John a.s.sa.s.sin, Nick the scout. It was understandable and expected. The guys picked two cla.s.ses that would give the clan twice the skills and benefits for development.

And then Dan was pretty surprised. Leo became a knight. He turned out to be a romantic. Or a very cunning man, which was totally out of line with his friendliness. He became the only Knight in the clan. His skills will surely help.

Tom chose the Warrior"s way, but his brother was surprised. Ron became the Spiritual Master. Only Gandalf remained undistributed.

Dan went out into the courtyard and saw John and Nick going hunting with Gandalf. He asked them not to touch things they didn"t know or understand if they got their hands on.

The guys got in, and Gandalf started dreaming of finding a powerful artifact.

Dan didn"t understand him, to be honest. Is he fooling around, or does he have a childish view of the world? It"s like a witch with her torture had to shake his inner peace. Or is that such a protective reaction? The guy was playing a game, and he treated life like a game. An unclear person.

The dexterous guys went hunting. John said there"s a wolf"s den nearby.

Dan started doing some exercise. Leo picked on him and told him what had pushed Ron to become a spirit doctor.

The need to kill seriously injured friends turned out to be a big hit for him. And to make sure it didn"t happen again, Ron took on a spiritual that had been healed.

The healing was weak. It only raised life by a hundred hp, but in the lack of potions, such help was needed. Using a skill cost 30 mana, but with skill development, the number of hp restored increased.

It is a strange moment, the way of the spirit, and intelligence is still necessary.

Dan listened and did the exercises, and he did it! The game congratulated him and added +1 to life and +1 to strength. That"s the increase that he"s done a lot of work today.

Dan tried again to think about what happened to him in this world.

He"s only been here for four days, and it seems like it"s been a couple of weeks. The world was dragging on, Dan was attracted to the fact that the world was hiding big secrets.

Surprisingly and quite strangely, there were no players among the people, those who in that life was sick with games. By what standards were they selected?

Dan was worried about the general behavior of the people in the group.

Memories were revived by pa.s.sages of the most shining moments of the past. Everyone but him had families there. But not hysterical, isolated behavior, Dan wasn"t observing. And on the subject of past life, the guys are trying to talk less. Why is that? Or maybe it"s just been too little time. There was also an interesting fact. Everyone knew their names, but no one could remember their family name.

Questions, questions, and no answers. This kind of situation freaked Dan out.

A noise was heard at the gate, and a heavily forested wagon entered the castle courtyard, followed by another one. The carpenters came to work on the furniture for the castle.

Dan went up to Michael and told him about an unpleasant discovery.

They went to the castle. The leader had identification scrolls!

When they went into the office, Dan went straight to the desk and moved it aside. The table was heavy. He looked at the floor and noticed that one stove on the floor stood out slightly. He quickly found the second stove as well.

Dan stood up on the stove and rattled against the wall, opening the door to the secret room.

"Go, soldier, look," said Dan.

Michael took his time, he looked closely at the pa.s.sage.

"Wait for a minute, Inquisitor, this case is serious."

Michael shook his head and there was a scroll in his hand. Then, he stepped inside the hiding place and got away with it. There was a sound as if Michael was snapping... with his fingers. Then he scolded softly... Then, the clicks were heard again. He activated the scrolls, one by one, and then the soldier scolded again and started activating the scrolls again.

About two minutes later, he came out of the stash with a confused face.

Dan asked with great interest in the results of his attempts:

"Did it work?"

"I was able to identify the sword and the book. The shard was still unidentifiable."

"And what do they write?"

"Come and see for yourself. With your skills, you can see more valuable information."

It took them a little time to change the legs on the slabs. Switched places and Dan took a careful step into the stash.

*

[Attention! You are approaching the cursed objects.

Attention! You can"t identify one of these objects. You need a skill or an Identification Scroll.

Attention!!! A cursed object can have a devastating effect on your character. Under the influence of an object you may lose your cla.s.s and become a monster.]

*

He already read that, so he wasn"t scared. Dan looked at the blade and highlighted the description icon with his eyes.

*

Drinking the Soul

Type: Cursed

Effects: Hidden

Damage: Hidden

Weight: Hidden

Strength: Hidden

Description: Hidden

You will only be able to see the hidden characteristics of an object by becoming its owner.

