История Королевы Эльфов / The story of the Elf Queen: Глава семнадцатая. Начало долгого пути домой Героя Королевы Эльфов

Chapter Seventeen: The Beginning of the Long Journey Home of the Hero of the Elf Queen

Camrad_RIP 19.04.25 в 05:36

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Camrad_RIP 19.04.25 в 05:36

Cyril would describe his state as twofold. It seemed as if he understood and realized everything that was happening around him. Nothing hurt. He could get up and go to the training ground right now to practice new weaves. But it was worth trying to do something, anything at all - to move his hand, to focus his thoughts on something specific, as everything immediately began to swim in front of his eyes, and his thoughts became confused, fixated, or frankly delusional. Along with this, Cyril would feel nausea coming up to his throat, and his body would start to get chills, which immediately changed to fever, and vice versa. After several such attacks, Cyril tried his best not to do anything. Nothing at all. To lie still and not think about anything as much as he could, so as not to prevent the System from pumping gigabytes of new information into his unhappy head. Or is it measured in terabytes? Or is it even... Oh, man!

Camrad_RIP 13.05.25 в 13:05

The ceiling of the room he was in spun again, and Cyril hastily closed his eyes, trying with all his might to calm down and not think about anything. It didn't work well. At some point, his exhausted consciousness could not stand it, and Cyril fell into a half-dream, which was replaced by a disturbing half-dream. Then he saw his school teacher strictly asking him where his essay on classical Neurat poetry was. Then, instead of Galina Anatolievna, appeared a slightly swarthy, dark-haired, and bearded man in gray armor with a blue stylized griffin. He would hand Cyril a fogged bottle of Coca-Cola and offer him a drink in honor of his successful enrollment, to which the young man would try to explain to the vaguely familiar warrior that he had already enrolled in the institute, and he didn't need to join the Grey Guards.

Camrad_RIP 13.05.25 в 13:06

A couple of times, consciousness returned, and Cyril again saw the ceiling of the stone room and realized that Diantrel and Armina were giving him water to drink and wiping sweat from his forehead. But as soon as his thirst was quenched, he fell back into oblivion. Once he woke up bent over a wide hole in the stone floor that smelled foul. Cyril did not have time to understand what it was because his stomach immediately twisted with a cramp, and the water he had drunk before, mixed with the remains of the ill-fated dinner, gushed out of him. It lasted about a minute, and then someone's caring hands helped him wash his face with cool water and wipe his mouth.

Camrad_RIP 13.05.25 в 13:06

After that, Cyril felt a little better, and even his head was more or less clear. He nodded gratefully to Armina, supporting him, but he immediately regretted it, because the brief second of clarity was gone, his head was dizzy again, and his eyes were blurry. He leaned on his faithful maid's shoulder and walked almost blindly. His sight returned only when he reached the threshold of a familiar room. Cyril realized that most of his unwilling companions were not much better off than he was. The pale green Shinda-Bah sat with his back against the wall, breathing heavily, cradling his wife, curled up in a ball, just as pale and green. In the corner of the room, an unhappy half-breed siren sat on the floor, hugging a large ceramic pot with the edges of the neck slightly chipped. Her face was as green as the Caliphate captain's, and just as Cyril wandered to his seat, she threw up a torrent of murky water. The others looked no better.

Camrad_RIP 17.05.25 в 10:08

The action of detoxicants, neutralizing the effects of taking stimulating alchemy, came to Cyril with unexpectedly clear understanding. Alas, at this realization, the moment of enlightenment ended completely, and the consciousness, which had been receiving system information, swam again. And now Cyril was no more affected than before. If it hadn't been for Armina, he would have definitely collapsed past his improvised bed. Faaaaack. Apparently, the system understood his previous state, and therefore “loaded” the information in a gentle mode. But now, when the young man had mostly got rid of the consequences of the stimulating alchemy, it took him seriously, and his awareness was switched off almost forcibly. The room where Cyril and his unwilling companions were was replaced by complete darkness, which gave way to amazingly vivid, but frankly delirious dreams ...

