"Dan awaits our return. John and I will go forward at the same time but from different sides of the streets. We"ll start moving on the rooftops of old houses. Perhaps the only danger we face is the danger of falling through the ceiling to the first floor of the house to visit the Abyss," said Nick.

Jon activated Invisibility and disappeared, Nick walked up to the wall of the house and instantly blended in with the color of the wall, and Dan couldn"t see the Ranger.

"Nick, are you there?" asked the sinner.

He couldn"t wait to get an answer and sat on the street rock. He"s not going to make any noise or look for rivals, now he"s going to do the Librarian"s work and wait for the scouts to come back.

It"s been about an hour and Dan saw a message from John:

"Dan, we need you here. We met a big boy. Some kind of boss. Follow the rooftops on my end, brother. Walk in the center! And get down low."

A new monster and a new boss! The sinner got up, crossed the street and entered the house. On the second floor was a staircase that led him up to the "roof" of this house. It was difficult to go to the center of the city. Sometimes the sinner had to climb over the remnants of the walls of the second floor, he got a good opportunity to hold a morning session of physical exercises. John met him on one of the roofs and said:

"On the next roof you can crawl up to the edge and look down the street. You"ll see that big monster there. He looks solid."

Dan nodded and gently walked a few steps, and then he lay down on the roof surface and crawled to the edge to look outside.

Down the street, a few yards away, monsters were walking, Dan looked closely at the crowd. But he didn"t see any new bodies. The view of the big and tall monster made the sinner bend his head even lower to the roof surface. The monster was standing on its legs. A large two-handed sword was shining blue in his right paw. His opponent had no shield. Instead of the head of a man on the shoulders of the monster was the head of an animal of the incomprehensible breed, but Dan thought that the monster is like a twisted likeness of a cat without hair. The monster had a tail.

*

Diguar

Type: Elite

Status: Boss of the location

Level: 40

Life: 119400

Damage: 2500-4600

Overview: Diguar was the head of the Guard of Ancient Nazgor. One day, he led a fierce, final battle against the forces of evil. During the battle Diguar was defeated by enemy legions and disappeared in the darkness. Despite his bravery and strength, the forces of evil broke his will and submitted it to himself. For his crimes, the spirit of Diguar was imprisoned in the form of a terrible creature. Diguar still has great power. He poses a threat to anyone who will oppose him.

Improved skills:

"Master Blade". The weapon in this monster"s hand is as dangerous as its master. This skill increases weapon damage and allows the use of special tricks and sword fighting techniques. [10/10]

It opens up skills:

"Cutting through the void". This skill increases the chance to ignore your opponent"s armor and cla.s.s abilities. Cooldown: 120 seconds. [10/10]

Cla.s.s skills:

"Invincible". This skill increases protection and gives immunity from many types of damage. [10/10]

It opens up skills:

"Inevitable Death". This skill greatly increases the speed of the monster"s movement, helping him to overcome his own weight. [10/10]

Battle skills:

"The Ice Blade". It causes additional damage with Water Magic and freezes your opponent for 12 seconds. Cooldown: 240 seconds. [10/10]

Immunity to arms:

Stabbing: 40%

Cutting: 40%

Crushing: 40%

The magic of fire: 40%

The magic of water: 20%

The magic of air: 40%

The magic of the earth: 20%

*

The sinner slowly crawled from the edge of the roof to John, who was lying waiting for the results of his reconnaissance.

"Level 40. Elite. 120000 lives. Swordsman can freeze with a sword strike. He"s got the whole set of bosses. Immunity from weapons is 40% unpleasant, increasing defense and attack, but that"s what I eliminate with inquisitor skill," said Dan.

"We"re going back to the point of rebirth. Nick made it all the way down the street. We"ve got the results. Everyone"s going to have fun, brother," smiled John.

They went on their way back.

When they returned to the house with the rebirth point, Nick gave his information. The situation in the city was similar to that in Galatea. Eight streets lead from the edge of the city to the center. There are a crossroads about halfway down the street. But in these ruins, there"s an elite boss at the crossroad... Nick took a chance and applied the speeding skill, he managed to cross the street quickly and climbed to the roof of the building. So, he could continue towards the center. They were lucky there weren"t any flying monsters in town. The clan will be happy when they hear the big news. There"s some kind of square and monsters in the center, a few thousand of them. But the main boss of this crowd of nasty freaks is a big freak with a big whip. Nick couldn"t see the level of the monster, and that meant the monster was above level 38.

