
Dexterity: 200
Endurance: 135
Perception: 169
Concentration: 185
Energy: 239

Characteristics (class):
Shadow: 193
Dreams: 116
Inspiration: 86

It's not bad, it's not bad at all. Three stats are ready to give me new perks, and there are few unnecessary ones among them - dexterity is my second main characteristic, and the Dream are class-based, so a perk from them is bound to be incredibly tasty and equally dangerous. It always comes out that way. Perception has reached a hundred and fifty, too, and that's undoubtedly a good thing. There's hardly anything out there that can outshine my shadow sphere, but right now the sphere is almost useless, and a new sensory ability, preferably also passive, would be more useful than ever.

Well, let's start with a prayer...who am I supposed to pray to, by the way, to make it work?

The Dexterity characteristic has reached 200! Choose a perk!

- Moment of Eternity (legendary; active);

- Absolute Evasion (Legendary);

The next bonus will be available when you reach 300 units!

That's why you can and should love perks given for standard stats, it's because they're safe. The System's gifts may be inferior in the raw potential to the perks from class stats, but they are safe. Using these gifts, you can be sure that it gives exactly what it gives, with no particularly dangerous pitfalls. No, there will be some flaws, but they will be tolerable compared to those of the class ones.

If you are gifted with an enhancement, you can safely use it time after time without fear of getting your soul eaten away by a careless sneeze or too much use. That is the greatest treasure in this crazy world, believe me, as a great expert on all sorts of abominations pretending to be useful skills.

As for the choice, it's quite funny, but at least it's unambiguous. Before taking rank three in Shadows, I would have taken evasion without a second thought, because of its benefits. It guaranteed me that I would dodge a surprise attack, even if it seemed impossible. Even if there were a thousand arrows flying at you, covering the sun, you could still dodge. So you can dodge the second thousand, the third, the fifth, the eighth, and the tenth. Eleventh thousand, however, you'll die with a guarantee - dodging is passive, but it takes a couple of hours to reload, which at high speeds is a ridiculous period of hundreds of lives and deaths. But until then, you'll have dozens of saves that automatically move your body out of the way.

It's a very useful perk, as it should be a legendary plushie, but now, with the Aegis, Shape, and clairvoyance pumped, it's not that it's useless, but it's much less useful than it used to be. Form and Aegis will let me avoid almost any attack, and the one that will get me anyway won't be stopped even by a legendary skill. Besides, against magical or very powerful area attacks this perk is of little use. With clairvoyance, it's certainly possible to attack me suddenly, but it's too hard, and I need to feel something, even if it's only moments before.

One moment is often decisive, especially if it can be stretched eternally. The active legendary did just that - it stretched the moment over a longer time. The skill itself is not as a cheater as its name might suggest. For a second, this thing can increase dexterity twofold, also adding power to perception, to keep up with your movements.

Here you stand quietly, and then your enemies silently fall to the ground, cut into soup kits. And you fall after them because your stamina is still the same. And now you no longer have intact muscles and bones - in each if not a tear, then a sprain, if not a fracture, then a crack. If an incline is intended for a short but intense battle at the limit, then a Moment of Eternity is suitable only for one desperate blow, after which you will be carried out together with the corpse of your enemy.

In theory, such a thing could work in conjunction with a powerful regeneration, not inferior to that of Ygra. Then the damage will regenerate so quickly that the user of the perk will not have time to fall out of the duel. But I don't have regeneration. But there's a Form, which just physically can't get torn muscles or broken bones, because it has neither. And the Shape itself even increases my stats, which should be added to the gain from a Moment of Eternity.

I suspect that such a combination would be harder on the brain than a simple Form of Shadow, but there's room for experimentation. I'm not going to give up a skill that might, in theory, allow me not to fight back but at least to punch a weak divine avatar, or some mythical monster, in the face before I die. Right now the risk is justified, and the essence of the technique is not as dangerous to my mind and soul as the Shadow Grip. I would risk my health, but before I experiment, I'd rather make a full recovery and stock up on healing potions. Just in case.

