《Gloominess +4: The Cradle of Gods. A LitRPG series: Book 4》


 Chapter 1. Broken virtual capsule

    A long time ago, I got lost in the woods. I was very young and afraid that I wouldn¡¯t be able to find my way home, so I wandered through the wilderness till it got dark. My body ached from the cold and my fear, while my throat felt scratchy and painful because I was so thirsty. I had no tears left. I couldn¡¯t muster the strength to scream anymore. I wanted to eat, drink and sleep, I wanted to be saved, go home and see my mom.


    I didn¡¯t know much about mushrooms and berries. I just knew that some could be poisonous, so I endured my hunger. The fear of death was stronger than any hunger pangs.


    But then I came to a small meadow and I saw the only berry I recognized: a strawberry. I picked a handful of them, using the moonlight to see, but suddenly, a cloud blocked the only source of light.


    Darkness took over the world.


    The wolves howled and it sounded like they were very close by, so I started running as fast as I could in the opposite direction. I stumbled on a snag and fell, miraculously managing not to spill the berries I¡¯d collected.


    ¡°Share some of those with me, little boy¡­¡± I heard someone plead, sounding barely alive. ¡°I¡¯m so hungry¡­¡±


    A few steps away from me sat a man, leaning back against a tall, old pine tree. He was covered head to toe in a black raincoat. I couldn¡¯t see his face; it was hidden within a deep hood.


    He stretched his hand out toward me. Strangely, despite the total darkness, I could see his flabby palm.


    ¡°Share some with me, little boy¡­¡± the old man repeated, sounding even weaker than before.


    ¡°Here¡­¡± I blurted in a trembling voice, while giving him half of my food. And then I couldn¡¯t believe my own eyes ¡ª the stranger¡¯s pale palm was enveloped in a dark smoke, and the strawberries disappeared.


    ¡°You helped me. Thank you¡­¡± he said, his voice a little stronger than before. ¡°Now I¡¯ll help you. I will give you some great advice: don¡¯t fear the dark, little boy; it¡¯s nothing to be afraid of. Darkness only adds to the light, makes it brighter. Darkness usually gets filled with the horrors spawned by human imagination. Get rid of that fear and you¡¯ll find the way.¡±


    The old man waved goodbye and disappeared. And then, in the darkness of the night, I saw an especially dark strip: a path that ended up leading me out of the forest and to a village.


    The search party didn¡¯t find anyone in the thicket that night. I got home by myself and collapsed into a deep sleep on the porch.


    ***


    ¡°G-r-r-r-a-a!!!¡± roared a huge, green orc, while jumping from the looted monastery¡¯s wall. With a wave of his axe, he immediately launched an attack.


    I was already waiting, ready to counter it. It wasn¡¯t the first time I¡¯d passed by this spot on the map. Something nasty always happened here. I dodged the strike by shifting my body weight onto my right leg. After activating the ¡°Wrath of Light¡± skill, I slashed the enemy¡¯s side with a glittering sword. His blood splattered on the unnaturally green grass.


    You have dealt 170 points of damage.


    Great, let¡¯s keep going!


    While I kept moving around the orc, I thought about how lucky I was. It¡¯s no wonder people always said: ¡®You haven¡¯t lost until you give up!¡¯ I¡¯d believed that a good job opportunity would turn up, and my temporary financial crisis would finally end. And so it did. It was as if fate itself had stuck a flyer around the handle of my front door with an offer to send a resume and apply for the ¡®beta tester of virtual capsules and applications¡¯ position. After that, there were a couple of group interviews, then individual interviews, and I was here, in a virtual capsule and before this miracle of technology was even on the market! I was experiencing the marvels of this latest innovation, battling the orcs, and getting paid for something so enjoyable, to boot. Amazing!


    Yes, I had to be very healthy. It¡¯s the first thing that my current employers looked at, along with my extensive experience playing video games, of course. At one point, I¡¯d gone into debt to buy a full-fledged virtual reality helmet.


    ¡°Ow!¡± I screamed, as I failed to dodge one of the orc¡¯s attacks. Although the level of pain was set to 10%, it was still unpleasant to get hit with an axe. This didn¡¯t apply to virtual helmets and regular computers, which weren¡¯t capable of simulating the pain of the character for the player to experience.


    Of course, in the future, the option to turn off pain will be there. But all of the capsule¡¯s capabilities were being tested on me.