This object is only available to adherents of the Path of Strength.

The minimum level for effective possession: 80.

*

What an artifact! They"ll never make it to level 80! The name is very frightening. A sword that drinks the soul. And whose soul does it drink? The owner or his enemies? This sly sword is quite capable of drinking souls from anyone! It is cursed! It"s a terrible weapon.

Dan turned his attention to the shard.

*

Unidentified object. Identification required.

*

Nothing is clear! The filthy stone has an even higher level than the sword if his scrolls couldn"t identify him.

All he has to do is look at the book...

*

Taurus

Type: Cursed

Effects: Hidden

Weight: Hidden

Strength: Hidden

Description: Hidden

You will only be able to see the hidden characteristics of an object by becoming its owner.

This object is only available to adepts of the Spirit"s path.

*

[Link to the subject? Yes/No]

G.o.dd.a.m.n it, what do we do? And is it his imagination, or is the phrase wrongly constructed?

"No," Dan said it clearly.

[Should it be linked to you? "Yes/No]

*

"Michael, I" m invited to take this cursed book."

"So take it, your cla.s.s seems to be allowed."

"What if I get cursed?"

"Then don"t take it."

"Good advice, Michael, would kill you for such advice."

"It"s your choice," he laughed.

So, what do we do now?

Why do all the surprises happen to him?

The game"s hints are clear and seem to approve of Dan"s desire to take this artifact.

The Inquisitor can interact with the cursed objects. And this book is designed specifically for the Inquisitor!

Dan decided to take a chance and quietly agreed to tie the artifact to him:

"Yes."

*

[The hidden task "Be careful" has been completed. If you chose the wrong option, your cla.s.s would change to "Ghoul". We wish you a pleasant game. The item is built into your outfit.

Status: Equipped.]

*

I knew it! You b.a.s.t.a.r.ds! I want you to do such hidden quests yourself from start to finish.

Dan opened the character"s window and saw he had another slot in his right thigh area.

He opened up a description:

*

Taurus

Type: Cursed

Remove, sell, transfer, steal is impossible.

Effects: Locked until the character reaches level 80.

Weight: Locked until the character reaches level 80.

Durable: Locked until the character reaches level 80.

Description: Locked until the character reaches level 80.

*

It"s a total a.s.shole!

That s.h.i.t was instantly attached to his right belt. The two chains that came with it instantly wrapped up his body and now became a belt. Dan tried to unlock the silver book clasps. There was an inscription, "Blocked until the character reaches level 80".

He tried to put the book in his inventory and the result was the same. The book couldn"t be moved, it couldn"t be taken off.

And why did he need it? It"s impossible to take it off. The book can"t be used.

Michael was wary of his upset face. Seeing the alarm in his eyes, Dan wasn"t scared for a joke.

"There"s something wrong with me, Michael, isn"t there?"

For a whole minute, Michael kept quiet, his face was getting darker and darker. It seems that Dan had played it out, and now he"s being kicked out of the clan. And then the b.a.s.t.a.r.d started laughing loudly.

"It is okay, Dan! It"s just that your face was so... sinful to miss a chance," he said between laughs.

"Oh, come on, with all the jokes!"

The relaxation was mixed with anger. Dan turned around and walked away from that d.a.m.n room. The words of this creep came down to his back:

"Dan, no offense! Tell me a secret, what are the effects of your mysterious ancient black book?"

Fool! Not a clan leader, a fool. Doesn"t he realize that much secrecy is now broken? This book is impossible to hide! And what is the answer to those who are sure to notice this unusual thing?

"You"re back in your favorite spot by the fireplace, I knew it. Move over, you evil inquisitor."

Michael drove him away from the fireplace.

Suddenly, two rocking chairs appeared in front of the fireplace. The room smelled of fresh wood and varnished. Dan touched the smooth headband of the chair and smiled. Well-done by the carpenter. He"ll live in that chair now! Sitting in the chair, he blissfully stretched his legs toward the fireplace and smiled:

"All I have to do is buying a blanket, a pipe and find where the beer is made!"

"There"s no beer in the village. Dan, you forgave me. Now tell me the details of what kind of book you got."

Michael sat down in another chair and stared at the belt folio with interest.