"It"s going to be hard here," said Dan. "Next to the bosses, its like monsters are doing commands, they can attack more cunningly and cleverly. Eight streets are fine, but eight bosses are a serious few fights."

"This Jaguar with the ice sword, is he definitely not a demon?" asked Nick.

"Nick, we"re in the game! I"m not relying on memory, I"m picking up the record from my status and giving you accurate information," replied Dan. "The boss does look like a modified jaguar, but he"s not a demon."

"And that"s great! With an elite boss, our team can handle it," smiled a.s.sa.s.sin.

"He"s standing at a crossroads, I"ll activate "Autodafe", but the sound of battle will attract many monsters to help the boss. He can call the monsters to help himself! Skeletons scouts were smart b.a.s.t.a.r.ds," said Dan.

"You"re used to thinking only of yourself, brother! You"re wrong. Kate activates "Autodafe" and runs away! And then you intercept the boss at the new "Autodafe"! Do you understand? We"re going to lure him far away from his servants," said John immediately.

"It"s an interesting suggestion and it might work if I start the attack first, not Kate. You"re forgetting that our girls are more powerful than I am in spirit. Kate"s going to be at the edge of her skill, and she"s not going to runaways. We"ve both developed our skills to the limit, I can"t interfere in the fight, I mean, I can, but as Draugr," said Dan.

"Stop talking and fantasize, we"re going back to the castle. At home, we will prepare for battle and make plans for the attack," said the ranger.

Players went home. They felt better surrounded by the trees on the old trail. Even meeting a flying bloodsucker made the players cheerful, and they enjoyed the fight.

Dan said that when they reach the river, they must fight the River Beast.

"Guys, I have eaten the meat of eight different monsters. I"m sure a piece of Boss Diguar will give me a good bonus. But it should be the tenth monster I"ve tasted," explained Dan.

"You"re crazy," laughed Nick.

"We"re all not quite normal, brother," noticed John. "I agree. We"re going to go here with the girls. I want to know the power of this River Beast."

Nick laughed and agreed to take part in the hunt for the dangerous local octopus. But the boys don"t have to count on him, he won"t spoil the trophy.

They were able to see one monster and the fight with him wasn"t interesting. The sinner used the skill and called the monster to the fight, and then the fight went funny. The monster came out of the river and crawled to Dan, but the first thing the monster attacked the enemy and spit in the sinner. And the slime hit was so hard, it knocked the player down. The sinner drank the antidote to stop the poison and had time to jump on his feet and hit the monster with his sword. The attack of five opponents was enough to kill the creature quickly. Dan cut off a piece of the tentacle and ate it. The meat wasn"t poisoned, and Dan said it tasted like fish. John tasted it, too, and said they could have dinner with this meat. They cut a few pieces off the monster and then Dan took the trophies. He was pleased with the new kind of poison and a few dozen scales from the monster"s body. Then, Nick managed to remove the skin and claws from the body.

Despite the successful outcome of the battle, everyone agreed that meeting a group of these monsters is very dangerous and that you need to keep a close eye on the water surface of local rivers and reservoirs.

Players were in a hurry to return and fled most of the way. If they met with a succubus, they hoped for the strength of the sinner"s spirit. John seriously said that for him the main result of the reconnaissance was an unpleasant discovery of his own weakness. It seems that the stakes in the game are going up! That"s a minimum of 10 points in each characteristic for urban peaceful players. The hunter must have at least 100 points in Spirit to resist the attacks of some monsters.

"I"m lucky to have you around, brother. But I feel sorry for you. That nasty girl made you have very funny dreams," giggled John.

"Not a word to Anna!" said Nick right away.

"I"m sorry, Nick, but I have to make a full and detailed report on our operation. She"ll read it all on her own. But I"m going to be as delicate as possible," said Dan.

Ranger thought and got a little upset, but soon everyone forgot about the unpleasant encounter with the succubus, which even after death was able to give players a headache.

They were lucky, and the return journey went without meeting new dangerous and unknown opponents. In the ruins of Galatea, they met a redheaded Nick, who took the scouts" leftovers and loaded them with trophies. The thief listened to the stories of the newly abandoned city and was delighted:

"Well done! That"s just great! Let"s warm me up to level 20. I"ll make a transformation into a Burglar, and I"ll search the cellars and walls well there," said the thief. "I know the guys are really good at gaining levels there, but I have my own specific game. I can"t invest skill points to develop my special abilities. I have to work with stashes and traps."