    Suddenly, the Orc¡¯s axe was enveloped in a scarlet haze, the enemy growled and then hit me from above. Squeezing the handle of the sword more tightly, I prepared to block the attack. But to my surprise, I didn¡¯t have to: the light went out as the world was immersed in darkness. It was as if I were watching TV, and someone had turned the power off without a warning.


    Except the ¡®TV screen¡¯ was still all around me. That¡¯s why I couldn¡¯t see anything now, even my own hands. I tried to feel my own body, but the kinesthetic sensations had also been turned off.


    ¡°Hey!¡± I was sure that I¡¯d said that out loud, but no sound came out. After a moment, I realized that it had only been a response to my thoughts. My mouth had apparently also disappeared from the surrounding virtual reality.


    Only consciousness remained.


    And there was nothing around me except darkness.


    But I wasn¡¯t afraid. I hadn¡¯t been afraid of darkness since childhood. There must have been some kind of malfunction. The contract had specified that these kinds of situations could happen, and if they did, I would receive additional compensation.


    So all I had to do was wait for them to fix the capsule. Of course, the situation wasn¡¯t exactly comfortable, and there wasn¡¯t much I could do. Oh well, it¡¯s a job. Maybe I should try to leave? I had the right to do so twice per shift.You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.


    ¡°Display the application menu!¡± I uttered a phrase that I¡¯d memorized in advance, but nothing happened.


    After a few seconds, I heard a reedy voice coming from everywhere around me, interrupting my thoughts:


    ¡°We meet again, boy¡­ I see you¡¯ve already accepted the darkness. Now it¡¯s time to start your journey. Help me again and I will make it up to you. Survive, become stronger, and we¡¯ll meet again. I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll have a lot of questions for me by then. In the meantime, I can give you one piece of advice ¡ª let the darkness live in harmony with the light. Don¡¯t shine a light on it unnecessarily. The less people know about your strength, the longer you will live. I believe in you, boy. Go on now¡­¡±


    The world spun around like laundry in a washing machine and I found myself in the middle of a golden field. I looked around with amazement. The villagers were harvesting the grain with pitchforks and rakes, the birds were singing and the sun was about to set. What in the world was going on?


    ¡°Hey Bon, why are you just standing there!? We have to make it back to the landmark by night time!¡± Someone to my left growled. I turned and saw a man approaching me. He had a frown on his tanned face and was obviously talking to me. ¡°Don¡¯t just stand there like a scarecrow, Bon! Get back to work!¡± He shouted, clearly annoyed.


    Who the hell is that? Flashed through my mind, and a grey description immediately appeared over the man¡¯s head:


    Chief Jason, Level 10.


    And a little below that was a green bar that showed ¡®354/354¡¯.


    So, it appeared that I was in a game, but a different one this time. Maybe the technicians had fixed the capsule and quietly launched some other application? I didn¡¯t like this.


    ¡°Display the application menu!¡± I hissed, while looking up at the sky for some reason.


    ¡°What¡¯re you saying, Bon?¡± The chief sounded concerned. ¡°Has the sun gotten to you? Are you ill?¡±


    I ignored his questions while trying to understand what was happening to me. I came up with all sorts of explanations. I thought that maybe there¡¯d been a glitch in the virtual capsule, and I¡¯d been thrown into one of its games, without the ability to log out. Just like in all those popular fantasy books or that one anime, where in order to come back to reality, you¡¯d have to defeat the main villain¡­


    This was crazy. Had technology actually gotten so advanced that it could trap the human mind in a game, even by accident? I¡¯d been given a brief explanation about the functions of the capsule. It was connected to the medical module, with a separate battery. In an absolutely critical situation, it was possible to cut the electricity off, and thanks to this module, the body inside would be able to handle the sudden stress¡­


    Or had I been lied to?


    Shit¡­ Oh well, let¡¯s try to look on the bright side. The game with orcs in it had suddenly been shut down, and after that, I heard the voice¡­ To cut a long story short, he¡¯d said that my journey was about to start and I needed to become stronger. Then he would contact me again. I¡¯d come up with the crazy theory that I would be able to come back if I just kept fighting and winning. Turns out my theory had made sense.


    ¡°Bon, you¡¯re scaring me!¡± The chief clapped me on the shoulder. He was surprisingly strong. Staggering, I almost fell over, but managed to lean on my pitchfork just in time. A pitchfork? Oh yeah, I was probably in the body of one of those peasant workers.


    ¡°It¡¯s alright, Jason¡± I said, and noticed that my avatar¡¯s voice was much rougher than my own.


