Any Horror Any Fall Any Winner Takes It All

Michael and Dan went to the stash and put the cursed fragment in the stash. Dan told them about the werewolf"s lair, and they decided to finish the story. Dan thought the story would remind him of him, there"d definitely be a continuation. And it was depending on him how soon the clan would get into more trouble.

Dan stopped doing sword exercises in the backyard. The library room was large. It didn"t yet have a collection of books, so the Inquisitor could practice fencing alone. Stefan could not help him, he had to trust the memory of the sword.

Every day, Tarrok would ask Dan to learn a new skill. The skills were changing!

During his existence, the sword was able to encounter many combat and everyday skills. Tarrok couldn"t teach a specific skill, he couldn"t remember a "custom" skill. Dan could only shake his head as he read the description of the new sword skill. But he didn"t make any concessions. It wasn"t a matter of loyalty to the clan. Dan didn"t want to sacrifice any part of his freedom! He knew that he couldn"t fight the mind of a cursed creature. So he denied any attempt by the sword to increase its influence over its master.

The Inquisitor spent most of his time a.n.a.lyzing his records in the ancient language. Skills "Ancient Languages" and "Master of Puzzles" allowed us to successfully dive into the ancient history of this world. And as more Dan learned, the more unpleasant the picture stood before his eyes. Everything rested on the G.o.ds. The consequences of war dictated to this world the specifics of life. The undead and other magical monsters could not be eliminated! The clan had a big quest for 15 months in front, to clean up 30 locations!

People had not lived for months in this horror but were already beginning to change seriously. What happens next year?

*

The pet was able to dispel the inquisitor"s eternal gloomy mood a little.

The cat didn"t tame itself like werewolves. It grew up at a normal speed, grew like a normal kitten. She needed food and the owner"s attention.

Dan called the cat simple "p.u.s.s.y".

Funny John was the first to respond, who sadly remarked, "This p.u.s.s.y is the only p.u.s.s.y that dark Dan can hope for."

Dan wasn"t annoyed by the simple humor of a.s.sa.s.sin.

Dan wasn"t annoyed by anything else. An ordinary pet required some experience from his master to develop. His pet would take 50% of his master"s experience! The greedy owner could easily control the development process. Simply activate the icon and the pet would disappear! The pet would go into sleep mode and not consume the owner"s experience. In other cases, everything depended on the player"s desire. Do you want to get a powerful partner quickly? Keep your p.u.s.s.y near the battlefield.

On his 17th level, Dan could be alone looking for meetings with level 10 monsters. It was safe. Nick and John found one location for the Inquisitor. The Undead, the most convenient opponent. And levels were normal, level 5 skeletons and warrior skeletons and level 8-10 zombies.

Dan had spent several hours in a delicate and careful series of one-on-one battles. The little cat at first didn"t understand what was required of it. The completely unreasonable cat was wildly aggressive to anything that showed its displeasure with her owner. The cat hissed and rushed into battle with skeletons. Communication between them was through the images that appeared in Dan"s head. He couldn"t give a clear order to the cat not to interfere in the fight. Getting the cat tied up was a dangerous way out. While Dan was dealing with one enemy, another skeleton could fit into the little animal. In one day, p.u.s.s.y had grown to five levels! She didn"t have any skills. When she took the level, the system would automatically add 1 point to each of the characteristics.

Dan shared his experience with everyone. n.o.body liked the information that the cat was taking 50% of his experience. And everyone stopped bothering the scouts with the demands to find pets for all of them. Gandalf was most upset. He really wanted a bear for himself! It was a great choice for a magician. Bears in this world were very fearful, they were the most powerful opponents in the forest. The magician realized that he wouldn"t get a protector soon. He had a big problem with character development. He had to organize special conditions. But the scouts were in no hurry to expand their attention to the whole clan.

Soon the scouts brought very unpleasant news to the castle.

The best and most experienced hunter from the neighboring settlement was able to get to the village. He had been running for two days. He brought terrible news. The neighboring settlement was destroyed by the dead!

A force of a couple hundred skeletons led by Leach! This undead was struck by magic. There were also several banshees. The dead showed incredible skill and reasonableness.