Camrad_RIP 13.05.25 в 13:07

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Camrad_RIP 19.04.25 в 05:36

A wide street of a partially destroyed, unfamiliar city. From the outside, it looked like a typical provincial post-Soviet city from Cyril's home world. But that was only at first glance. One had to look closer, and the obvious irregularity of the urban landscape became obvious. As if someone had processed it with the help of a neural network. Because, well, the building “SBER-Bang” can not stand right in the middle of the roadway that wraps around it from two sides. And escalators leading to the subway should not start right from the sidewalk. And instead of the red letter “M” that Cyril was used to, there was a poison-green “W”. There were other oddities that caught the eye, like a clothing store with a broken window, in which instead of the usual plastic mannequins stood human skeletons. Suspiciously fresh skeletons, albeit dressed in obviously expensive brand-name clothes, are more likely to fit some Moscow boutique than a provincial town.

Camrad_RIP 17.05.25 в 10:32

And in the middle of the street of this wrong town, next to a large shopping center, which also didn't fit provincial realities, there was a carriage. Or rather, a hybrid of a carriage, a car, a locomotive, a tank, and who knows what else. For some reason, Cyril had a strong feeling that he had seen this, let's call it a carriage, somewhere before. As well as the people standing next to it. About a dozen rather attractive women of various looks, who smelled of powerful magic of various kinds. By Cyril's estimation, each was magister level at the very least. In any case, the weakest of them he would have appreciated more than his mentor. There were several men hustling near them, who were also strong, but it wasn't even funny against the background of the fair sex.

Camrad_RIP 13.05.25 в 13:21

They were busy loading sports bags full of stuff from the mall into the luggage compartment of their transport. In which, too, at a closer look, one could sense the same irregularity as in the rest of the city. But Cyril didn't have time to realize what exactly this irregularity was, except that such a building clearly didn't belong here. Suddenly, a poisonous green disk, created as if from liquid, appeared in the air not far from the strange carriage.

Camrad_RIP 13.05.25 в 13:22

The women surrounding the carriage, whom the young man had definitely seen somewhere before, but it was unclear where, instantly prepared to fight the unknown enemy, taking up defenses around the carriage. On the roof of the carriage, there was a twin large-caliber machine gun, or some kind of twin combat magic wand, which was also aimed at the strange disk. Most of the men rushed under or behind the carriage, dropping their bags with muffled curses. It's unclear who or what they were expecting to see, but it was clearly not the natural small flying saucer that had emerged from the disk. Floating smoothly out of the strange portal-liquid disk, it hovered above the street and was motionless in the air for a few seconds. Then its side door opened, and a few beer bottles spilled out, shattering on the asphalt, and an elderly man in a white coat leaned out of the cabin. His long gray and unruly hair was sticking out in all directions, his face was overgrown with a week's worth of stubble, and bore the stamp of alcohol abuse and a heavy burden. Behind him in the cabin of the flying saucer, several other people were visible. Cyril could see a boy-schoolboy, a pair of twin women, and some strange creature, which appeared to be a bird-type beastman. As he looked around, the gray-haired old man darkened and sighed heavily, emitting a muffled “fuuuuuck...”

Camrad_RIP 17.05.25 в 10:35

Then he turned his attention to the men standing by the carriage. They stared at each other for a few seconds, then the old man opened his mouth and burped loudly and vigorously. Wiping his lips with the sleeve of his robe, he coughed, waved his hand at them, and said:

Camrad_RIP 13.05.25 в 13:22

"Hai."

Camrad_RIP 19.04.25 в 05:36

The women standing by the carriage looked at each other, then one of them, a rather imperious-looking seductive milf, answered warily:

Camrad_RIP 19.04.25 в 05:37

"Good day..."

Camrad_RIP 19.04.25 в 05:37

"Has Night come for you too?"

Camrad_RIP 19.04.25 в 05:39

The women exchanged glances again, after which the older one nodded reservedly. The old man let out a sad sigh and said in a doomed voice:

Camrad_RIP 17.05.25 в 07:38

"Fucuuuk, this is already the seventeenth universe..."

Camrad_RIP 17.05.25 в 07:38

After which, he silently closed the door of his flying saucer and backed up, disappearing into the green portal disk, which immediately collapsed without a trace. For a few seconds, the ladies stood by the carriage in complete silence. Then one of them, a gothic-looking girl, slowly said:

Camrad_RIP 17.05.25 в 07:39

"That wasn't Rick just now, was it?"