    ¡°Jason?¡± The man frowned. ¡°Getting smart with your own father, are you? Just wait till I¡­¡±


    I never found out what my newfound father had been about to do. He was interrupted by a panicked screech that swept over the field. The chief and I turned toward the noise, along with the other peasants.


    ¡°Run!!!¡± A girl shouted, while running like hell from a group of riders.


    But how was this possible? One of the riders had cut her with his sword, splattering the dry wheat with her blood, and after she fell, he had his horse trample the unfortunate girl. I couldn¡¯t even see the poor thing anymore. She was hidden from view by the sheaves, but for the next few seconds, her chilling, agonized cries were all that I could hear.


    And then the girl fell silent. The rider made his horse rear up, steered it so it would trample the girl¡¯s body one final time, and then rushed in our direction to catch up with his comrades.


    The riders were hurling toward us at full speed.


    ¡°Hurry up! Come on!!!¡± Jason shouted while grabbing my sleeve and pulling me in the opposite direction.


    Of course, I didn¡¯t argue with him. A few seconds ago, I¡¯d checked two of the attackers. I saw their names, and most importantly, their levels ¡ª 50 and 56; I also saw that their health totals were in the four-digit range. I hadn¡¯t had time to learn what my body was capable of, but I figured my level would be lower than the chief¡¯s. There¡¯d be no point in me acting like a hero.


    Jason and I ran as fast as we could. It was a bit scary. I had no idea of what to expect from this unusual game and if I would respawn if the riders caught up with me. They were gradually getting closer, all the while methodically slaughtering the other fleeing villagers.


    Dammit, how had this happened? In normal games, there were sandboxes of sorts at the start. Places where you could get to know how things worked, get used to the interface¡­ and where you would definitely not get attacked by high level killers. Besides, why were they doing this?! They didn¡¯t look like bandits. There were too many of them and their armor was all the same. They had black, scale armor beneath their coats; their helmets looked like the samurai kabuto helmets of old, with a mask covering the lower part of the face. It was definitely an organized unit. Was it an enemy army sowing chaos in their foe¡¯s back line? Right now, it didn¡¯t matter. The important thing was to run.


    But they¡¯d managed to encircle us. There were almost no living villagers left, and now Jason and I had no way to escape. Two of the riders were coming right at us!


    ¡°Well, come on then, you filthy creatures!¡± The chief roared and raised his pitchfork in front of him ¡°In the name of the Gre¡­¡± his battle cry was cut short when one of the riders sliced his throat open. Clutching at it and choking on his own blood, the man fell to his knees. Another rider appeared and ended the life of this unfortunate soul with another slash. The father of the body I was playing in collapsed face down in the dirt.


    I glanced at him and, for a moment, I was amazed at his luck. Jason was alive, although his health bar showed: ¡°1/354¡±.


    However, I wasn¡¯t the only one who¡¯d noticed it. I got the impression that the riders had been ready for this and weren¡¯t surprised at all. One of them pulled back on the reigns of his horse, making it rear up, and then smash the chief¡¯s skull with its front hooves. This time he was truly dead.


    Both riders turned in my direction. Knowing damn well that I couldn¡¯t beat them, I did the only sensible thing:


    ¡°I give up!¡± I said, and as I was getting ready to throw my pitchfork away, one of my enemies spurred his horse onward and directly at me.


    ¡°We don¡¯t take prisoners,¡± the other one chuckled, as he quietly watched the show.


    Using all the ¡®combat¡¯ experience I¡¯d gained in games through a virtual reality helmet, I was able to turn halfway to my left and even graze the side of the horse with my weapon. I did a few points of damage, and then, with a single thrust of his sword into my back, my foe brought my health down to 1.


    You have been defeated by Clarence.


    I collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut, but immediately felt as if I were soaring above the ground. The sensations were exactly the same as they¡¯d been before my transfer here: I saw what was happening, but not with my own eyes. I wasn¡¯t even a spirit, but rather disembodied, invisible air. Where my back should¡¯ve been, I felt a burning, maddening sensation. Hmmm¡­ Although, now that I could see it, there was a terrible, bleeding wound on my back. And I could feel it? Damn¡­ that hurts¡­ Admittedly, it looked like my suffering would be over soon. The horse had raised its hooves above me.


    You have been killed by Clarence Gleam. 10% of your afterlife energy has been lost. You will now be taken to your respawn point.

 Chapter 2 . Resurrection

    Chapter 2


    '''' Resurrection''''


    You have been resurrected at the designated location. You have used 10% of your rebirth energy.


    I found myself in front of a massive, dusty wooden door. Stunned, I looked around. Looming over the tombstones was the only structure in this place - the crypt. I¡¯d been resurrected right next to it.