The dead did not surround the village from all sides as usual. They simply moved to storm in the weakest spot of the defense. And it was found, in one place, the wall had long required repairs. How did the dead find out about it, a survived hunter did not know. He didn"t know exactly how many people had survived the ma.s.sacre.

This terrible news caused a chain of unexpected events. A caravan of traders has decided to return to the city! They had intended to visit the destroyed settlement, but now it didn"t make any sense.

Nick listened in silence to everyone discussing the sad news of the village being destroyed.

Michael thought about what they would do if this large group of the dead came to the clan"s area of responsibility.

Nick waited for the pa.s.sions to die down and struck!

"Friends, let me share an important thought."

Everyone"s silenced. Mikhail and Alexander looked at the head of exploration and trade with interest. And Nick wasn"t disappointed, his words made everyone confused:

"I suggest we start preparing for a visit to the city of Dor. We looked in the direction of the city with fear. But look at us. We got stronger! I"m not hiding the fact that I"m ready to take my chances and go to Dor on my own. But this isn"t about me. I"m talking about our common business.

I"m sure if we go all the clan on the road, we can reach the city in one day. We"ve got a strong combat team to protect us. John and I guarantee scouting and timely warning of a possible attack.

I"m not talking about the clan perspective that"s waiting for us in town.

If our clan becomes the first to indicate a presence in Dor, we"ll get first place in quests, influence and overall clan development.

Dor is a city. You all understand how much we need a city. It"s teachers, it"s an entrance to a new market, and it"s an entrance to a whole new stage of life."

"Which is quite difficult to reach," said Alexander.

"Together with the caravan? I remind you the caravan will be gone in a few days," said Nick.

"I"m ready to confirm Sir Nick"s words," said Stefan quietly. "The clan may reach the city. The average security level in the caravan is level 25. But you"re different. You"re called to the world to fight evil. You"re an amazingly fast study. Your immortality is a mysterious ability. You don"t risk anything. If luck turns its back on someone, they will rise here in the castle."

"And who will stay in the castle? Except for our Inquisitor?" John asked a serious question.

It was discussed. John gladly acted as a provoker and asked an unpleasant question with a smile.

"I"m ready to wait for you alone," said Dan calmly. "The castle has serious protection. No dead people are scared of him. By the way, Turin and Velida, you must go to town, too. I"m sure you"ll have some important things to do in it."

"Are you seriously ready to be alone in the castle? Dan isn"t right," said Alexander sharply.

"I just can"t go into town. My cla.s.s will cause you problems. This is not good for you. It requires exploration, a clear understanding of the city"s Spirituals" att.i.tude towards an Inquisitor like me. That"s easy for Ron! He will be welcomed there with open arms."

"In the castle, you will be safe. But what can you do alone, If the village is attacked by the dead?" asked Michael.

"You are asking a cruel question. And I will give a cruel answer. The clan has no mission to protect the village. We are heirs to the ancient order and we have a quest. And in two days, we must destroy two werewolves. And not because they threaten the village. The headman will pay for his protection separately and he"s given you a separate quest. These creatures were on our map as soon as we became a clan and took the quest to keep clan territory clean."

Everyone was silent. For the first time, someone said out loud that they didn"t care much about the local people"s problems. And said it by someone who didn"t please these locals. The Inquisitor couldn"t hope for even a small share of attention and partic.i.p.ation from the locals.

"We have to think. Nick, you brought up the right and important question. We can"t miss our chance. But now I suggest we think about a plan to attack werewolves," said Michael.

Nick knocked his hand on the table in front of him. Then he started the report:

"We know where the werewolf lair is. We couldn"t mark the creatures with our Pathfinder marks. They"re 25 levels. Their main danger is they"re very fast! They"re too fast. Only the clan"s combat branch, scouting and inquisitor will do the job.

We"re going in a tight group to the lair. The local hunters said there are no ravines that way. There are meadows in the woods and small hills. John and I are giving a warning about a werewolf closing in. They"re all holding formation and guarding the Inquisitor. And then it will hurt. When the creatures attack, Dan challenges one of them. And that"s when Leo, Michael and the four warriors. .h.i.t one enemy while they"re tied up with Dan. The werewolf is fast as lightning, but he can"t leave the Autodafe border. The one who dies is out of the game. Either way, we destroy the beast. I support with arrows and precision shooting skills. Survivors attack the last werewolf.