Guardrail! With all this life and class, I've started to be careful and put a straw for myself when I'm in danger! I might even start thinking with my head, or, God forgive me, I might even stop being stupid. This is out of the question! Alurey spoils our earthlings! It makes them smarter, while Alurei becomes dumber!

The perception skill has reached 150! Choose a perk!

- Vulnerability highlighting (epic);

- The Inquirer's gaze (epic; active);

The Inquirer's gaze is a very useful ability, even if it overlaps with my Hero ability. It's a skill that indicates the level and class of the person it's used against unless there's an overwhelming level advantage. I can do that without the gift perk. Much more interesting is the possibility of revealing part of the Status, or even a full version of it, but this probability depends on the perception score and level difference.

In theory, being able to see the Status of the enemy or just the person you are interested in is worth a lot, but in practice, I don't need it too much. Although some other interrogators would give up their own hands for such a bonus. I'll bet you anything that the trained interrogators have either the same perk or advanced class skills that allow them to do the same thing, only even better.

The vulnerability highlighting worked in conjunction with inquisitive gaze, and probably with my shadow Gaze, allowing me to find and identify my opponent's vulnerabilities. The higher one's perception and the more active one looks, the more one sees and the more one notices - for me, the benefit is obvious. It would have come in handy in a battle with the creature from the Kray, for without clairvoyance I was not as lethal as I'd previously thought. I chose the highlighting, and I didn't regret it too much.

The characteristic of Dream has reached 100! Choose a perk!

- Hiding in Mirrors (Legendary);

- Bones of Dreams (Legendary);

And here I was not surprised, because everything is classic, I passed at the stage of taking a hundred units in the Shadows. There are two chairs... Ahem. There are two perks: one is very cool, and the other is also cool, but weaker. The first one guarantees you fucked up in the near future, the second one also guarantees you fucked up, but it's smaller and more controllable. What will you choose? You're going to be greedy and sacrifice a piece of yourself, or you're going to be reasonable and get away with a smaller piece.
+*+*+*+

Hiding in Mirrors allows me to redirect other people's visions and search through clairvoyance to other purposes, and not the way I do it now, but at the level of art. Not to push away the search "beam", but to redirect it to the mirrored corridor, where already thousands of reflections, scenes, and visions have been prepared by me. To slip an image of a completely different person, to show a vision in which I am moving in the opposite direction or one in which I died fighting heroically. Or even drag the person looking at me into a circle of reflections, leaving him there for all eternity. In reality, they would only find a body with a scorched brain, or even a soul lost somewhere. I was also able to work more closely with the Edge of Reflection, creating entirely new tricks and techniques using it. And the mirror in my hands would become a weapon, no weaker than a dagger, but consuming power and reserve like hell.

It was that perk that was worse and weaker

Bones from Dreams is something that I can't be normally aware of, even with the use of clairvoyance. Just a part of myself, in this case, my skeleton would partially lose reality. Instant fracture healing, immunity to poisoning, and almost complete immunity to mental influences, against which even my current one is unimpressive.

And power.

A lot of free power.

The bones will become anchors through which I can draw the power of the Dreams straight through my guts without fear of a lack of reserve, even if I can only spend the borrowed power on Dreaming techniques. And if I decide to make my bones even more unreal, I'll start getting a gradual increase in stats and enhancement of skills tied to the dreamwalker class. Permanent enhancement! But my sacrifice would also be permanent, with no way of getting it back, even if it came with interest.

I think you've already guessed that I didn't choose bones at all, despite their awesome power. Better a small thing, but one that's easier to control. Especially since Hide was still a legendary perk and one that I needed the most - countering clairvoyants and prophets. As soon as I can use my magic properly, I will begin to cover our group with a full-fledged protective dome. Like the one at the farmhouse we left, only now it's mobile and doesn't require me to lug around a huge mirror. A pocket powder puff would suffice.

And now that there's nothing more unread in Status, I can go back to sleep. I can't invest points and characteristics in my condition anyway, or what happened last time would seem like a fairy tale for little girls. So sleep, I deserved it.