Camrad_RIP 16.05.25 в 20:36

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Camrad_RIP 19.04.25 в 05:38

The marble bath, or sauna, or some other such room, combined with a pool, was filled with hot air and steam. Four men were resting in it, three of them sitting on a marble bench against the wall. One was a stout, slanting Asian man of frankly gangster-criminal appearance. He sat with a grim face, with his arms folded across his chest and his legs crossed. To his right sat a big, muscular and black as soot Negro with a short curly hair. He was sitting with his legs spread and legs apart, displaying a large device almost as long as his elbow. To the left of the Asian thug sat, also with his legs spread wide, an even bigger and broader-shouldered orc with green-colored skin. He had a stern face, a lot of scars and an even bigger dick. And the fourth was a centaur, with a horse's body of a horse's wrath, standing in the pool, so that the water reached him about halfway up his horse's side.

Camrad_RIP 13.05.25 в 13:28

Both the Negro and the Orc, who sat on either side of the slanted, obvious criminal, grinned at him and in cheerful voices openly teased the Asian:

Camrad_RIP 17.05.25 в 10:36

"Come on, what's so embarrassing? It's all about skill."

Camrad_RIP 17.05.25 в 10:36

"That's right! Many centuries ago, one goblin sage said: "Size doesn't matter"..."

Camrad_RIP 17.05.25 в 07:40

“Is that Jodl the Little Twig?” grinned the centaur, who also cast mocking glances at the gloomy Asian, “Yes, he was a wise man, though he lived in a remote swamp and ate psyllite grebes like a madman....

Camrad_RIP 17.05.25 в 10:38

"Sorry, I'm a little late..."

Camrad_RIP 17.05.25 в 07:40

At that moment, a naked teenage boy entered the sauna with a towel on his shoulders. Cyril could see him from the back, but the four already steaming were facing him. Against their background, he looked like a seventh-grader next to Iron Arnie in his best years. For a moment, all four of them looked at him, and then they all stared at him at the waist. And their faces, if they were characters from some Japanese anime, would have petrified at that moment, and then cracked. Especially the trio that had been bitching at the gloomy Asian before. The orc's jaw dropped. It was obvious that the world they were used to had just cracked. The Asian, looking at the boy, turned purple and growled:

Camrad_RIP 13.05.25 в 13:30

"Mort, you are fucking nuts!!!"

Camrad_RIP 18.05.25 в 14:59

"Hey?! What are you about?"

Camrad_RIP 18.05.25 в 15:00

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Camrad_RIP 19.04.25 в 05:38

Cyril came to his senses gradually. It took him a few minutes to realize that he was not asleep or delirious, but conscious. After that, he lay motionless for a few more minutes, literally physically feeling how his brain, overheated by the afterload of information, slowly cooled down and began to work normally. Fuuuuuck... What the fuck... Oh... Cyril tried to realize where he was, what he was, or who he was. The memories of the previous night and the wild race across the steppe on carts came back gradually and reluctantly. Every thought was difficult, as if you were riding a bicycle through mud, and at an inappropriate speed. Oh, how much knowledge had the System loaded into his head? It felt like a lot, and in a very short time.

Camrad_RIP 17.05.25 в 10:51

Somehow Cyril was sure it hadn't been more than six to eight hours since they'd escaped those fucking assassins. Which was a hell of a lot less for the amount of information he'd gotten. And it wasn't just knowledge he'd gotten. Oh, well, what the fuck, he was hoping to “unpack” the rewards at home, when he was rescued by the elves, in a quiet environment.... Where to complain? Where's the customer service? Oh... Sighing heavily once more, the young man focused his eyes and looked around cautiously. To his great regret, instead of his own quarters in the Royal Forest Palace, he saw the same stone room where First had brought him and the other fugitives.

Camrad_RIP 17.05.25 в 10:52

Faaaaack... And he had hoped, naive, that the elves would have saved him by the time he came to his senses, and he would wake up in his bed, in the arms of Gata and Armina.... Although the last point could be considered fulfilled. The girl was lying next to Cyril, snuggling up to him from the left side, from the wall, and quietly sniffing. And they were lying on several pillows from the restaurant, which had been transported with them from White Harbor. Wow, and he hadn't noticed that Armina had managed to put them away in the expanded space bags.... Cyril turned his head and looked around, for the first time getting a good look at the place he had gotten to.

Camrad_RIP 17.05.25 в 10:53

It was a medium-sized room with no windows, only a couple of doors made of dark gray wood on opposite walls. The floor, walls, and ceiling were all made of stone, even though they looked heavy and massive. It looked solid, as if the entire room had been built in a rock formation. It might well have been so, by the way. Or maybe it was just the work of skillful geomancers.