If he doesn"t kill Dan, our Inquisitor will use the control and weakness of the enemy again."

Nick was silent and leaned back in his chair.

The plan was simple and clear. And everybody understood that without dying, we couldn"t do it.

"All this is only true in one case. We hope the werewolves will take the fight," Dan said quietly. "Nick, I didn"t understand you. Werewolves are as fast as lightning. They"re beautiful words. Can I see his movement with the look?"

"Of course you can. You"ll have a chance to put him on Court. But you"re right. If the werewolves start running from us... I don"t know what to do."

"We"re going to the lair anyway," noticed Michael. "We can only hope that there"s more of an animal in them than a reasonable beast. Any animal will guard its sanctuary."

"I may suggest foolishness, but I don"t understand. Why shouldn"t I go with you?"

Gandalf"s question has stunned everyone. The mage smiled and added:

"I can work as bait. If they"re so clever, and they feel well threatened by us. They"ll feel a weak spot on the team."

"Gandalf, don"t be too hard," smiled at Michael. "Let"s do without bait and sacrifice."

"Do you feel sorry for the experience for me?"

And at that moment, everyone was frozen. No one expected such a turn, especially from a man who was panicking about pain and death.

"Gandalf, you"re a smart guy, but sometimes you say such stupid things! When does it appear in your head?" John said quite seriously.

"I want to come with you too," said Ron. "And yes, I really need experience. And I need to go into town for sure! I"ve chosen a cla.s.s that"s out of my league. Without experienced mentors, I can"t develop."

Ron got caught in a trap when choosing a cla.s.s!

The spiritual cla.s.s turned out to be interesting and weird. He demanded a maximum investment in the Spirit"s characteristic and a minimum investment in Intelligence. Ron could cure, but it required mana. Ron could hit with magic! He had the skill of "Punch of the Spirit", a blow to an enemy that would not damage the allies. But it also required the development of Intelligence. But the main power of the Spiritual Man was in the call of the Spirits! He could call upon the likeness of the Elementals of the Natures, who fought on the side of the confessor. Ron could cure the Spirits. He had the skills to reinforce spirits. And the skills of working with spirits didn"t require mana. It required the maximum development of the Spirit. The called Elemental was of the same level as the Spiritual. But the main problem was that the Elemental was opposed to the one who was weak in Spirit. Up to level 11, Ron had invested all of his characteristics in strength and dexterity. He had little in his intellect and spirit. On level 13, he had invested 10 points in the Spirit and called the Elemental for the first time. The Fire Spirit of Level 13 appeared with 24 Spirits. He immediately jumped on Ron and killed him. Next to Ron was Tom, they hadn"t told anyone about this experiment. Tom survived! After Ron died, the elemental disappeared into thin air.

The guys told the story of a failed skill operation. Ron wasn"t afraid to repeat it. He was fully equipped. We gave him all the artifacts to boost his spirits.

With the artifacts, Ron raised his spirits to 38. He activated the skill. A Level 13 element of Earth appeared and attacked Ron. The boys stood up to defend their confessor and had trouble destroying the enemy.

It became clear that only the pure measure of the Spirit mattered, and all artifact bonuses did not confer credibility on a caller. Ron found out that Dan at level 17 had 66 "honest" spirits and 74 with artifact bonuses. The twin grabbed his head!

He was asked to develop only his spirit and not to spend more on intelligence and endurance. He wasn"t even talking about strength and dexterity.

Ron realized that he needed a specialty that would develop his spirit. There was no need for a second painter in the clan. What should he do? Learn how to embroidery? It"s the closest and most similar specialty to a painter. But where"s the guarantee?

The clan suffocated without information.

*

In the morning, the clan went on a werewolf hunt.

Everyone was wearing the best armor. Even Gandalf was wearing armor.

They came out of the castle and went slowly towards the village.

From the village, the squad went deep into the forest. Nick drove the boys down a decent lane. No one reacted to the provocations of the animals. In the event of a threat, the squad would stop and take up an all-round defense to protect Ron, Gandalf and Dan.