    The cemetery was not guarded. A low, hammered iron fence, adorned with dead ivy, surrounded the perimeter. On one side, through the tall grass, one could see a path stretching into the distance; on the other was a dark forest. It was quiet and peaceful. A perfect place to pause and think.


    ''''Bring up the interface.'''' I said, without much hope. Nothing happened.


    Damn, had I really gotten stuck in a virtual world? In some mad, unbalanced game at that? What should I do now?


    That was a dumb question.


    I was, however, certain of a couple of things. I had to deal with the basics, avoid dying, get to the nearest settlement and obtain some information. However, I had to be careful. Maybe they''ll find me again. What if the surrounding area was under the control of those masked riders?


    The most important thing was to stay calm.


    I could already feel that awful, cold anguish in my chest. It would only get worse if I started panicking now! I had to get to work right away.


    I¡¯ll start with the logs! Although I¡¯d managed to access them in the past, I didn''t get the chance to read them. Last time I did it, it was to see the enemy''s level. I''ll try accessing them again,


    As soon as the desire to read the logs formed in my mind, information about my resurrection and the lost afterlife energy appeared before my eyes. I found the previous system message as I mentally ¡°scrolled'''' the list. It got me thinking. There was a difference between the two following terms: ¡°10% Lost¡± and ¡°10% Used¡±. The second term seemed to refer to the cost of resurrection. But what about the first term? Was it a penalty for in-game death? Or were those EXP points, given to the rider that had killed me?


    ''''Give me information about my afterlife energy.'''' Immersed in my thoughts, I didn¡¯t realize that I¡¯d said the command out loud, even though I knew that I could just say it in my head.


    An empty scale appeared in front of my eyes, stretching between the numbers ¡°0¡± and ¡°100¡±.


    Oh, no¡­ I don¡¯t have that energy? I thought. I won¡¯t be able to resurrect again if I die? Shit¡­Shit¡­ I don¡¯t like this at all!


    Stop! I told myself not to panic. Let''s make this my motto: If there¡¯s a problem, I will solve it. That¡¯s what I always did in real life. Why should the virtual one be any different?


    ¡°Give me all the information available about afterlife energy.¡±


    The text appeared in front of my eyes the moment I¡¯d clearly formulated the thought and removed the word ''''my'''' from the sentence. Once I was done reading, I let out a sigh of relief and turned towards the crypt''s door.


    This energy alone would not resurrect me. It needed to be placed into an object associated with death: a headstone, a tomb, a gravestone or something like that. That was the only way to create a resurrection point.


    In a hurry to test my newly found knowledge, I asked for information about the energy I had invested into the crypt. I saw the same scale, but this time it was showing 80%. Pressing my palm against the door, I demanded that it give me half of it.


    And it worked! 40% remained in the crypt, and the rest went inside me. It wasn''t possible to take more. Otherwise, the spell connecting me to this place would break. Now I could find a graveyard in another place and invest my 40% into it. After that I would have a chance of withdrawing the remaining 40% out of this crypt. Like this, it was possible to change the point of resurrection.


    Interesting. So, could I make two points then? Would both be only half full in that case? This would give me a choice of where to go after dying.


    A loud, crackling sound coming from the forest pulled me out of my idle thoughts. I immediately gathered myself and turned toward the sound, only to see an eight-legged, disgusting carcass creeping out of the thicket.


    ''''Little Spider Changed by Decay''''


    Level 5


    HP: 219/219


    ¡°Little Spider¡±? That thing was the size of a sheepdog! Nasty and covered with rotting, bright green ulcers, it left a trail of putrid smoke behind itself. I suppose it¡¯d be better to run away until I find out what I¡¯m capable of.


    As soon as I thought about running, the ''''Little Spider'''' arrived at its desired destination, and in a single jump, closed the distance between us. It hit my leg with one of its own.


    You received 22 points of damage.


    Grimacing in pain, I immediately got into a fighting mood. I couldn''t die again. I had to win. I knew I had the pitchforks before. I hoped they hadn¡¯t disappeared after my death, and were just hidden someplace in the inventory menu.


    ¡°Bring out the main weapon!¡± I commanded, as I leaned away from another attack. A familiar, poor man''s version of a trident appeared in my hand. Without wasting any time, I attacked.


    You dealt 21 points of damage .


