"Tell me, will you be able to use your strength with this?"

"It"s no use, the distance between the columns is small, the width of the aisle is also small, you can"t wave with these weapons," he replied.

"And I don"t make you wave them. There are some planks in the stables. If it"s not enough, we"ll take it off the roof. We"ll put up big shields to block the stairs, also the ones at the end of the hall leading to the second floor. Now we"ve got a blacksmith, we"ve got to ask him to put iron hooks at the ends of these things."

Dan explained the plan in detail.

""We go inside and wait for the first creature to come down.

There are a lot of gaps in the skeleton armor, so we can grab the skeleton by the leg and drag it to the center of the hall. Two more men will catch their hand with the sword, and we will stretch the enemy. Let"s see if his fencing skills will do us much good in this situation.

Two men with all their strength and speed hit the fallen and stiffened skeleton. The other four players with shields block the pa.s.sages and hold the defense until we finish the first creature.

In case of danger we will all run away and wait for the creatures to calm down. And so on. We have three opponents.""

"What if the ghoul comes first? It"ll ride on the floor and on the walls without much trouble."

"I don"t know, Michael. I haven"t seen this ghoul and it"s hard for me to tell what it is. But the most important thing is that you understand. You have to kill skeletons one by one. I saw the one on level 15, and he blew me off in a couple of sword strokes. If the others have the same high level, we won"t beat them together, so there"s a chance. Split and destroy."

"One skeleton 15 and the other 18 and ghoul 19. You did well, Dan. We"ll try it your way. Now I"m going to give Turin an a.s.signment. He"ll make hooks, and Jim will make our weapons. Farewell to the honestly earned silver."

"Don"t you get it? Do we have to pay for this blacksmith?"

"It"s a dwarf," he looked at Dan with wonder. "Did you think if he swore to serve us, he"d serve for free? No, Brother, the rules of life are different here."

"It"s disgusting, what if we don"t pay?"

"The smith will sit down and do nothing. Then, he will start to cry and blame your greed for all mortal sins, and so on until you start paying him. Don"t worry, Turin is giving us a good discount if he"s not lying."

The dwarf showed his skill quickly. After a few minutes, he repaired the mechanism for lifting the gate grill. There was a click, and the grating froze up. Ron and Leo, under the command of a constantly swearing dwarf, fell on the gate doors. A nasty squeal was heard and the doors began to open. Right behind the gate was a small cart loaded with a bunch of things. The cart was brought by a small horse. Behind the gate were John and Nick, guarding the dwarf"s property.

Then, Dan noticed a small, full woman on the cart. As it turned out, she was a dwarf, too. Dan confesses he wouldn"t have distinguished her from ordinary women. An ordinary woman of small stature.

Michael said that Turin was moving in with his wife. Her name is Velida. The lady jumped off the cart, and then she asked Michael something and headed towards the chapel.

After a while there was a sound of a woman screaming from the chapel and a deaf blow. Gandalf flew out into the yard, holding his head and looking at us with wild eyes. When he noticed the guys, he muttered something and poked his fingers frightened toward the chapel, ran to them.

A second later, there was a burst of loud laughter in the yard.

It turned out that the whole time Gandalf was sleeping under the table, waking up with a strange sound. He shattered his eyes and noticed a strange woman leaning against the wall. He thought it was a dream and was overwhelmed with happiness. Gandalf grabbed the woman. But a lovely woman"s face made a resounding scream that stunned him. Then, a hard fist blow to the ear took away 300 hp of health.

The strangest thing was that the dwarf laughed the most in this situation.

The obviously disoriented Gandalf noticed a shaking loud beard and his face changed expression again funny.

Players laughed again. It wasn"t funny just for Michael, who was afraid of the group reputation. Dan just didn"t understand this strange medieval age.

The gate was closed, and the work moved to the forge.

The screaming, the rumbling, the dust, the stunned faces of Jim and Tom, who were doing the dwarf commands. An hour later, smoke fell from the blacksmith"s chimney.

Dan, Michael and the rest of us were dismantling the stalls the whole time. They needed materials to make large shields.

Everyone remembered the flying creatures, so Michael did not let take the roof apart. Then, Michael went to the forge and gave the dwarf his first tasks.

From the smithy soon heard the sound of knocking hammers and just half an hour later Jim brought a few dozen nails and hammer. The nails were small but square.

It took another half an hour to make big shields. The shields were rough but solid. Men also broke four strong bars out of the stable walls on the supports.

While Dan was working, he got a +1 to strength.

The hooks were opened from our metal bars. Jim took a hammer and fixed the hooks to the big woods. Turin shackled the fasteners with an iron strip.

They were armed and ready. Everyone knew their job.

A group of players froze at the Donjon gate.

"Good luck," said Michael.

Dan took a quick step into the battle.

