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Camrad_RIP 05.04.25 в 19:58

The road from the university to home, a short road rather than a beautifully maintained one, passed through some very ‘picturesque’ places, one of which was a bridge opening under the motorway. From above, drivers who once again managed to get into a jam because of the repair of the road surface were honking their honks, concrete walls and pillars were being crushed from the sides, and dirty water was dripping. The place is not at all hospitable, especially in winter, but it has a life of its own. A whole row of small stalls selling newspapers, seeds, and lottery tickets. Igor would have walked past them. Most of them closed at this time of year. In the last couple of years, they've almost all closed down. Whether it was the opening of a large market three hundred metres away or some other reason, he didn't know. But the young Exalted One was hungry for candy, so hungry that he couldn't stand it.

Camrad_RIP 07.04.25 в 20:31

There was one of the local stalls selling sweets by weight. And not just any sweets, but tasty ones. You know, when you take whole apricots, prunes, candied oranges or dates without seeds, and pour a thick layer of not the worst chocolate? This was the kind of candy sold here, and the seller was a taciturn and gloomy man of mountain nationality, who could express his thoughts very clearly with three and a half kinds of hums and whoops. Honestly, Igor once thought that the man was simply mute, but no, he was simply not one of those who liked to talk about high-spirited things. And his stall never closed for the winter, and his incredibly tasty sweets were sold until late at night. Despite the fact that it would be smarter to save money, the guy wanted to treat himself. He deserved it, didn't he? You bet he did! Twenty-one units of understanding-cognition on the scale!

Camrad_RIP 07.04.25 в 20:34

And then, as he approached the stall, some unhealthy shit started happening. The first thing he noticed was that the two neighbouring stalls, the newspaper stall and the bread stall, were locked. They were still open the last time he'd been here, though. The candy stall was open, that was true, but something was still wrong. There was no light behind the small window, covered by a rusty grille that had been there since the nineties, and it was completely dark behind the glass. And on the advertisement glued on top of the showcase filled with goods, which reads ‘CANDYS TASTY INEXPENSIVE’, a reddish-brown stain is visible. It is as if someone had held a hand soiled in something, you can even see fingerprints.

Camrad_RIP 07.04.25 в 20:37

There were also wasps here. There were a lot of wasps, almost a whole hive of them, although it was winter time and the insects should have fallen from the frost. They did fall in, their chitinous shells crunching under my feet, but a few of them still flew in and out of the window ajar, then flying back. The atmosphere, even without taking into account the sudden and recent changes, was perceived as very nervous and nowhere chamber-cozy, but against the background of very recent thoughts seemed tense, like a string on a guitar. And this string was in some drop of effort from bursting and knocking out the guitarist's eye. The closer Igor came to the stall, the slower his step, the more uncertainty he felt, because he couldn't stop being nervous, despite the protection that was working. This place stank of something musty and disgusting, not physically, but on the very spiritual level, the same level on which he felt his Patches or Vessels.

Camrad_RIP 07.04.25 в 20:42

It was somewhat similar to the way he sensed the power that passed through the prism of the Tablet when he dispelled the protection and felt it dissolve into the surrounding background. Only here it felt noticeably denser and more powerful, on a permanent basis, rather than in the brief moments when the protection dissipated. He wanted to get closer less and less. Common sense told him it would be better for him, a wise system player, to look for a simpler location. He didn't want candy at all. Having stopped ten steps away from the stall, Igor looked around with irritation, noticing the complete absence of passers-by, even though it was still early evening, as well as the unpleasant silence. Clearing his throat with a delicate cough and trying not to break into a falsetto, he said loudly and confidently, clutching the pepper spray with one hand and reaching for the butterfly knife with the other.

Camrad_RIP 07.04.25 в 20:45

"Hey! Hey! Boss, are there any more candy bars on sale? The prune ones?" Asking, he doesn't wait for an answer, realising by some intuitive feeling or just progressive paranoia that he won't hear the usual snickering from the seller today or ever again. "I'd take three hundred grams?"

Camrad_RIP 13.04.25 в 09:10

He clutched the gift knife, a birthday present from a fellow student, whom Igor had helped a lot during the exams, but without enthusiasm. He was not a master of knife fighting or a virtuoso of stabbing, and he had only started carrying this iron with him to train the protection. The absorption and neutralisation of damage helped speed up the learning curve, as did the different types of damage and creative ways of dealing with it. For some reason, he felt like there was a good chance he'd experience exotic damage right this very second.