    My experience and reactions, which I¡¯d trained playing VR games, helped me to avoid half of the enemy¡¯s attacks. My body¡¯s capabilities, luckily, weren¡¯t worse than the ''''Little Spider¡¯s''''. Naturally, he got me every other time, but I hit him every single time. So now, he only had 20 HP left.


    Dodging another one of the ''''Little Spider¡¯s'''' attempts at hitting me with its leg, which had a sharp claw at the end, I leaned forward, determined to defeat it. Suddenly, it arched, as if broken in half, and splashed its cobweb onto my boots. However, that didn¡¯t save the vile thing. Slashing its side I lowered its life to 1 HP. With a nasty squeak, it backed away and fell onto its back, curling its legs to its stomach. Still feeling the heat of the battle, I was tempted to take a step forth and finish off the creature. However, my attempt at moving wasn¡¯t successful. I looked down at my feet. The web had them firmly glued to the ground. I tried to cut it with the trident, but in vain. The tip got stuck in the sticky mass and I barely managed to yank it out. Irritated, I spat and crouched to scroll through my logs.


    Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    ''''Little Spider Changed by Decay'''' used '''' Web of Decay''''.


    Skill effect: immobilization.


    Your movement is blocked by ''''Web of Decay''''.


    ''''Web of Decay''s'''' effect will wear off in 10 minutes. The web is immune to physical attacks.


    You caused 23 points of damage.


    You defeated ''''Little Spider Changed by Decay''''. You received 247 EXP.


    Level up. Current level: 5.


    You can use the slaying skill on ''''Little Spider Changed by Decay''''.


    Well, now that I¡¯m temporarily immobilized, there¡¯s only one thing left to do¡­ Deal with my stats.


    ''''Show my information,'''' I said softly, addressing the local system.


    The image of a black-haired tough guy, dressed in a dirty, white shirt and a vest, with traces of a slight stubble on his face appeared before me. At first glance, he looked like me. The height and weight seemed almost identical. Is that why I¡¯d gotten this particular character?


    There was a sign above the avatar¡¯s head: ¡°Peasant Bon. Level 5¡±. In the upper left corner were three lines. Red for ¡°life¡± (124/230); blue for ¡°mana¡± (100/100); and green for ¡°energy¡± (126/220). To the right of the character was a list of main stats:


    Vitality - 13


    Endurance - 12


    Strength - 18


    Agility - 10


    Intelligence - 0


    Free stat points - 1.


    Oh boy¡­ I got a dumb one this time¡­ Since I¡¯d just leveled, I got an unallocated stat point. This Bon guy had probably been on level 4 when I¡¯d entered his body. He must have distributed his points independently. However, he could have only spent a maximum of four points. This game probably had the usual scheme with ¡®default¡¯ stats for your character. But here was my main issue ¨C even if the guy had no intelligence points, the system had to throw in at least 2 or 3 points, right? Otherwise, which stat determined the amount of mana?


    I requested information about each of the stats. My suspicions proved correct. Health, mana and energy were distributed via a simple formula: 100+10*X. X being the according stat. Health depended on one''s vitality and mana on intelligence. There was also something about quicker regeneration but information was vague about that.


    However, energy was a bit trickier. It depended on one''s endurance and was constantly used up on movement and battles. Because of that it needed to be monitored, otherwise you risked stumbling upon your enemies while exhausted. The speed of its consumption was not specified. Actually, it wasn''t specified for any of the stats.


    The last two stats, ¡°strength¡± and ¡°agility¡±, were tied to attack speed, evasion and the chance of dealing a critical hit. ''''Strength'''' gave +1 to damage in close combat. Thanks to the pitchfork''s modest +1-5, my damage was now at 19-23.


    ''''Show the skills menu,'''' I said, after I dealt with the basics.


    ¡°Skills, abilities and special characteristics¡± were written on the section¡¯s title, under which were three equal columns. My gaze immediately went to the center:


    Abilities.


    Opening and analyzing abilities requires a physical action.


    At the bottom, it said:


    Ability points: 1.


    I wasn¡¯t sure if I¡¯d understood correctly. In order for any skill to appear in the menu, you first had to try it out once. There was so little information. However, the third column seemed easier to understand.


    Special stats.


    Reach level 10 to see special stats.


    So, I had to level up first.


    Oh well, on to the most completed column.


    Skills.


    I could see that the previous owner of my present body even managed to learn something by himself.


    ''''The Way of Force''''. Level 1. Passive skill. Every tenth unit of strength increases vitality.


    Skill level up is available. Cost: 1 skill point.


    ''''The Way of Strength''''. Level 2. Passive skill. Every ninth unit of strength increases vitality.