As I fell asleep, I had time to think and wondered that there was not a single mention in the system tray of how I had managed to reject the Price of Humanity, surrendering almost entirely to the Shadow, while still retaining my mind and soul. Not a word at all, as if nothing had happened there. No "Ice Fury" or "True Hate" that I was subconsciously ready to see. I just did something, something that helped me stand my ground without turning into an evil monster. I wanted to believe that it was some kind of systemic failure because I was somehow afraid to admit to myself that that hatred didn't belong to the System or even The Shadow.

But only me alone.

When I woke up from my dream, I realized one thing. I felt good. The weakness was gone for good, and the orb was working at two-thirds of its usual capacity, which also made me feel more confident. A few tries of the shadow techniques, under the watchful eye of Losius, who had received my order to "knock the moron the fuck out", showed good results. I didn't do any really big things, both because I was still weak and because I was aware of the mutts who were looking for us. The shadowy techniques do have a certain amount of stealth, but after a certain point, the light on all sensor nets is so strong that it's hard to get away.

The shadow obeyed willingly and calmly, though with some tension in the depths of my chest. There were no debuffs on my Status, but something was wrong with me - an incomplete sphere and my general well-being were a direct indication of that. I decided to give myself a few more days before I got my life back on track. And then I would immediately start creating a mirrored corridor that would hide us from the search.

The Ygra had relaxed lately - her lair, or whatever it was, was defending us better and better, and there was hardly any searching in the area. I got the feeling that our enemies thought the information they got from the lone spy bird was either a trap or a trick. Or maybe they were all looking for us deep in the swamps, not believing that there were idiots out there who would hide for almost a week on a tiny island right next to the perimeter of the cordon.

The island was really tiny, and I could hardly find room for a latrine. I even jokingly suggested that I throw the shit in the Shadow, and told them about my adventures in the Kraj, or, rather, about the part where I drowned the bodies of thieves in the very latrine. For some reason, only Taria and Ygra laughed, and Losius and Hans looked at me as if I were smoking from a stick of dynamite with a burning fuse.

Big deal!

It was as if that "shit-demon-making process" was the craziest thing I'd ever done. To be honest, now I really wanted to know what would happen if I fed enough shit and bodies to the toilet shadows. Curiosity is of the same order as that which makes a child create rockets out of a plastic bottle, carbide, and some swearing. There was a time when this kind of action with The Shadow terrified me far more. I guess I do get used to it.

For now, such thoughts remain thoughts and jokes, but won't my brains get so twisted in the future that I start to perceive possible experiments with breakthroughs to other realms as a great way to spend time? I wouldn't want to lose marbles, not at all. I wonder if there are any special therapists in this world, similar to the ones encountered on Earth. With comfy chairs, talk about childhood, and doctor-patient confidentiality. But if they heard my story, they would need medical help in especially large doses.

"Ygra, can you send me your status?" I asked more at random, already preparing for hours of explanation of my request, but I was heard and understood almost instantly.

The ogre, who had just returned from another foraging expedition, shook off the mud and slime with her gifted skill, scratched her ass, wrinkled her face, and, smiling the happy smile of a hill billy, replied.

"Ygra understand." Then she waved her hands in the air as if she was catching something. "Ygra do!"

And I stared at her Status, silently and angrily marveling at what I saw. I knew she'd gotten better, of course - her level told me so - but to be so serious? My jokes about her becoming a legendary monster were slowly becoming less of a joke and more of an obvious prediction.

Name: Ygra
Race: Swamp Ogre (monster; epic)
Level: 42

Titles: The Scourge of the Swamps; Master of the Hunt; Fighting Unity; We Were Few; All There Is Prey; Creator of Legend (The Fall of Stone)
Characteristics Points: 0
Evolving Points: 0

Characteristics:
Strength: 229 (1*3)
Dexterity: 100
Endurance: 345 (1*3)
Perception: 105
Concentration: 36
Energy: 39

Talents:
Sturdy hide: 4/4

The skin acquires the highest durability, becoming almost invulnerable to insufficiently strong blows, but even really powerful attacks will lose some of their striking power; a high probability of completely ignoring damage from small arms and throwing weapons.