He couldn"t go back to the castle, he had a few more ruins to look through. The guys wished him luck and went to the castle. They couldn"t run, the thief managed to get many weapons in the bas.e.m.e.nts and caches, and the guys were overloaded. On the territory of their possessions they were no longer afraid to meet a dangerous monster, so they walked calmly.

Jane met them in the castle and immediately grabbed a book from Dan"s hand, a detailed description of the scouts" journey. The girl hugged all the boys and ran away to the library. Turin and Nick started sorting the red thief"s booty. Some of the weapons needed repairing. The dwarf laughed with joy as he looked at the new elite trophy.

Velida went out into the courtyard and hugged Dan, then invited the hunters to go into the dining room and eat some normal food, which she had prepared for the return of the three brave sirs of hunters. John and Dan gladly went and complained about the c.r.a.p they"d eaten on the road. And how lucky they were to have such a wonderful master as Velida living in the castle. Every night they ate a small meal from their stock, and that was the best reward for their troubles on the road.

The hunter"s clan did not lose time, and in five days the hunters cleared two more locations of dead people. The hunters took into account the sinner"s request and did not touch the dungeon-like locations. They had enough meetings with banshees and draugrs. The battles with the bosses were hard. Kate admitted that the first meeting with the banshee wasn"t terrifying for her. She felt a terrible cold and was very unpleasant, but she was able to withstand and easily escape from the attack of a flying woman. The banshees were set by the hunters on Earth Elemental and Anna did a good job. The "Swamp" and "Swarm" slowed it down and quickly killed the nasty creature. With Draugr, it was harder and the fight went hard. Kate activated "Autodafe" and Alexander and Teddy went into the attack with the support of Earth Elemental. Richard and Jack were guarding Jane, Bella came out a little ahead and was ready to treat the berserker. Teddy flew into the draugr and was able to remove 2000 of his health, then he sacrificed himself and Alexander and the Elemental came into battle. Anna hit the dead warrior with "Swarm". The dead man could not pa.s.s by the berserker and a duel began between them. Alexander struck two powerful blows and was able to reduce the health of Draugr, but he also received a good wound. They were able to kill the warrior, but Bella was constantly applying the treatment. Betty had to call in a new Elemental because the Draugr was able to kill one stone fighter. Immunity to the players" weapons was an unpleasant a.s.sistant to these dead warriors. The group was able to destroy another monster in another location. For clearing two locations each player received 674.000 points of experience. This was enough for all newcomers to get level 19, but up to level 20 each lacked 210.000 points of experience.

During dinner, everyone decided that the clan will clear another location. John, Nick and Dan will guard Jane and will not interfere in the fight. Then, the players will be able to gain enough experience to take the important 20th level.

"Redhead has a lot to lose in the ruins of Galatea! He"s doing an important job, but I don"t think he"s right," said Jack.

"Leave the guy alone, he understands everything and goes his own way," said Emma. "It"s very difficult for me to be involved in your operations. I stand far away and only shoot with a bow! And still, I feel terrible and uncomfortable. I"m just not born to fight and there"s nothing I can do about it."

"Emma, don"t do anything to yourself, we love you for who you are," said Jack quietly.

"I understand everything. But I hate to know that I"m unsuitable like this," sighed the craftswoman.

"But you shoot well," remarked Alexander. "You"re much better than Nick. When he took the bow in his hand, his shots could only hit our backs."

"And just below the back, he hit very well too," laughed John.

"The magic of fire," the sorceress threw a finger at him. "Don"t make fun of my husband, or I"ll fry your a.s.s."

Everybody laughed, n.o.body wanted to talk about shortcomings or weaknesses.

Nick was taking lessons from Alexander. An experienced military man could give a good lesson in developing an accurate eye. The ability to determine distance without using any devices or devices other than his own eyes was very important to a scout. This ability is trained in the army and Alexander told the scouts the main principles of development lessons for the accurate eye. The guys did not get any game skills, but they learned to determine the distance quite accurately.

While Nick was lying on the roof and was looking at the main square of Nazgor, he measured the distance and was able to roughly determine the size of the area. Knowing that size, he could name an approximate number of monsters in the square.

"Five acres. 20000 monsters. That"s about 700 million experience per 13 people. Almost 50 million for each. But when Anna finishes the job, we"re in a lot of trouble. I"m talking about the bosses that are on the streets of Nazgor. If we meet nine bosses who will manage monster attacks, we"ll have to endure a tough fight," said Nick.

The possible reward was impressive, but the possible difficulties also made the players think.

The clan decided to quietly raise the levels of players in the familiar environment of their possessions. They will go to the city when they get new skills to meet the challenges and dangers with dignity.