    There were no usable skill points (I guess there wouldn''t be any at level 5). I wouldn¡¯t use them anyway. I had to study the rest first.


    ''''Strength of the Weapon''''. Level 1. Passive skill. Increases the chances of primary weapon withstanding the enemy''s attack by 10%.


    So one could break their weapon. That was odd. I guess I should always keep a spare one in my inventory. And yes, this skill could also be leveled. It''d increase my chance to 15%.


    ''''Power Strike''''. Level 1. Active skill. Cost: 3energy points. Recharge time: 5 seconds. Do an additional 20 points of damage when attacking with the main weapon.


    I would have +35 points of damage after leveling it. Not bad.


    Some sort of a looped GIF started playing in my head after reading all of this.


    I saw Bon gripping the pitchfork''s hilt with both hands. He stepped forward on his right foot, hitting upwards with his weapon and piercing through the stomach of a sword wielding, faceless enemy that was standing in front of him.


    I realized that I could repeat this skill even though I¡¯d just seen it for the first time.


    The villager''s last skill turned out to be slaying. After reading the skill''s description, a new GIF played in my mind.


    Bon was spinning a trident over his head before he swung down and stabbed the prone enemy in the head.


    Cost: 0 energy points. Recharge time: - 0 seconds. Can''t be improved. Looking at the GIF, I remembered the riders that had attacked the field. Those guys must have been slaying using their horses¡¯ hooves. So, I suppose it''ll be possible to study similar techniques later on. If that''s case, I won''t have to rely on the trident anymore.


    Speaking of which, ¡°the trident (pitchfork or the war fork)¡± was listed as my primary weapon. I had always played as a swordsman. I¡¯d never liked characters with wooden weapons.


    The main weapon had two unknown skills: ¡°A Crescent Hit¡±, which damaged all the enemies in front of you when you held the weapon in your right hand and hit as hard as you can, and ¡°The Stunning Hit¡±, which caused additional damage when you hit the enemy''s head. GIFs of the skills played in my head and I realized that I wouldn''t be able to perform them in the same way the villager had. I could perform the action itself, but it wouldn''t have the same effect. I had to study them first.


    The last three unexplored skills were radically different from the previous ones. Looking at them, I started to wonder how a simple villager like Bon, with his focus on strength, had developed intelligence and mana.


    ''''Dark Side of the World''''. Level 1. Passive skill. Reduces the effect of any debuff, except those caused by the power of the Gods. 10% chance to block such debuffs. Attention! The effect is reduced by 10% before unlocking the skill.


    ''''Eyes in the Dark''''. Level 1. Passive skill. Allows you to see in the dark just as well as during the day. Allows you to see something hidden in the dark. Attention! The skill¡¯s effect is reduced by 10% before unlocking the skill.


    Tranquility of Darkness. Active Skill. Mana cost: 15. Cooldown is 3 seconds. 15% Chance that the minion of Darkness will discover its Tranquility, and will refuse to keep fighting you and your team. After experiencing the Tranquility, the ones loyal to the Darkness will get a 40% chance to accelerate the regeneration of all their status bars by the forces of Darkness. In case you use the spell on someone who is not an adherent of Darkness, incapable of understanding its Tranquility, there¡¯s a 15% of chance of triggering the ¡°Horror¡± effect on them.


    In order to use the only active magical ability, I was supposed to stretch out my right hand with my fingers splayed out and, feeling the flow of the energy within my body moving to my fingers, release it into the target. All of this, as before, I¡¯d figured out by looking at the GIFs. This one showed purple arrows forming into countless snake-like streams.


    However, I found it strange that a guy like Bon had such cool elemental spells. I remembered the words that I¡¯d heard before I got into the villager''s body. Coincidence? I don¡¯t think so. I''d wager that he hadn''t had any intelligence or magic before my arrival. That would explain why no points had been spent on upgrading intelligence.


    The fact that the two passive spells of darkness, although locked, still worked, backed up my theory. It was something like an inborn predisposition. But was it really inborn? What was the difference? One of them had saved me by blocking the effect of ''''Decay'''' after the ''''Little Spider''s'''' last attack. I¡¯d gotten lucky, since the skill had only 1% chance to trigger! That meant that it wouldn''t activate next time. I had to learn ¡°Dark Side of the World¡± as soon as possible. Bonus protection from debuffs would come in handy.


    On the other hand, I don¡¯t know how common these debuffs are. What if they are rare and I am only wasting skill points?