The animals in the forest behaved like ordinary animals. They had their own paths, their own areas to protect against invasion.

The guys wouldn"t get off the path. Twice they met the boars, once they got a bear. The forest dwellers had decent levels, 20-25. But when people were standing in a freezing state and a steel ring put up a steel weapon, and inside the ring, there were three people with torches... the owners of the local plots were giving "backing up".

Gandalf was trying to hit a fireball! But he was strictly warned to stay calm and ordered not to fool around.

They walked for four hours. Suddenly, Nick signaled to stop the squad:

"Werewolf. Over there. It"s coming."

Everybody"s quiet. Soon the creature"s mark appeared on everyone"s map. Before that, everyone could just see the spot painted red.

The werewolf didn"t attack. People were waiting.

"The second one is behind him. But it"s not coming," said Nick.

"How far is it?" asked Michael.

"A mile and a half," answered the scout.

"Beautiful," whispered delightfully Alexander.

"It"s four miles to the lair. One hour"s journey. Let"s move out," commanded Nick.

They only walked a couple of miles.

"He"s attacking!"

After the scout shout, everyone quickly took up the defense.

Dan looked at Nick. He couldn"t distract the scout, but he could see the direction the enemy was approaching. Looking into the woods, Dan shook up his head. The path was curled almost by the trunks of big trees. The shrubs were interfering with the view. Nothing could be understood even from a few steps away.

Nick shot an arrow. The arrow was glowing blue. Nick scolded:

"Missed. Fast beast. We"re waiting."

The squad was standing. The mood wasn"t combat at all. People were just willing to take the maximum price for their deaths with the victims" patience.

"We have to go. Slowly, calmly, but we have to go. He doesn"t want to attack, and the other one"s not coming," said Nick.

And they went. Nick warned me that the werewolf was only a hundred steps away. The creature wasn"t backing down, it was circling the squad. The scout had the dexterity to turn to the werewolf"s face while continuing to walk the trail slowly. Even with his back forward!

Dan had stopped cursing the roots and large branches of trees that were blocking his steps long ago. He looked up to Nick with respect. The Inquisitor himself walked carefully at the side of the werewolf was behind them.

They went out into a small clearing. It was only a short walk to the lair.

Everyone understood that the situation had changed. The forest itself was on the people"s side. In this place between two glades there was a s.p.a.ce where giants did not grow trees.

People came out to the center of the glade and stopped before a final step. They could already see the rise of the ground a couple of hundred yards away. There was a lair.

The werewolves separated. They approached the squad and circled like wolves around the victim.

"Gandalf, get ready. After my command, hit the fire," said Nick in a merry voice.

The magician was silent, but everyone knew the real battle was about to begin. Gandalf was holding two spells. Fireball and the Swamp. Slowing down a werewolf would be a great advantage for humans. But to hit fire in the woods was a provocation. They hoped werewolves would stop behaving with the coolness of elite killers, and animal instincts would weaken creatures" minds.

Nick froze and pulled the bowstring. Then he exhaled one word:

"Fire," and the scout fired at his target.

They both missed. But it didn"t matter. From now on, the events flew like a blast of the storm.

A fireball crashed into the big trunk of one of the giants at the edge of the clearing. The flame rushed in all directions. There was a werewolf roar. No one could understand how the creature jumped on people.

A distance of twenty yards, the dark shadow overcame in one moment.

One moment, that means that before anyone could see it, the werewolf hit the structure. The creature fell right inside their ring of defense!

And a raging tornado of werewolf claws and fangs swept through people.

Dan fell to the ground, Gandalf and Ron fell nearby.

The Inquisitor realized he couldn"t get up, the werewolf pressed his leg with one paw.

Gandalf flew off to Leo. Ron crashed into John.

The warriors knew what to do, they did not think twice and turned around, hit the monster, which in one attack destroyed the entire order of their defense.

And at that moment, new trouble came out of the forest! The werewolf swept past Michael at full speed and pawed at him on the move. The soldier rolled on the ground like a knocked-down bowling pin.

And it was the monster"s mistake. It was a chance for the Inquisitor.