Jane had already read Dan"s book and read it with Richard, but they hadn"t told anyone about the scouts" journey. In the evening, Betty took the book. Kate was upset that she had to wait for the trip and see the new monsters with her own eyes.

Dan was sitting in his favorite spot by the fireplace and taking notes at the Bestiary. He didn"t notice the curious Inquisitor sneaking up on his chair. p.u.s.s.y, the traitor, pretended that nothing dangerous was happening and did not warn her master of the blonde"s invasion.

"Dan, have you enhanced the "Cognition of Evil" during the tour?"

"Kate! You scared me! Come on. Are you taking lessons from John or Nick? Sneaked up like a real a.s.sa.s.sin," exclaimed the sinner and quickly hid the Bestiary in his inventory. "Sit down next to me. Yeah, there were a lot of interesting monsters in there, and I"ve increased my skill by one point. Now I have one last step left to take to the full development of the "Cognition of Evil"."

"Congratulations. I only have seven in this skill," said Kate modestly.

"It"s a good result, you"re doing great. Was it hard on your a.s.signments? I remember the banshee almost drove me crazy," asked Dan.

"No, you know we built up a lot of reputation in town while you were here fighting skeletons. I"m an expert on the spirit, and it helps me well. I was just running from a banshee, and she couldn"t get to me with her claws," laughed the girl.

"You"re special," smiled Dan. "You did a good job in town. I couldn"t run around on small errands to get a point of Glory as a reward."

"It was a bit unpleasant at the beginning. And then it got better and the reward went up," smiled at Kate and extended her hand. "I was worried about you. Give me your hand."

Dan froze and looked at her hand, and then he gave his hand out and felt the girl grab it tightly.

"She"s warm. I can feel you, Dan," smiled at Kate.

"It"s two o"clock till midnight, Kate. I"m alive. But I wouldn"t want to do it again after midnight," muttered Dan.

"Is that why you"re slowing down your development?"

"I"m not slowing down anymore, but I"m not at your level," smiled Dan. "132 points of spirit."

"Let"s wait until midnight. I want to see what you"re like when you"re alive dead."

Kate saw the white eyes of the sinner expand and laughed:

"Nothing extravagant and s.e.xual hara.s.sment! Calm down, Dan."

She saw him frowning and confessed to her interest:

"But you hooked on to me, Dan. It was back then, in town. In the dungeons. I saw you playing, I saw what it meant to you. I knew right away I wanted this man. And I"m going to get you," she threw a finger at him. "Don"t forget about "Autodafe"! You can"t hide from my skill, Mr. Sinner."

"Kate, I"m not ready for a relationship. I"m just not ready to be with someone. I can"t remember the details of a past life, but there was definitely a woman there. Nothing is clear and I know for a fact that I"m a lonely man. But... it"s too complicated with me right now."

"I know. We already picked the hardest cla.s.s in the game. By the way, you know, I was already the Inquisitor in the village and the locals weren"t scared of me. But then I haven"t lost my reputation yet. It"s different now, it"s not nice to go into the village. I tried it once and decided not to spoil my mood in the future," she spoke quickly and her blue eyes looked carefully into Dan"s eyes.

Kate saw that he had calmed down a little and smiled, but said it very seriously:

"You"re not getting away from me. I need you. I really hope for you. You have to admit it! Do you like me like a woman?"

"I like you," said Dan calmly and honestly. "I know what"s going on in the clan. You"re doing great. It"s a different game with you. It"s easier and more complicated at the same time."

She shone from his confession and let go of his hand.

Kate started swinging in her chair and singing some songs. Dan was looking at the flame in the fireplace.

"You work, I won"t peek into your Bestiary. I"ll sit next to you and we"ll wait until midnight."

The completely insane girl! "We"ll wait until midnight". And then what? I"m definitely losing some of my humanity. Strangely, I never cared about the change in feeling. I"m pretty sure my mind isn"t suffering. I am even like a certain coldness and cold blood in my reactions and actions. But it"s all good for meeting monsters! And the boys and I went to the wh.o.r.ehouse until midnight. There"s no problem. It"s been a pleasure. And the woman didn"t mind. h.e.l.l, I"m not ready for a relationship at all. I feel familiar with this song...

"Kate, what"s the name of this song?"

"I couldn"t remember the t.i.tle, but I"d call it "Yesterday". It"s just great for you and me," replied the Inquisitor.

Now I need a place to hideaway. Oh, I believe in yesterday, repeated the sinner thoughtfully.