Camrad_RIP 17.05.25 в 10:54

There was no furniture in the room, nothing at all except what the fugitives had brought with them, except for a few very large and plump pots. Two were filled with water, and beside them were several empty wooden mugs, which had come from some unknown source. Another one, located separately in a corner, was covered with a tight lid, and next to it, Cyril could make out a small airborne spirit curling around it, absorbing any odor that came from the pot.

Camrad_RIP 17.05.25 в 10:56

The magic lamp had moved from the floor to the ceiling, but was now barely lit, leaving their shelter in semi-darkness. Most of his unwilling companions were asleep or dozing, as was Armina. The Steppe men had made themselves comfortable on their own cloaks and blankets, taken from the destroyed camp. Shinda-Bah, along with the rest of the Caliphates, the waiter boy, and the half-blood siren, lay, like Cyril and Armina, on the cushions from the restaurant, huddled closely together. In short, almost everyone was asleep or dozing, with the exception of the old shaman and First.

Camrad_RIP 17.05.25 в 11:04

The old orc was sitting on the floor, his wolfskin tucked under him, in one corner of the room. His eyes were closed, his lips were moving silently, and his fingers were fiddling with some kind of rosary or beads shimmering with magical fire. The old man didn't look like much, as if he had aged another year during the night. His necklaces and other shamanic paraphernalia had also diminished in number. It was obvious that he had also worked his ass off during the chase. The elderly orc had lost most of his retinue because Cyril didn't feel anyone even remotely strong around him. It was a relative trifle, which was hard not to notice, even if he didn't listen or look closely.

Camrad_RIP 17.05.25 в 11:05

A trio of spirits, which smelled of wind power, circled the ceiling and, as the young man realized, refreshed and purified the air. Without them, it would have been impossible to breathe here long ago, for there were no windows in their shelter. In addition, the detoxification process had forced many of the fugitives to empty their stomachs, which wouldn't have made the air any fresher either. A few more spirits, as far as Cyril could understand in his state of mind, literally covered all the walls of the room and masked their presence, preventing sounds, smells, or emanations of magic from leaving the shelter. They were aided by a set of cloaking amulets attached to every wall, door, floor, and ceiling. The door that led to the outside appeared to have five amulets attached to it. There were three protective amulets in addition to the masking ones.

Camrad_RIP 18.05.25 в 15:04

First had pulled a small hammock between the walls in the corner of the room, and was lying on it with his arms folded across his chest and his eyes closed. It might have looked like he was asleep, but he wasn't. In his hands, he was clutching some amulet, and from under his closed eyelids a magical glow was visible. But at the moment, the young man was interested in something else. Just looking at the First, Cyril was momentarily taken aback. Because his mysterious companion turned out to be a dark elf, with a handsome but stern warrior's face and short ash-colored hair. It was clear now why the steppesmen and Shinda-Bah were so wary. Diantrel told Cyril little about her dark kin, but even what she told was enough to realize that their reputation was not the best. And yet quite deserved. Interesting, who is he? He'll have to ask his mentor. Later.

Camrad_RIP 18.05.25 в 15:07

Diantrel was nestled on a cushion from the restaurant by her apprentice's headboard, leaning against the wall, and additionally wrapped in an elven army camouflage cloak that had also inexplicably come from nowhere. The elven woman's eyes were covered, and her enlarged chest was heaving heavily. She, too, was awake and engaged in reserve-restoring meditation. Cyril, thanks to the increased level of communication and the “Chosen One's Mark I”, literally physically felt that his mentor was now much worse than he was. During the fight, Diantrel had worked her ass off several times in a row, restoring her strength with modifiers, which in turn were restored with tokens. Such a thing could not have a positive effect on her mentor's well-being. Listening to her more closely, Cyril, once again dismissing the system messages, mentally cursed. The consequences of serious magical exhaustion are multiplied by the analogs of sprains and strains for the subtle body. Plus, a damaged energy channel in his right arm, which could be considered analogous to a fracture. Well, wait a minute, you guys are gonna pay for this. Especially that red-eyed lady.