The hall was empty. The torches on the columns were crackling quietly. Michael took a bunch of torches out of his inventory. He lit the torches one by one and scattered them in dark places.

Dan, Gandalf and Jim with a shield and a bar froze against the wall on one side, Ron and Tom on the other with the same shield. The shield was very heavy, they could barely drag him.

Michael, John, Nick, Leo, and Alexander had prepared to meet dangerous skeletons.

And the first creature didn"t take long.

*

Warrior skeleton

Level 18

Type: Elite

Attention! This monster has committed over ten murders of players. Its characteristics have been increased by 20%.

Life: 11200

*

The creature has moved to the main group. Alexander and Michael tried to hook the skeleton to his legs. The creature showed a leap and dodged Michael"s capture, but Alexander cleverly hooked the skeleton bone in the area of the uncovered remnants of the armor of the knee.

Cutting the sheaves of sparks from the floor with his rough hook, Alexander quickly dragged the skeleton into the center of the hall.

Michael waited for the moment and caught the hand that held the sword. They stretched the skeleton on the floor! The only thing the skeleton could do was to sluggishly swing the shield.

Dan couldn"t help but laugh at the gloating.

As soon as Alexander dragged the creature into the center of the hall, they rushed to the aisles, installed shields, and supported them. It didn"t work out perfectly, but a large creature couldn"t get into the hall.

"Hurry up! Hit hard and fast! We won"t hold him long," shouted Michael.

Nick and John were dancing around the skeleton. Leo was already beating the skeleton with his club.

""Two clubs and one sword. Good luck to you guys.""

Before Dan could get Jim to set up second support, their shield shook on impact.

"Michael!" screamed Jim.

"We"re done, who have you got?"

That was an interesting question. Dan bent over and picked up a torch from the floor. Then, he looked into the slot in the shield and almost got a blade in his eye. Dan screamed out of surprise and fell on the a.s.s. He almost set himself on fire with a torch he dropped!

"Level fifteen. And it looks like he"s alone."

*

[You got 8000 experience. Got a new level]

*

The status of the group was frozen again.

"Jim, Gandalf, Dan, drop the shield and retreat yourself, but not far."

Jim and Dan kicked the braces at the same time and rushed back to Gandalf.

The shield fell and a new enemy entered the hall. The skeleton noticed a group huddled in the center and went to them quickly. The beast was immediately hooked. Dan and Jim ran to install the shield again. It took less time to destroy that skeleton.

*

[You got 5000 experience points]

*

At that moment, Tom and Ron, who were holding the second shield, flew away from hitting the shield. And this thing flew into the hall.

*

Ghoul

Level 19

Type: Elite

Attention! This monster has committed over ten murders of players. Its characteristics have been increased by 20%.

Life: 9000

*

The ghoul spun his face and looked around the hall. Then, the creature made a giant leap up and disappeared. The ceiling! They need better light up the ceiling! Dan rushed to the torch on the floor and screamed. Something stuck in his back. It"s like stabbing in the back with burning nails.

*

[Injury has been caused. Attention! The damage caused to you is elevated due to injury.

570 damage points. Life: 930/1500]

*

All Dan could do was scratch the floor with his hands, break his nails and wheeze.

*

[540 damage points received. Life: 390/1500. You received 570 damage points]

*

Hateful second of Nothingness. And his body bent an arc at the site of the rebirth. Dan barely swallowed the first breath that caused pain in his lungs.

*

[You got 200 experience points]

*

Thank you, dear Game!

On the right, one of the pedestals was lit up with a nice pearl light, and a second later Jim"s body arced out.

""It"s beautiful, d.a.m.n it.""

"I hate this moment," he complained.

"Yeah. It feels bad,"

Then another bed came up and Ron and then Leo joined the company. It took a little more time, but no one else showed up.

"Leave, slick b.i.t.c.hes," laughed Jim.

"In what way? The doors don"t open," objected Dan.

"It"s all opening up. Dan, you just haven"t noticed that when you"re wounded, the stats fall, so you can"t open the door."

"I forgot about this feature! By the way, it"s brilliant, and it"s very cruel. Why are we sitting here? Let"s go outside."

"No, Dan, let"s just lie down for five more minutes. Remember your fight. Celebrate your mistakes and your lucky moves. Every death should be an invaluable experience."

"Jim, my respects. Master. A very clever and competent remark."

"That"s where we live, Dan. The development of the craft does not tolerate empty vanity."

For a while, they kept silent and a.n.a.lyzed actions in battle. Men just lay on a hard bed and enjoyed the silence. Dan warned Jim how dangerous it was to look through the cracks in the shield if the enemy was armed with a sword on the other side.

Then, they went down by the rope.

In the yard of the castle Michael was waiting for, he smiled.

"You"re suspiciously happy," frowned Jim at him.