    But who was I kidding? This dark voice and its words had touched some hidden chords in my soul. They¡¯d touched something forgotten, but so dear. The darkness¡­ I haven¡¯t been afraid of it for the longest time. Night made me feel much better than day did. I liked the idea of being a Dark mage more than I liked the idea of fighting with a pitchfork. Although¡­ I felt safer with it.


    I made a mental note about further upgrades. I went back to the character menu and put the only available point into intelligence.


    The first level of ''''Tranquility of Darkness'''' should now be active. I¡¯m sure I''ll unlock the other levels in the future. Even if I were to use it on one target I would have to activate it several times in order to increase my chances. I would need mana to do so.


    A rustle and a muffled squeak made me instantly close all of the interfaces and get ready for the next bit of trouble. Luckily, nothing happened. The ¡°Little Spider¡± finally came to its senses and, without paying any attention to me, staggered back home, sluggishly moving its legs. I checked its HP. It had recovered 2 HP.


    Interesting, had it already been 10 minutes?


    I swung the pitchfork at the web. It cracked into pieces like a porcelain plate and released its hold. I stretched my legs, looked around and saw the rising pillar of smoke. Suddenly I realized that Bon''s village was on fire. Strange. I don''t know the territory and the GIF only showed me the field. How did I know this village, then?


    Synchronization with the body: 10%.


    Villager Bon wishes to know if there are any survivors.


    Attention! Quest available: ''''Search for survivors.''''


    Quest giver: Villager Bon.


    Quest objective: Return to Bon''s village and take a look around. What if someone besides me survived the attack?


    Award: EXP, maybe even more.


    Villager Bon accepts the quest.

 Chapter 3. Village on fire

    Chapter 3. Village on fire.


    I accepted the quest and, right away, I opened the stats menu. The message about ¡°synchronization with the body¡± seemed to me even stranger than the fact that I had given the quest to myself. Everything was the same, except for two lines:


    Intellect- 3.


    And therefore:


    Mana- 130/130.


    It turned out that, after synchronization, two points had been added to my most underdeveloped characteristic; to the one I¡¯d believed had been completely absent in Bon.


    Hm¡­


    The clouds of smoke that were rising into the twilight sky grew larger by the second. I had to hurry if I wanted to see the village. Otherwise, I would only arrive to see its ashes.


    I looked around and ran down the grassy path. As it turned out, the cemetery was located on top of a hill, under tree canopies, so it was an easy run. I had been running for merely 10 minutes; however, my energy level fell by four points. At the same time, I didn¡¯t feel any fatigue, not even a shortness of breath.


    I slowed down as soon as I saw the wooden stockade. For a while I was moving cautiously, ready to jump off the path into the tall grass at any moment. But then I realized that at such a slow pace my efforts would come to nothing. The far side of the village had already burnt out, and the flames had already reached the middle of the village. A little more and it would have all been over.


    Hoping that the Iron Faced had already left, I picked up the pace once again and rushed toward the fence. Obviously, its purpose was to keep wild animals away. I was not an animal, so I could jump up, cling to the edge, and with a sort of pull up, I managed to jump over the fence. I almost ripped my pants in the process.


    The fire was getting closer. I heard a loud, crackling noise, so loud it rang in my ears. I heard the falling roar of burnt beams in the distance. What was I doing here? Why was I suddenly trying to be the hero? Suffice it to say, I wasn¡¯t much of a hero. All this time, I¡¯d thought that if it became unbearable, I would be able to get out. But now, I had a great opportunity to find something that could make my efforts worthwhile.


    ¡°Anyone alive?!¡± Having broken into the nearest house, I shouted, and for a moment, I froze on the doorstep.


    Man, the nonsense that went through my head.


    In the center of the room, on the floor, in a puddle of fresh blood, there were two corpses lying side by side, a man and a woman. Another three smaller bodies were at the far end of the room, by the wall. All beheaded, and chaos was the only way to describe the room itself. Whoever had done this had most probably been looking for treasure.


    I flew out of that house and into the street, cursing. It took only a minute to check the three other houses. The scene was about the same, except the killing method varied. In the first house, the victims¡¯ hearts were pierced, in the second - their heads were smashed, in the third one - the corpses looked like burnt dolls.


    The flames had already started taking over houses that were about thirty meters away from me. I stopped in the middle of the street as I was looking around, hoping I would find something. I guess I was lucky and the Iron Faced had left the village before my arrival, but so far, it was pointless. Maybe it was time to go? My throat was starting to get sore from the smoke.


    If I don¡¯t burn, I could easily suffocate.