Dan accidentally noticed the start of the attack and activated Autodafe at the moment when the creature stopped for a brief moment to hit Michael.

The border of the Court was flashed! And everyone realized that the skill had worked!

The creature crashed into the border and froze for a second, stunned by the blow. It was. .h.i.t by an arrow. Alexander and Tom threw themselves at it. It is unknown what the first werewolf realized, but he swooped into the air and rushed away from the squad!

Dan realized he was finished. The werewolf threw the warriors away with two blows and threw himself at the Inquisitor. And flew into the Swamp! Gandalf of his last forces activated the spell. Then he lost consciousness from broken bones.

And that"s the kind of enemy the squad could deal with. Leo managed to intercept the first werewolf strike and struck him back with a few sword strokes. Nick didn"t stop the arrow flow. John worked like a werewolf, he swung toward the creature and slashed daggers at it on the move.

The werewolf jumped up to Dan and grabbed his teeth into the hands of the Inquisitor, who covered himself from the creature"s jump.

The clan made a decision. Dan was banned from using the cursed sword. He agreed. It"s just not normal to count on a two-handed sword in this situation. And getting hit by a sword that drinks lives! No one wanted to take any chances.

Dan knew it was the right thing to do. He covered his throat with his hands and watched with horror the durability of his armor fall in front of his eyes. It was armor from Draugr. And the werewolf chewed it like simple skin!

Dan was screaming in pain and was already fainting when the stripe of the creature"s life went out in an instant.

Three swords struck from three sides at once.

Nick"s arrow added its weight to the scale of the ma.s.sacre.

"Potions! He"s here! Get in line!"

Ron gave up his cure on Gandalf. There was a scream of pain over the meadow:

"Fool! Finish it! I took the level," and the magician fainted again.

No regeneration potion helped if one had only a couple hundred lives left. The body was just dying of blood loss. John jumped up to a broken b.l.o.o.d.y magician and said:

"Sorry, Bro."

Then the a.s.sa.s.sin killed him with one blow of the dagger.

Tom wasn"t around.

"The other werewolf runs into the lair," said Nick angrily.

"The devil," whispered Dan.

It was a good exit for the squad and the creepiest end of the fight for him.

They had information about the werewolf"s lair. One day, a man was expelled from the village. He went into the woods and built a home at the base of a low hill on one of the glades. The man dug up enough room in the ground to live and strengthened the walls with wood.

The trouble was that now an angry beast would meet them one by one. Meet them in a narrow corridor.

And in this case, a terrible plan was drawn up. The Inquisitor goes first. He will activate Autodafe and take over the first strike of the monster. The werewolf knocks Dan down and then people start coming up one at a time and attacking. As long as there"s life left to attack.

The wounded got up from the ground and the squad went slowly to the lair.

"Dan, what"s with the armor?"

"It"s not so bad, Michael. Half durability. Total protection 360," said the Inquisitor. "When we catch up, try to get past us. At least with two swords, you"ll have to punch him. He"s having an amazing regeneration! He is healing right in front of his eyes. I kill vampirism with control. But his regeneration is natural."

Everybody was quiet. Dan looked at the group"s status. Everyone had less than 50% health. The potions had a cooldown! You couldn"t drink one portion after another. Ron completely wasted the mana. He was walking angrily. Tom didn"t survive. Alexander said his brother got hooked very badly, the claw hit right in the face. Tom died quickly.

Dan saw the entrance to the lair. As Nick warned, it was the beginning of a narrow corridor. Pleased the aisle height didn"t have to bend down.

They were standing at the entrance.

"I can run for Gandalf," John suggested.

"Sending five fireb.a.l.l.s inside would be great. But you two aren"t going to be able to get through to us. "We"ve had too much fun," sighed Nick. "Animals are waiting for us on the way back. We stink of blood all over the area."

"Okay, guys, we need to get this story over with. You guys ready? I"m going," said Dan and stepped toward the entrance.

And he froze.

"Use me!" shouted a sword voice in his head.

"No. Your use could turn into trouble for the rest of us."

"They are nothing, they mean nothing to you."

"You"re right. You don"t mean anything to me too. And I"m not going to let you increase your meaning."