"Come on, you"ll see the loot, then you"ll have fun too!"

They went to the blacksmiths. It"s where all the players and Turin gathered. There was loot on the rest of the boards.

Dan looked at the a.s.sortment and whistled. Two swords and shields of dead skeletons. He opened the description of one of the swords and immediately started reading aloud to the whole team:

*

The Sword of the Bloodsucker

Type: normal

Attention! To own these weapons effectively, you must have at least 30 points of strength.

Damage: 210 to 240.

Durability: 80

Weight: 3 pounds

Attention! This item can be improved. One slot available.

*

Two copper rings. One +2 to strength, and the second +2 to dexterity, the type usual.

*

Iron armor of a soldier.

Type: Ordinary

Defense: 200

Durability: 80

Weight: 10 pounds

Attention! This item can be improved. One slot available.

*

Daggers of the Bloodsucker. Paired.

Type: normal

Attention! For effective possession of these weapons, you must have at least 20 dexterity points.

Damage: 100 to 130.

Attention! If a successful strike is made, the effect of Bleeding is triggered. A live target loses 8 HP per second for 20 seconds.

Durability: 80

Weight: 1 pound

*

""The bone amulet gives +3 to the spirit.""

Seven crystals.""

The essence of fire.

Type: Craft object

Effects: Builds into armor, gives 2% fire protection, if you build this shard into your weapon, it will deal + 2% damage to the total.

*

Turin said it was an alchemical reagent used to create potions or objects.

They also got a solid pile of coins in 54 silver rials and 8 copper. And a pile of metal in which Dan identified the spoiled skeleton armor of warriors. That was the moment that puzzled Dan at first. Michael explained that from the elite you can get away everything, even bones. That"s funny.

"You know, gentlemen, I can wrap up the rest of my spoiled armor. Another set of armor will do," said Turin.

When he pointed to a bunch of iron from the skeleton, his eyes kept staring at a slide of coins.

Dan thought with that kind of service that greedy dwarf would make the group very poor very soon.

The darkest Michael clearly shared Dan"s fears. Dan had an idea in his head.

"Michael, let"s step back for a minute," he said.

They stepped aside, and Dan noticed the dwarf taking a little step in their direction. Just in case, he started whispering:

"Michael, make the dwarf our treasurer."

"Are you crazy?"

"Quiet, you. Listen to my idea. The dwarf and the head of the village will continue to deceive us in terms of money and other trade. We don"t benefit from this situation. But as long as the gaming system supports them, there"s nothing we can do. Then, we have to do something tricky. We make the dwarf of our group"s treasurer. With this appointment, we discreetly drag him into our group. Our credo is, "All for the welfare and prosperity of the group". The wealth of Turin will depend on our wealth. All business with the headman in terms of trade will be done through the dwarf. And we won"t let a beard fool ourselves. And after a while, the dwarf will realize that we are on equal terms. Then let"s see if he has enough stupidity to rob himself. A dwarf. It"s a guarantee of craftsmanship, greed and a very picky trade. What do you think of my idea?"

"Not bad, Dan. At least we eliminate one bloodsucker from the scheme. That"s good, but it"s stupid to give it all up to save Turin. How do you control it?"

"The dwarf swore an oath. You said yourself that in this world, reputation is everything. If he betrays us, he"ll feel bad."

"We need to talk to the others," said the leader.

"Talk, there"ll still be twenty minutes around the trophies anyway, and then some more time to discuss who gets what."

"What have you been looking at?"

"What"s the sense in arming me? I"ll be like a pregnant cochlea with armor and a sword."

"You think about the Spirit," he smiled. "I see. Then, you"ll share your thoughts. Why don"t we make one more stop now? The last one. We managed to get our hooks out."

Dan looked up at the sky. And he confessed to him honestly:

"Michael, we"d better attack tomorrow. I"m honestly afraid that another resurrection today will obviously hurt my brain. We have gained experience in battle. Tomorrow we will arm ourselves with new weapons and new armor. We have time to complete this quest."

"Okay, Dan. I agree with you. The important thing to do is to be careful. I"ll talk to ours about the dwarf."

Michael slapped Dan on the shoulder and went to the group.

Dan went to the well. He moved the cover and put a wooden bucket on the chain, took out the water. The water was icy, it broke his teeth. Dan drank and drank until he thought that he was going to explode. He poured the water out of the bucket and fixed the cover. Then, Dan went to the chapel. He had already opened the door and heard Michael"s voice from the blacksmith:

"Turin, buddy, you know I have a great offer for you."

That"s great. This is Destiny. Destiny brings him and all the group together. In this game, Dan saw some ba.n.a.l and familiar events. The blacksmith is the basis for living in a world of sword and magic. Now they have a blacksmith. His wife is a wonderful bonus! She will certainly take care of the household. And that"s good. It"s a pity there are no gifts related to magic. At least one scroll on "You"ve learned the magic spell of Fireball." Give it to Gandalf, and he"ll immediately feel his value. He"ll have a purpose for development...