Camrad_RIP 13.04.25 в 09:14

"There are, of course, the best candies and sweets in this shop." From the darkness came a calm and friendly voice, almost rumbling like a big cat's, a voice that any voice actor would sell his ex-girlfriend's left kidney for. "The sweetest chocolate, the most delicious fruit, tender and melting in your mouth, spreading a cloud of chocolate bliss. The best fruits and berries for stuffing as if just off the bed, only already candied and begging on the tongue. I will sell with a big discount as the first customer, come and go."

Camrad_RIP 13.04.25 в 09:15

Despite the clearly inviting words, they were spoken in an even and calm tone, as if they were read from a page. The voice was distantly similar to the one and a half words he'd heard from the salesman, but very distantly, and also the salesman would never have spoken so... so wordy. And there was a non-zero chance that it was the brother or other sibling of the ailing salesman speaking, that the lights were out because of a wiring problem, and the wasps were just from a nest that had been stirred up. But the feeling of sinister abomination, as well as the unnatural desire to come over and buy candy, which shut off even the instinct of self-preservation, spoke to the contrary. Igor involuntarily took a step forward, clutching the can and the knife tighter, realising that now there was something definitely wrong. He stepped closer and then shook his head, stepping back.

Camrad_RIP 07.04.25 в 20:47

"Wait, wait, don't go away, sweetie, I'll give you some for free, I'll give them to try, just come here, just come here, just come here, look how beautiful they are, eh?" The protection shook a little, as if vibrating, and in the depth of the window the light flashed, illuminating a dozen different sweets in bright wrappers, literally dancing in the air, levitating hypnotic spiral. "At least take one of them, tasty and sweet, try it, tell everyone, try it, show everyone, try it, try it, try it, TASTE it!!!!"

Camrad_RIP 13.04.25 в 09:26

The boy did not understand how and why he took three steps forward, but he managed to come to his senses in time enough to dodge or turn on his toes and run away. Alas, the talkative something sitting outside the window seemed to be a competent hunter. He had calculated his effort correctly, for he had no time to dodge. A long and sturdy hand, seemingly human, appeared out of the window, but it had at least ten joints, and its length was enough to grab Igor's hand and pull him to the window from a distance of six paces, no less. But further, everything did not go according to the creature's plan. It pulled with such force that it could tear his arm from the shoulder joint, but it only managed to pull up the boy, who had no time to start struggling. The attempt to pull harder ended with the palm with a dozen or even more fingers slipping along the protection, letting Igor slip away as if he were covered in oil.

Camrad_RIP 13.04.25 в 09:34

He slipped out and fired the pepper spray right through the window of the stall, managing to open the knife and stick it somewhere in the joint. The scream was inaudible, but deafening, as if it was screaming inside his head, under his skull, not outside. Igor staggered, but a moment later he flew aside, for the flailing arm had managed to fling him away as if he were nothing. His protection was still enough to absorb the attack's momentum, but the landing finally destroyed his defence, allowing him to feel at least part of the blow. The air was knocked out of his chest, and the whip-like arm, which had been whipped through a multitude of joints, lashed out and snakily rushed after him, opening its fingers wide, each thirty centimetres long. The thing managed to grab and squeeze the victim's leg tightly, but before the firm grip turned into a bone-breaking one, Igor managed to complete a new cast of the protection. Once again, he was pulled almost to the stall, only to slip and fall to the ground in an attempt to keep his balance.

Camrad_RIP 13.04.25 в 09:39

Again the limb swings, and a new protection bursts, replaced by a third, leaving three full Vessels and two emptied. The spray can flew somewhere in the snow, but the knife, a knife covered in muddy brown slime, is still clutched in Igor's palm, and he strikes from bottom to top, cutting, stabbing, stabbing again, and whatever the hell it is, just to hurt the creature and prevent it from striking again. He doesn't yell. He's saving his breath. He's afraid of what that thing will do to his mouth. There's no panic either, just complete focus and the realisation that he can squeal bitch later, but now he needs to get his balls in a fist and survive, either by surviving the abomination or getting away from it. He would think about what the fuck it was and how it got here later, under different circumstances.