"Fool! We are bound forever."

"So I won"t be in any hurry. I wish you a nice show."

The Inquisitor swung his hand away from the questions and stepped into the corridor.

From there, everything was covered in a b.l.o.o.d.y mist of pain and suffering.

All the senses came out of a sense of mortal danger. With each step, it was harder to breathe. The stench was such that Dan"s eyes started to tear.

"How can animals tolerate such a creepy stench? They"re half animals!"

"It"s magic, you fool! Let me help you!"

"Not now, Tarrok, you"re distracting me. "Autodafe"!"

The werewolf was too big. The creature was the size of a big bear. The werewolf was sensible. But he couldn"t understand the Inquisitor"s skills. The werewolf wanted to hit the first man who dared to enter the lair in his side.

For Dan to activate the skill, it was enough to see the werewolf"s paw sock. The lair was lit by the light of the spell. Now the creature couldn"t run away, maybe it wasn"t going to run away. The important thing was that the Court weakened the werewolf"s skills.

Dan activated the reinforcement and drove the body right into the back of its lair.

The creature"s. .h.i.t him. The body wrapped up in the air like a coin thrown in the air. Dan hit his head on the ceiling of the room and fell to the floor. The weight of the monster came down from above. The claws. .h.i.t the sides of his armor. And the monster"s fangs fell into his shoulder.

The Inquisitor"s eyes were covered with b.l.o.o.d.y mist. The pain was terrible. He couldn"t turn around. He couldn"t do anything. But Dan wouldn"t give up, he"d scream and hit the paw of the creature with his gloves. The damage had to be done. Stay strong and do damage.

The Inquisitor didn"t see the first suicide attacker enter the room.

Alexander activated Strike and just knocked the werewolf down a couple of steps from his place. The warrior had time to make two hits, and the werewolf hit back with both paws. Alexander flew to the wall of the room. The werewolf didn"t have time to finish him off. Michael flew into the room with his sword already brought in for impact. The blow came to the head of the werewolf, who rushed to the soldier and could not strike strongly. At the last moments of consciousness, the Inquisitor stopped pounding the monster"s paw and just clung to it like a tick. Now his body was hanging like a weight on the monster"s paw. The knight flew and as the ram crashed into the enemy, Leo at one time dealt a blow with the shield and the edge of the sword. The arrows flew out of the aisle. One of the arrows went right into the werewolf"s eye. It was a critical strike. There was no s.p.a.ce in the room to swing the sword. But everyone could and did stab at it with all their might.

The beast made two more strikes. Alexander vanished into thin air.

"John!"

"Got it, Bro!"

The a.s.sa.s.sin didn"t run, he jumped into the room at full speed and hit the werewolf"s body and earned his daggers as a machine gun. He hit his paw, left the top of the monster open to attack by a knight and a soldier.

No one understood when they killed the monster. They stabbed and cut the dead beast.

Then Ron ran into the room and started curing the Inquisitor.

Nick spit on the dirty floor of the lair:

"The werewolf broke him... Tomorrow we have to go that far again. Don"t waste mana Ron, you can"t save him."

"Stop, brother! This is my job. I feel it"s the right thing to do," said John and stuck a dagger down the Inquisitor"s throat.

"I"ll be sure to ask him about that mask at the castle," Nick shook his head. "Does this mask interfere much with your vision?"

"Defense does add up well," said Michael.

"Let"s go home, guys. It"s dangerous for us to be here without Dan. Ron! You heal yourself! I feel fine," laughed Nick.

Without even touching the werewolf body, they went into the fresh air.

What kind of trophies? Without the Inquisitor, n.o.body even wanted to touch the d.a.m.ned creatures.

Dan opened his eyes and shook his head. He couldn"t reach the end. He looked at the guys" pale faces and smiled:

"They made him. We made him. Get ready to meet the heroes."

The clan"s got time for personal needs. This month"s task has been completed.

*

[Attention! Map update: 21 desecrated locations detected. 7 locations of dungeon type.

Despite the difficulties in your way, you must clear 2 desecrated locations per month from monsters.

If you do not complete the task, your clan will lose 200 "Glory" points. [47:23:59]]