"You"re not going to believe this. To find out what"s in the book, I need to get to level 80! I can"t take this book off, not sell it. There"s one joy in not being able to steal it from me."

"How did you get it equipped?"

"I"ve got it on my own like a virus."

"Interesting."

"I would even say very interesting. And it is very sad, Michael. Did you want news? I share my opinion with sadness. The game now clearly shows us one of the limits of our existence. Level 80 is not a fairy tale, it"s an achievable result. I"ll have to live in this nightmare world for a long time and I"ll have to kill the d.a.m.n crowd of d.a.m.n monsters to reach level 80."

"I get your idea. And I agree with you. Dan, we"re not telling everyone about the stash. Answer all of your questions with the truth! In this game, you can"t lie, it"s very cruel and it can give you a penalty. You found the book. It"s for the Inquisitor cla.s.s. And don"t say anything else."

"Nice and right. It"ll work. Where did you get such great chairs?"

"Morwen the carpenter did. And it took him about ten minutes for each chair. He"s got a carpenter"s skill up. Morwen said the new product would be in demand."

"Has he tried to buy a patent from you?"

"Come on, there"s no such thing as patent law. No one"s ever heard of it. We gave him an idea, and he gave us two chairs to thank us. Here"s the whole patent for you."

Dan looked at the leader and started an important new conversation:

"Michael, I have a proposal. Soon tonight and after dinner, we"ll be planning our actions in the cemetery. But we have a few important questions to address. They are related to the activities of the clan. You"re a leader, but you can"t deal with all the questions alone. We need a financier, this man must run our trade in a new world. It has to be a man who has a cla.s.s development connected to the intellect. Trade and finance are the affairs of smart and intelligent people."

"Sometimes I stop like a broken doll. You"re right, Dan, I"ve taken on too many responsibilities. I have no desire to be in finance and commerce. I feel like a fighter. I feel like a soldier. Jim can"t be our commercial agent and financier. Smith"s skill is the most difficult in this world. The quality of our armor and our weapons depends on his development. Our financier and the main trader can be Nick! He has a Scout cla.s.s. And strangely enough, this cla.s.s must develop intelligence. Scout should develop as a master of traps. Nick will work hard in the village, he will have a lot of contact with the locals. I hope he"ll agree to take on new responsibilities and become a clan financier."

"I"ll say some nasty words, but these are honest words. Sadly, Gandalf is not ready for that kind of responsibility. Intelligence is the main characteristic of a magician. But Gandalf is being too non-serious."

"I agree with you. I"m annoyed by his constant whining about the lack of women in our group."

"Let"s talk about simpler things. How do we clean the cemetery?"

"From one edge to the other," he joked. "There are level 1 and 2 skeletons living there. Next comes the Ghouls of Level 2 and Level 3. Zombies are level 5. The scariest thing in the cemetery is Banshee. We don"t know the level of that thing. Maybe there"s a major monster in the cemetery that"s hiding in one of the crypts. There"s always the boss of the location in the games. Information about the cemetery is the work of our scouts, who used to look around a bit. John and Nick were quick to take a special interest in the world. The two of them took a look around the castle. They couldn"t get past the cemetery."

"Are there crypts in there?"

"There are a lot of things there. The monsters are weak. They have borders, they follow certain routes. Tomorrow, we"ll be picking up monsters weaker and pulling them out for battle. We should all try out the skills we"ve learned on them."

"And the banshees?"

"And what about the banshee? You have a useful skill. Then, she can"t hurt much.

I don"t expect to find good prey in a cemetery. But we already have two stone improved swords. Turin said they work against ghosts, too. I think it"s not that bad. I"m level 14, Alexander 12. John and Nick are level 11, the other guys are level 10. We can do this. We"ll take our time, and we"ll be careful."

"We don"t know which boss will meet us at the cemetery."

"Dan, you"re a pessimist. You never said anything about yourself, by the way. Do you remember where you lived and who you worked?"

"I can"t remember anything definitive. It"s just normal life. I feel like I was working as a journalist. I don"t know what country I lived and worked in, I can"t remember the name of the newspaper. I"ve seen employees, but I can"t remember the names."

"Okay, don"t bother."

They were quiet. They sat by the fireplace and listened to the crackle of coal in flames.