Camrad_RIP 13.04.25 в 09:41

The third burst of protection was marked by a new silent shriek. Igor only now realised, with a detached ‘I'm a moron!’ that all this time he had heard the voice of the ‘salesman’ only in his head, not with his ears. The creature shrieked because the knife had opened some large vessels, for the brown slurry came out in a thick stream, as if from a cut hose. By the time the knife broke, leaving the blade in the flesh of the long-armed creature, and the creature stopped twitching, the fourth protection had come off, forcing him to apply a fifth, leaving only one spare Vessel. For a few seconds, Igor stares at the sluggishly twitching arm, which grew directly from the huge bag of flesh suspended from the ceiling of the stall. Now that the unnatural darkness was gone, even the available light was enough to make out the cocoon hanging overhead, covered with wrinkles, irregularities, and human faces. Five of the faces were unfamiliar to him, but in the sixth he easily recognised the missing salesman.

Camrad_RIP 13.04.25 в 09:46

"Why didn't he say anything?" Igor thought out loud. "He had a beautiful voice..."

Camrad_RIP 13.04.25 в 09:46

The creature did not shrivel or disintegrate into ash, but it faded away, as if it were falling through the fabric of the world right before his eyes. It was as if this abomination was still too heavy, too full of its power, and its corpse could not yet remain in our world for any length of time. The anchor of six faces eaten away by the cocoon had been enough to sustain itself and hunt, but now that the creature was dead, its body was sinking back into the swamp from which it had floated. There was a kind of realisation, like the clues of a leaf of images: it was still struggling to stay in reality, but if it had been here longer, had eaten more, its corpse might not have been dragged away, not to mention the fact that the power of its attacks would have increased, because that power wouldn't have been wasted on resisting the squeeze.

Camrad_RIP 13.04.25 в 09:49

There were no other clues, but the very shape of the creature, this predatory cocoon, whose hand played the role of head and tongue at the same time, told Igor that he did not want to check what kind of crap would hatch from this pupa. Because logic said, the creature that was fully born already in the native world of the earthling would have had ten times fewer problems with squeezing out. The young man stood like that for several minutes, while the streaks of brown crap and the carcass of the creature made their way home, noting at the same time how lonely passers-by began to walk across the scaffolding again. Either it was a coincidence, or the creature somehow scared away extra eyes, but it did not work on him, under the protection. The Protection Charm almost did not block the influence on the brain, but precisely that “almost”, some kind of reaction still occurred. It was enough to react and try to dodge, to understand that something was wrong. And all the other victims, it seems, did not suspect a trick until the very end, perhaps even dying with the taste of their favorite candy on their lips.

Camrad_RIP 13.04.25 в 11:27

Igor straightened his clothes, pulled back on the boot that had fallen off his foot, God knows when, the lacing of which had become completely unusable, found and picked up the empty spray can, not wanting to leave evidence with his fingerprints near the crime scene. He also cleaned off dirt, snow, and God knows what other nasty things. The blade, by the way, remained sticking out in the flesh of the murderous limb and disappeared along with it. During this time, the corpse completely dissolved, and after it, there remained a small cloud, reminiscent of the multi-colored iridescence of pollen, changing color like gasoline on water. And this cloud gradually dissolved in the surroundings, but it was worth only wishing, as it was drawn into his body, and with such naturalness, as if this is how it should be. Only this way. Blinking a little, the young man felt the slightest shadow of a change in himself, in his status list, as if he had taken the first step towards something important, and very, very necessary.

Camrad_RIP 13.04.25 в 11:30

Step: 0 [11/1000]

Camrad_RIP 05.04.25 в 19:59

"Well, now, at least it's clear how to level up here." The guy, suffering from bruises all over his body, hissed venomously, coming to an obvious conclusion. "I, damn it, won't even think about leveling up like that until I get the barrier to the maximum. Or at least to fifty. Or until I find myself a machine gun. Or better yet, a grenade launcher. Maybe even a tank. Yes, it would be very good to drive over this stall along with the cocoon in a tank."

Camrad_RIP 13.04.25 в 11:33

Passers-by paid no attention to the lonely boy standing near the closed stalls, mistaking him for a romantic waiting for a date or a drug addict looking for a cache. And the inaudible muttering under his breath could not reach anyone's ears, except his own. Igor was about to leave when it dawned on him that it was not over yet. With the death of the creature, the suffocating background of extremely vile energy, the nauseating pressure on the nerves, and the very essence of man disappeared. Disappeared, but not completely. Another background remained, also cold, like dead water, icy and with a bunch of corpses in it, but not so ominous. It is not coming from the creature, but as if existing on its own, and its epicenter could not be anywhere except inside the stall.