Camrad_RIP 18.05.25 в 15:08

With a mental command, Cyril applied the modifier “Healing of Subtle Bodies II”, which Deantrel herself did not use on herself for some reason. Apparently, she was saving it for her student. This thought made Cyril feel warm in his chest for a moment. At the same time, the mentor opened her violet eyes sharply and exhaled when there was no trace of her injuries. The elfess blinked incomprehensibly for a few seconds, then turned and looked down at her apprentice lying beside her. They stared into each other's eyes for a few moments, then Deantrel's face, exhausted by the battle and the chase, warmed, and she smiled and nodded gratefully. Cyril mentally commanded to restore the spent modifiers “Chosen One's Mark I”, “Subtle Body Healing II”, and “Magical Restoration II”. As a result, there was one charge left in the “Restore Companion Modifier” token out of ten. Last.

Camrad_RIP 18.05.25 в 15:16

Cyril's mentor nodded gratefully again and asked him mentally how he was feeling. To which he also mentally replied that he was relatively well. In response to the reproach that he could not resist “unpacking” the awards, Cyril replied with a slight offense that it was the System, he had nothing to do with it! It was the System itself that started giving him the awards! Which, in fact, almost burned his brain. Diantrel was visibly surprised and worried, but when she was sure that Cyril was feeling relatively normal, she asked if she could find out what the Soul Tablet had given Cyril. Cyrill nodded mentally and finally paid attention to the system messages popping out.

Camrad_RIP 18.05.25 в 15:17

First came the messages about the rewards for completing the task. The normal reward, as promised, gave Cyril two limited talent points that could be spent on enhancing existing properties or meta-skills, and upgraded “ developed magic barrier skills” to “advanced magic barrier skills”. That knowledge alone, for good measure, would require at least a couple of hours of quiet time to load properly.

Camrad_RIP 18.05.25 в 15:17

Good Reward gave, as promised, one token and one artifact from the System Auction. And, after reading their descriptions, Cyril fell into a stupor for a while. “Temporary Magic Source 5/5” completely lived up to its name, literally creating a medium-power magic source in the specified location for a period of an hour to two hours. The duration of existence depended on how quickly the amount of energy it created would be absorbed. Cyril estimated that it would be enough to fill six of his current reserves, which, considering the ten in Istok, was not bad at all. But there was a BUT. A little BUT. “Temporary Source of Magic 5/5” was not the full name of the token. Part of the name and description of this token were hidden and visible only to Cyril, as the owner. And the real name sounded like “Temporary Source of Magic, Giving Lust and Passion 5/5”.

Camrad_RIP 18.05.25 в 15:18

The energy of the created source was extremely purified and neutral, so almost any gifted person could replenish their strength with it without any harm. And any test or analysis would confirm this, as it was stated in its description. But what the public part of the token's description did not say was that the energy of the source he created also increased the level of arousal and lust of the one who would absorb it. And as unnoticeable as possible for the latter, so that he would not notice anything strange in the growing desire to have intercourse with someone urgently. Or, if no one is around, to release the tension in manual mode. It was separately stated that the creator of the source would be unconsciously considered the most suitable object for coitus, provided he was available.

Camrad_RIP 18.05.25 в 15:19

Reading the description of the token, Cyril was frankly shocked. Because if to believed the lines of the system message, and there was no reason not to believe it, if someone replenished at least two-thirds of his reserve at once from this source, Cyril would be enough just to suggest to him to step aside for privacy. Or rather, her, because the effect only applied to women. And, it was specified separately, only for women minimally sympathetic to Cyril. So it is worth some sorceress to restore two-thirds of the energy from this source, and she will willingly agree to have sex with Cyril if only asked. And she would not see anything abnormal, unusual, or wrong in it.

Camrad_RIP 18.05.25 в 15:22

The woman who restored the reserve from the source also became temporarily more susceptible to any influence from the one who used the token. In systemic terms, she received a hefty penalty for her resistance, in the most severe cases, not just lowering it to zero, but turning it into a minus. It was also stated separately that for the Companions of the Chosen One of Aurial the Magnificent, the Supreme Guardian of the Balance of Worlds, standing on the Guardian of the Balance of Forces, it was enough to replenish a little more than a third of the reserve from the source created by the token to achieve maximum effect.

Camrad_RIP 18.05.25 в 15:23

However, and this was also noted separately, there were limitations to the source's influence. First and most importantly, as it has already been said, the effect applied only to the beautiful women Cyril liked. On men, the effect did not extend. Sort of... Or... Fucking hell! When Cyril directly clarified this question with the system help, he received a clarification not originally in the description. The source effect did not work on men, except for those who were hermaphrodites/futanari, or had a sufficiently attractive and feminine appearance/shape for Cyril to find them attractive enough. Holy shit.

Camrad_RIP 17.05.25 в 11:06