Black Blood: 3/3
Significantly reduces vulnerability to dark branches of magic; dissipates active spells on contact with skin and blood; debuffs dissipate three times faster.

Kinship of the Mire: 5/5
Gives complete unity with the mire and swamps; significantly increases stealth skill when in the swamp; extremely effective at hiding from sensory magic skills; makes it difficult to find with active skills; has no effect outside the swamp; weakened in normal forests.

Call of the Hunt: 1/1
During the hunt, if the hunt takes place on the swamp, dexterity and perception characteristics get a bonus of +20 points. During the hunt, if the hunt takes place on the swamp, stealth skills increase by a certain value: from 10 to 50 percent.

Death Claws: 4/4

Bare-handed strikes inflict maximum damage, ignoring most magical defenses; deals damage to ghostly forms and intangible entities; unenchanted armor does not stop blows, while enchanted only weakens; allows, at the limit of concentration, to muffle the sense of danger of the attacked victim by striking unexpectedly.

Swamp Rookery: 5/5

Allows you to create a special place on the marshes, which the marsh itself hides in every way from search and prying eyes; synergistic with the kinship of the marshes; allows you to gradually accumulate influence up to the complete hiding of the rookery from the outside world; allows, at the limit of concentration, to muffle hostile search and sensory magic.

Grain of Sapience: 1/1

Increases an individual's level of intelligence by significantly improving cognitive ability; racial trait low intelligence is replaced by racial trait weak intelligence.

Primitive Body Art: 2/5

Allows you to use the simplest alchemical reagents that grow in the marshes to create special paints, which are applied to the naked body; simple and crude magic nevertheless carries considerable power; allows you to use a small number of primitive magical rituals, scrawled directly on the body; removes the racial feature of magic antitalant.

Attractive Body: 3/3 (gifted)
A rare skill that draws gazes to the host's body as well as to specific parts of it; reduces concentration, will, restraint, and increases the influence of carnal desires; the effect accumulates when a gaze is held on the host for a long time; of limited use in combat situations.

Pheromone System of Soft Influence: 5/5 (gifted)
Allows the host body to secrete pheromones that affect the mind and consciousness of others; the effect is stronger when touched directly; can induce lust, desire, sleepiness, relaxation, submission, and calm in victims; when used actively and consciously, can cause a paralyzing, weakening or subduing effect when touched; can be effective in combat against living and breathing opponents.

Special:
Darkvision (racial)
Enhanced hearing (racial)
Sensitive Nose (racial)
Triple Strength (racial)
Triple Endurance (racial)
Weak intelligence (racial)
Acid Vulnerability (racial)
Reinforced body (common)
Reinforced Bones (uncommon)
Perfect immunity (rare)
Ogre Regeneration (epic; racial)
Great Swamp Ogre Regeneration (Legendary; Racial)
Steel Muscles (rare)
Primal Power (epic)
Improved Coordination (common)
Absolute coordination (rare)
Clear Gaze (rare)
Hero's Companion (epic)
Fast body cleansing (normal; active; gifted)

Skills:
Imperceptibility: 56 (great master)
Silent Walk: 52 (great master)
Danger sense: 47 (master)
Deathstroke: 60 (great master)
Hand-to-hand combat: 55 (great master)
Lovemaking: 30 (master; gifted)

Self-satisfaction: 57 (great master)

Seduction: 23 (journeyman)

So.

Okey.

I am calm.

Let's just say I know where the extra stats came from - she's got a hell of a strength and endurance multiplier, so those stats aren't surprising at all. Like any monster, she pays for her high stats with fewer perks and their lower grades. I can even guess how the rest of the stats were raised - it's a consequence of the titles she got, which she was scooping up along with the rest of us.

With difficulty, it fits into my thinking paradigm. With great fucking difficulty! But how did she get, let me count, thirteen talent points? I know she, like any monster, only gets one point every five levels. Some of it she could have pumped. Some of it, but not that many!