Camrad_RIP 13.04.25 в 11:36

"Oh, shit, I'm not going to get into that now, am I?" A rhetorical question doesn't require a rhetorical answer, but it makes it easier for him to convince himself that he's not an idiot, but a thoughtful and experienced munchkin. "Oh, right, that's exactly what I'm going to do, what a nightmare."

Camrad_RIP 13.04.25 в 11:37

The only thing was that he first waited for the Vessel spiral to fill, cast a new protection, restored this Vessel too, and only then approached the unlocked door of the stall. Inside, not another creature was waiting for him, but only a whole carpet of quickly dead wasps, and mountains, mountains, and mountains of garbage, mostly candy wrappers. Only candy wrappers, because there was not a single candy left here. Not that Igor would have decided to eat anything brought from this death chamber, but the fact itself was very disturbing. It seemed that the seller himself ate it all, ate, ate, ate kilograms, tens of kilograms of sweets, not afraid of the pancreas leaving the chat. Ate so that, having eaten his fill, having collected building material, he could spin himself a cocoon and turn into a chrysalis of something else. To turn into something too alien to this world, so alien that even his body was not left here.

Camrad_RIP 13.04.25 в 11:39

Approximately in the middle of the stall, right on the floor, there was a small hole, at most enough to stick your head through, but not your shoulders. It was from there that the stream of power was gushing, easily felt by Igor. Noticeable enough that he did not want to stay here for long, because he could feel sick even despite the fact that the Vessels in his body were burning through the filth, cleansing his body with their shine. Yes, now he clearly saw, clearly understood that the sources of his power spinning in an endless spiral... they were not just spinning, but were sucking in the cold muck, gradually grinding it into absolute nothingness, leaving no trace, no memory. He had protection, but he also felt uncomfortable here, uncomfortable, unpleasant, but at the same time bearable. He could stay here for at least a day, at least two, without being damaged either in body or mind. He would just find such a pastime a burden, and a burden mainly moral.

Camrad_RIP 13.04.25 в 12:45

And the familiar seller, whose name Igor did not even learn, had no way to cleanse himself, as well as no way to know for sure why he was getting worse and worse. There was no other option but to go to work and trade, trade and hope to sell more goods. Perhaps he could not simply close the stall and take a day off, or maybe he did not want to, but at some point, the concentration of the force that permeated this place reached such a value at which an ordinary person ceased to be a person. And became what almost devoured Igor, adding a seventh face to its installation. Igor did not arrange retribution, paying the creature for killing the seller with his favorite candies. He gave peace to the seller himself, who began to devour people after the candies ran out on the shelves.

Camrad_RIP 13.04.25 в 12:48

Coming closer to the breach and closing the door behind, the guy carefully sat down next to the hole, looking into it and not risking shining a flashlight. The light, however, was still there, coming from the depths of the hole, as if there, about a hundred meters away, some kind of flashlight was shining, only greenish-gray in color, as if shining through a thick carpet of fog. It looked ominous, but at least it was not approaching... well, not so fast that it could be noticed with the naked eye. He felt no danger, but something else, in some way it resembled the instinct that allowed a person to understand the position of up and down, which allowed people to walk and move their legs without concentrating on each movement. And this feeling was also vaguely similar to the images of the "interface", but they did not come from the status list, but as if from the very nature of a person gifted with Vessels. Igor looks into the depths of the hole, a typical hole, only with suspiciously strong and smooth walls that don’t crumble, and he understands.

Camrad_RIP 13.04.25 в 12:50

He now has two paths. Either put at least three Vessels into a single impulse, collapsing this hole and blocking the passage, blocking the flowing force's access to the real world, or put all five charges, doing exactly the opposite, expanding and stabilizing this passage, which itself is gradually weakening, making it convenient enough to go down himself. After all, there, in that hole, there are probably creatures like the ones killed. Since there are creatures, there is an opportunity to pump up his current zero level, to grow not only in the mastery of understanding the only tablet, but also to grow in general. Igor saw all these possibilities as if in reality, remembered the fight with the creature, how the multi-colored fog from the killed abomination flowed into him like a soft rainbow, estimated the speed of development taking into account the progress already received...

Camrad_RIP 13.04.25 в 12:21

And then he made a logical and only correct conclusion, immediately voicing it in a confident tone, reflecting a complete absence of doubt:

Camrad_RIP 06.04.25 в 21:07

"Oh, fuck!" He didn't even think much, starting to pour out the vessels from his body, but not onto the Tablet, but simply outside. He had done this before, but there was no point. "I'm leaving!"