Dan walked into the chapel. It was very bright in the chapel. All the candles in the luminaries were on fire, and the room was well-lit. He saw that the floors and tables were much cleaner and more comfortable. His cloak and cup remained by the fireplace. Dan sat down in front of the fire and took a deep swallow of wine. From the kitchen he pulled the delicious smell of food, and a small cooker Velida could be seen walking beside it. Dan froze again with a cup in hand, and after a while, he slept.

*

Michael woke him up. He sat next to Dan.

"Stop meditating, dinner will be served soon.

Velida has baked bread and ham on the way."

He gave an amulet:

"Here you go, Dan. I put it aside for you."

"Thank you."

"I made a deal with Turin. He had a hard time at first, but he was flattered. He understood our plan very well. The people here are not stupid. Tomorrow we"ll see what comes out of it."

Michael was silent. Then, he looked at Dan closely in the eyes. It was a serious look. Dan realized that he had some very important news waiting for him now. Michael said quietly:

"I want to ask you about important business. Do you want to be the leader of the group?"

That"s an interesting turn. Dan answered right away. Without is even thinking for a second:

"No! Wait, Michael. I answered honestly. I didn"t even think about leadership. I feel perfectly well that it"s none of my businesses. I"m not a leader by nature. I"m sorry, but I"ll add some unpleasant news. It will sound selfish, but honest. I don"t want to be a leader. You take the lead, you keep leading. Don"t look for someone to shift the responsibility to. I will be a reliable advisor and a.s.sistant."

It seemed that Michael was relieved to breathe out after these words.

"Okay, Dan. I"ll try. Why don"t you want to increase your strength?"

Dan had the answer to that question ready. He said that he didn"t want to rush it. John told him the local questions about where to get a character cla.s.s didn"t work out. n.o.body knows. The teachers are nowhere to be found. So, they"re looking in the wrong place. According to the a.s.signments, the game is directly interested in their development.

Dan doesn"t need to increase strength.

Now if you look at the development of the group, you can immediately see that Michael, Alexander, Leo, Tom and Ron are developing along the path of warriors.

John and Nick are future hunters and scouts. They will develop dexterity.

Jim will be pumping the parameters for the craft.

Dan watched him at the Donjon today and realized the fight wasn"t for him. He"s got a character that"s not combat, he"s a normal peaceful man.

Gandalf does not want to raise the levels because he has to go into battle, and there he will experience the pain from which he wants to escape. His fear of pain is normal.

But he clearly has a dream, he wants to be a magician. A wizard does damage in the distance. A magician needs to be protected from physical contact with the enemy.

So, he and Dan are pumping intelligence and spirit. Dan likes the fight. He was attracted to the fight. He wants to do damage, and want to heal if necessary.

There"s a craft like the enchantment of equipment. There"s a certain need for intelligence.

The system directly indicates the presence of magic.

They"re going to need magic a lot. The forest Spirits live in the forest, so there are immaterial monsters in the game. It"s all ghosts and Banshees from the cemetery. Dan highly doubts it can be killed with a regular sword. It"s a cla.s.sic Diablo and many other computer games.

"Dan, you think we"re going to get access to cla.s.srooms in the donjon," said Michael.

"Yeah. Everything I"ve read or looked at there convinces me there"s an object or an altar in the donjon. We can get the cla.s.ses, otherwise, it doesn"t make sense."

"Let"s see, tomorrow, Turin will make another set of armor, out of trophies. With the leftovers, we"ll reinforce one of the leather armors. It"s hard to kill a ghoul, but we have to deal with it.

We can buy a net in the village, but I think it won"t be a problem for that ghoul. It does damage with its claws. We kill skeletons in a new way. Small skeletons we can beat quickly. When the ghoul shows up, you all run away quickly. That leaves Alexander, Nick, John and me. I hope we can make it. We"ll do our best."

"Michael, did you ask Turin about the crystals?"

"Yes, I did. He said he needed the skill of Enchantment. He has no such skill. I put them aside for now. They"ll be waiting for you."

"John and Nick didn"t fight over daggers?"

"No, everyone decided peacefully. John got those daggers. Nick got reinforced leather and a sword."

The conversation was interrupted by a scream from the table:

"Hey, conspirators by the fire, go eat. It"s time for dinner."

They got up and came to the table. Turin and Velida were sitting with all the players. As Dan sat down at the table, he saw her look. Velida was looking at his face. Dan put his head down. His scars are with him now forever. But he wasn"t sad. He felt that tomorrow they would win. And they will learn new perspectives and new rules of this cruel game.