Two points for the thirty-fifth and fortieth levels. A point for the title was gained after battling slave traders. A point for the epic borderline legendary title All is Prey, given to her for regularly killing particularly strong opponents. I think she got it for destroying the Stone Commandant.

OK, google.

Where else would five to seven free points come from?

There's just nowhere for them to come from.

One moment.

"Guys, can I ask you a question?" I politely ask the company watching me attentively (they are also interested in what I read there).

They nodded at me in unison, a little surprised, as if they didn't understand the reason for the frantic expression on my face. I would not have understood it myself if it were not for the comparison of several differences in my and her Statuses.

"You all got The Creator of Legend title, didn't you?" Another simultaneous and very, very happy nod, even Losius' face lit up with happiness and pride. "And throw me a description of that title, if you can."

This time they are not so much surprised, and I am slowly calming down, knowing exactly what I will see there. Just knowing, without any clairvoyance or other clues. I open the messages that come at the same time, and then I smile and suppress a chuckle. Yeah, so the admin bastards don't mess it up somehow? It's not going to happen! However, I am happy with this situation, because I have already received enough benefits, and my comrades-in-arms will need them.

The Creator of Legend (The Fall of Stone): Few people manage to enter the legends, there's no point in hiding it. Heroes are forgotten, deeds are devalued, and the inexorable passage of time erases memory in the same way that the flames of war burn the books in which they recorded what memory has forgotten. There are hardly many who will talk about your deed, and you yourself will be silent ahead of them all. But there was a deed, there was a battle, there was a victory. The fortress, which was called the Stone, was a stronghold that even a mighty army could not crush, and who offered to take it by storm would be called a madman. Are you and the handful of those who came with you to the battle to be called insane? Your future is unclear, your prospects are blurred and your chances of survival are remote, but you created this legend yourself. Bonus: +25 to all stats; + 10 to class stats; +7 perk points.

In this case, the reward really fits the description, being truly royal. I can hardly suppress a laugh, but then I realize that it's not necessary, if you think about it, and start laughing my head off. I wonder if the bonus was cut off because I'm a Hero and simply have to perform such legendary deeds on a regular basis. Or is there something else behind it?

I gestured to my companions, who were running around me. Even Ygra was running, but more just to jump around and shake her tits in my face. Then, swearing loudly, I send my title's description to them. The silence is complete and absolute for a few seconds, and then I hear the quiet and murdered voice of Taria, who with a kind of surprised and hurt expression on her face says the words that I have already become accustomed to:

"Ugly basterds!"

Authors note:

Nanaina, hop! Nanaina-nai-na-nai!

To make you laugh, I'll tell you a little secret.

Hestia.

She. Still. In the flask.

The clairvoyance doesn't work, or rather it doesn't work in full force, and she can't get through to him. Although he remembered her once but because of his concentration on his Status did not pay proper attention to it.

And yes, spoiler alert, but the high fog around Ygra's rookery and the marshes, in general, is partly her fault, though not entirely - there's enough fog without Hestia, but she made it special.

Crits are a royal reward for all but the MC. Realistically, the maximum would only be higher at 30 stat points and 8 perk points. But there's no tampering here - ever since the first chapters, when I wrote the lore, I put this handicap. For "Creating Legend," the Hero gets less than the locals. Because that's the job. If there were just a hero alone, he'd get the full title with all the bonuses.

Otherwise, nope.

He could still have taken the title in Kraj if the creature had been fully revived, but then Krai wouldn't exist, and neither would MC - the gap is too huge.

The intelligence Krit was not dropped by Ygra, because it was also in the plan beforehand - as soon as she scored enough points, I gave her the Grain. There, too, the dices were rolled, but it was very likely that Grain would roll out. What she was lucky with was the rookery and the coloring - very useful. But the coolest thing didn't roll out. She still has to grow up to it.

Bonuses from the omaks spent on finding the bear, without the life and soul of which would MC die.

There is no more space for notes.

Good for everyone.

Внимание! Этот перевод, возможно, ещё не готов.
Его статус: идёт перевод

Переведено на Нотабеноиде
http://notabenoid.org/book/80370/536774

Переводчики: Camrad_RIP