Camrad_RIP 06.04.25 в 21:08

The power flowed out of the Vessels slowly and carefully. He was afraid of making a mistake, despite the fact that he instinctively understood what he was doing. Well, well, animals often follow instincts too, only they often die from it. Especially if these instincts are used by hunters who know the habits of animals. What if there, on the other side, is one of them waiting with a fishing rod, getting ready to hook the impudent mortal woodpecker who did not want to come to visit himself? Therefore, all three Vessels were emptied slowly, and Igor was ready to break away and get out of the belly of the Stal of Doom at any moment. To be honest, he was even surprised that everything went as smoothly as it could go. Yes, he was sweating almost completely, and his temperature clearly rose in the process of sealing the passage, obviously leading to the very Other Side, about which the VOICE warned him and the other "players".

Camrad_RIP 13.04.25 в 12:53

The Vessels' energy covered the walls of the hole with a viscous mass, like a spider web and cement at once, destroying the icy coldness of the passage walls with its warmth and shine. And when Igor, obeying his instinct, abruptly shifted his energy, sending a kind of impulse along the entire coating, the walls could not withstand it and the hole with a quiet rustle and sigh sank in on itself, becoming no longer a mystical hole into the beyond, but simply... a hole in concrete and earth. A hole that could not withstand the weight of its structure, ignorant of the strength of materials, and crumbled in on itself, even under the stall, it sank a little, making one nervous. The feeling of an ominous flow of power emanating from the hole did not disappear instantly, but weakened right before one's eyes. But just before the collapse, a thick stream of rainbow fog shot out of the hole, enveloping the young man, who jerked in surprise, and soaking into him like a warm rain.

Camrad_RIP 13.04.25 в 13:19

Realizing that the closing of such crap was as if repaid by either his native world or the universe in general, Igor began to absorb this warm mist, slowly and calmly. He wanted to hurry, literally stuff this rainbow into himself, because it was gradually dissipating itself, and the faster the further. He wanted to, but he was not greedy, he was not in a hurry, and was generally afraid of catching "overeating", so at least two-thirds of the mist disappeared, dissipating in the air and space around Igor. Putting three Vessels into some action at once turned out to be unexpectedly difficult, much more difficult than spending three charges separately. So difficult that he sincerely doubted that he would have been able to expand and stabilize the course, having spent all five Vessels, even if he had gone nuts enough to try.

Camrad_RIP 13.04.25 в 13:21

Step: 0 [106/1000]

Camrad_RIP 05.04.25 в 19:59

Understanding: 32/100

Camrad_RIP 05.04.25 в 19:59

A quick glance inside himself confirmed that a direct duel with all sorts of aggressive freaks is much more effective for understanding one's own Tablet, and also proved the benefits of helping one's native dimension in clearing out all sorts of filth. Almost a tenth of the level scale for one fight and one closure, an understanding of the Tablet that has increased by half for the same single battle. Yes, you involuntarily understand the correct approach to development, but Igor, estimating all the possible risks, understands even more clearly that he no longer wants to do the pumping alone and will not, unless he is directly pressed. The first fight in his life for the extension of this life and the avoidance of a fate worse than death very clearly proved to him that if he is not a pacifist, then he is close to this philosophy. Any reasonable person will be against violence... especially against himself.

Camrad_RIP 13.04.25 в 13:22

Meanwhile, the structure of the breach into the Other Side, which had finally collapsed, had completely blocked the flow of power, but the remnants of this power seemed to have mixed with that same rainbow mist. And not the one Igor had received as a reward, but others, thicker and more viscous, unsuitable for absorption. And this thickened energy seemed to have begun to condense, to fuse into something else, gathering into three separate structures, formed from the void due to that same outflowing power. What, is this not only pumping but also System loot? What's next? Will they add a rating table? A forum and a trading platform? An auction between worlds? It would have been funny, but he couldn't laugh. He managed to connect my perception-status to these balls, receiving, albeit fragmentary and clearly not as exhaustive as in the personal status list, but still information about what exactly he received as a reward for his actions to improve the surrounding reality. Yeah, by getting rid of parasites, damn.

Camrad_RIP 13.04.25 в 13:29

His loot was two small glowing lumps of dust, fragile, ready to crumble in his fingers. These were "Tiny Marks of Valor", which, according to the description, "slow down or completely stop the flow of absorbed Multicolor for some time, slowing down the regression to the beginning of the Step". That is, if you think about it a little, you come to realize the sad truth. The level here is not just difficult to get, it also crawls back to the very beginning of the Step. It remained to hope that at least the completed levels do not bounce back, otherwise, this is some kind of really tough hardcore. Well, roughly like real life, without systems, pumping, and magic, yes. But in general, it seems logical. If you take into account those parting words, as well as the timer ticking on the edge of consciousness, promising something unpleasant for the entire planet, then such an approach seems very balanced. After all, the very thing that turned the individuals who found the shining ball into budding wizards clearly pushes earthlings to hunt creatures and destroy them.

Camrad_RIP 13.04.25 в 13:32

If you work, you get your honest bowl of rice and a cat-wife. If you don't work, your bowl of rice will be taken away from you, and your cat-wife will be given to a more successful Exalting One. You will go to a labor sanatorium, lazy Exalting One. But seriously, Igor wouldn't trade his ability to manipulate the laws of reality for a dozen cat-girls, which come with a patent for owning rice plantations in half of China. It's hard to convey even a shadow of the delight you experience when you break the laws of physics with your will and knowledge, bend the fabric of reality to your will, and break logic and expectations. This... this intoxicates you better than strong rum and is much more addictive than any drugs. In general, Igor didn't see the data he received as a reason to despair and stop trying to develop, since it was so difficult to jump up the levels. No, here he saw a reason to intensify the search for colleagues in the hopes of finding a normal group. Or look for a way to get a firearm in a safe way.

Camrad_RIP 13.04.25 в 13:34

The second type of loot was called "Dim Lantern", which really resembled a miniature and translucent, almost ghostly, trinket in the form of a lantern. Its description won Igor over almost completely. This description claimed that the Lantern "ignites a riot of forces in the bonds of the free Patch chosen by you, provoking the formation of the Tablet of the spiritual basis, illuminating the Halls of Mysteries with its light, allowing you to find the Shine of Revelation whose Brightness will be determined by the Dying or Dim." The actual way to get new Tablets more conveniently and calmly than he had planned for himself. Because intuitively Igor felt, knew, and understood that he could open the barriers of the Patch. It was not difficult. It will be more difficult to withstand the Mystery that will form the Tablet and not leak your brains onto the pillow, at the same time not allowing the protective essence of the Patch to burn itself and block the communication channel with the Mysterie, depriving him of the opportunity to receive the Tablet. And from this short information block, he also found out that his dim Tablet is not the lowest-ranking of all possible. There are worse ones.

Camrad_RIP 13.04.25 в 14:14

Dying light, dim light... the thought involuntarily comes to mind that this Brightness can be of a higher rank, yes. If only he knew the gradation, the difficulty of obtaining and pumping up, as well as the risks of getting irreversible injuries. The description of his Gift directly said that for him, the probability of injuring himself when trying to unfold the Patch into a Tablet or increase the grade of said Tablet was reduced. Reduced, not leveled, that's the problem! And no clear percentages and coefficients for you, Igor, only murky descriptions and your intuition. The young man hated these games with intuition all his life, especially in clear recipes. Add salt to taste, damn it! Throw in a pinch of cloves! Fry until done! Urgh! In general, Igor was not good at cooking, and now he needs to cook not Peking duck, but rather reassemble himself on a deep level, using an even less detailed recipe.

Camrad_RIP 13.04.25 в 14:17

Dammit.

Camrad_RIP 13.04.25 в 14:17

* * *

Camrad_RIP 05.04.25 в 20:00

He got home completely exhausted, nodding to his neighbor returning from work, and almost falling asleep right in the elevator. He left no traces of his stay in the kiosk and even wiped the places he touched with a damp napkin, but he was still worried. The death of six people, or rather, the mysterious disappearance without any traces, would clearly excite the police, and not just Igor himself. And he really didn’t want to become the only suspect, especially if the instrument of interrogation and obtaining a confession would be such a memetic bottle of champagne or a shovel handle. Having already arrived home and forcibly stuffed dinner into himself, the young man activated one of the Marks, simply crushing it in his hand and feeling how it covered him with a thin layer of some strange immaterial substance. And it seems that this film really helps him not to lose progress to the next step. If before it seemed like tiny specks of rainbow mist were flying off from him, now this process has completely stopped.

Camrad_RIP 13.04.25 в 14:20

The next four days, he hardly leaves the apartment, diligently torturing the remaining hamsters and himself, noting with some pleasure how his Protective Charms grow stronger and more powerful with each unit on the development scale. Understanding comes with new repetitions, with attempts to use the amulet in other conditions, with attempts to apply it by ear and from memory, mocking the pigeons and Borislav Gennadyevich catching the pigeons. It turned out very badly, but he still managed to hang the protection on the hamster, standing with his back to it, even though he spent almost a minute on it, and his understanding jumped up three points at once. However, he paid the cat back by the fact that when the new mongrel, aggressive and probably rabid, tried to gobble up the cat, who was melancholically observing the world, Igor managed to cover his impudent whiskered face with a talisman a moment before the cat, who had not had time to react to the surprisingly fast dog, would have been torn to pieces.

Camrad_RIP 13.04.25 в 15:02

The cat, having become temporarily invulnerable, did not lose his head and, being in an adrenaline frenzy, did not notice the strange sensations from the imposed protection, starting to fight for his life. He slashed the dog, probably forcing it to bleed out from the received wounds, because the dog's muzzle and throat were pretty badly damaged. Well, Borislav Gennadyevich had already suffered his share back when he received his last rabies vaccination - despite the status of the yard king, he was a domestic cat, with a collar and even a chip. By the way, Igor, during his entire time living in the house, never found out who was formally the official human pet of Borislav Gennadyevich. Another important detail - for the successful use of the protection in a mortal fight, albeit mortal for a cat, he got two more units of understanding.

Camrad_RIP 13.04.25 в 15:04

Alas, but he had to admit the obvious. With each new division of the scale, it was harder and harder to take the next one, so in a week, he barely managed to finish the scale to forty-four points out of a hundred and paused. Yes, he did not hide from himself that he was scared. He did not want to risk and use a brand new consumable, fearing to cripple himself, destroy the Patch or even die in the process. But he had no choice, because without a normal way of pumping, having only a shield and not a sword, he simply would not be able to defend himself or escape, only survive longer in a deadly conflict. It does not matter with whom. Whether it will be a creature or a person who decides to play PvP against the defenseless Igor, but direct combat is deadly for him. So, a new tool is needed that enhances not defense, but attack ... or at least the ability to heroically retreat, mistakenly called flight, yes.

Camrad_RIP 13.04.25 в 11:24

Intuitively, with that glance into himself, he realises that his Lot is simply not meant for lightning strikes, fireballs, or even a trivial magic arrow. No, in theory, he could try to get a suitable Mystery from beyond the Patch, take the Revelation, and all that. But if in the case of the Protection analogues he would be assisted by his own Lot, holding the entire load and leaving Igor only a fraction of the necessary effort, then the spherical fireball in a fucking vacuum would have to be mastered by those very personal talents. It would hardly be an easy way, and Igor would hardly have many talents, even taking into account the gifts he had acquired for free. Fortunately, wherever you can't play directly, you can often find a way round, which is what the young man was going to do.

Camrad_RIP 07.04.25 в 20:52

The essence of his plan was to look for not just another defensive skill, but to form a Tablet that would enhance his offensive abilities. It would still be a blessing effect, not a direct attack, but, as with the protection, no one and nothing would stop him from casting this thing on himself. In this regard, Igor was confused by a small, even tiny, doubt that he would simply be given a choice of several different options for a suitable Tablet. Take it, young padawan, choose to your taste. This game is not so much a game, and based on how he uses his existing abilities, he will have to customize the Patch and engrave the Tablet personally, manually, with his own efforts, and they may not be enough.

Camrad_RIP 13.04.25 в 11:19

Before the operation, or ritual, Igor had fasted for half a day, drank only a little boiled water, curtained all the windows in the flat, laid his mattress on the floor, put water, pills, a change of clothes, even a plate with sandwiches, only covering it with a second plate. The lantern looked like a tiny glowing lump in the dark, about the size of his little finger, but in shape of it easy to see the lantern. Maybe that's why his subconscious had decoded the image-concept of the thing with that word combination. He does the same with the loot as he did with the Mark before, clenching it in his fist and smashing it with rainbow dust. The dust is absorbed into his skin so easily that he doesn't even have time to be frightened, and then the energy fills all five Vessels, emptying them to the bottom a moment later, against his will.

Camrad_RIP 10.04.25 в 11:12