    Suddenly, my eyes stopped on a two-story house, which was waiting for its turn to be swallowed by the flames like the rest of the village. A few more minutes and the flames would take over that house. Why did I have the urge to run into it?


    This is Bon¡¯s house, I realized.


    That guy had been the son of a chief, and if I had still intended to find something and, in that way, justify putting myself at the risk of being burned alive, I couldn¡¯t allow myself to waste any more time on self-doubt. There wasn¡¯t a better place to get some much-needed information than the house of the chief¡¯s son. What if I found something that had remained hidden from the eyes of the enemy?


    The door of the house was wide open. Having rushed inside, I almost fell because I stumbled over yet another corpse. It was a woman whose head had been pierced by a crossbow bolt. Having seen the poor woman, I felt my heart ache and rage starting to grow in my chest. Where did those feelings come from?


    Well, of course... She was Bon¡¯s mother, for crying out loud! It would have certainly been very useful to find out what this peasant woman had known, but paying the price by feeling that pain ¨C not so much. And this was only 10% of the whole synchronization process?! I had to do something about this strange connection at some point¡­


    But there was a lot to do besides that. Everything in there had also been turned upside down, from the cabinets that were wide open to the piles of clothes on the floor. It seemed like there was nothing to do on the first floor. Maybe I should take a look on the second floor? The bedroom had to be there, and if the chief had a stash, then where else would it be?


    Villager Bon thinks that you need to check the basement. The survivors could be there.


    How interesting¡­ Oh well, I should trust villager Bon, since there was no time to check both upstairs and downstairs.


    ¡°Hey! Anyone alive out there?!¡± I shouted as loud as I could. ¡°It¡¯s me, Bon!¡±


    In response I heard a muffled knock. I didn¡¯t realize right away where the sound was coming from, but I turned my head a few times and my eyes stopped on an old dresser. I ran up to it, got on my knees and put my ear to the floor.


    ¡®Boom, boom!¡¯ I heard it more clearly this time.


    I got up, walked around the dresser and put my hands on it. I pushed and pulled, my muscles were as taut as they could be, and for the first time I praised the villager for building up my strength.


    Rumbling, the old piece of furniture gave in and after sliding it to the side I saw a wooden hatch cover with an iron latch¡­ Which meant Bon¡¯s mother did not intend to let those who were presently knocking to get out by themselves. Perhaps she¡¯d thought a savior would come? I wondered who she¡¯d thought that Savior would be.


    The rusty latch moved to the side with a screech and the lid moved, almost bumping into my head.


    ¡°Thank you¡± muttered the black-haired girl, who was about 18 years old, as she was hastily getting out of the basement.


    Villager Una. Level 8.


    ¡°Hurry up!¡± Once out, the girl, who was in a simple black dress, reached for the hatch. This time another head appeared in the opening, the head of a teenage girl with freckles.


    Villager Rina. Level 2.


    ¡°Ahem-ahem¡± coughed Una. ¡°Go to the exit, faster,¡± she pulled the girl to the door and glanced at me.


    I was about to leave them and dive into the basement, when my throat tightened and I received a system message:The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    You are experiencing a moderate carbon monoxide poisoning. With every passing minute you will lose 10% of your maximum health.


    I should last more than five minutes, unless, of course, the effect increased. Well? Should I take the risk?


    ¡°Help! My mom is in there!¡± The clear voice of a child reached me. I turned around and in the doorway, I saw a boy, who grabbed the hem of Una¡¯s dress to keep her from running away. ¡°She can¡¯t get out! Help her, please!¡±


    The black-haired girl turned around irritably and hissed:


    ¡°She¡¯s beyond help! If you want to live, run with us!¡±


    While trying to figure out what was happening, I realized something. I caught myself thinking that even in spite of the chaos, murder, my resurrection and an extremely uncertain future, I couldn¡¯t simply leave someone that had been caught in a deadly trap.


    ¡°Come with me!¡± once on the street, I grabbed Una by the nape of her neck. ¡°Where''s your mother?¡± I asked the kid.


    The Peasant Slay. Level 1.


    ¡°This is our home!¡± He pointed at the nearest building, which was completely engulfed in flames.


    ¡°We have to go, Bon! Before you suffocate! Ahem-ahem...¡± tried to say the black-haired girl, but she choked and let out a muffled cough instead.


    I looked at the three of them. If they had the exact same debuff as me, then Slay would die first, in about three minutes. Rina would be the second to die, in about three and a half minutes. But Una¡­ hmm¡­ She was next to the little girl. The poisoning takes 10% off, and if measured by the numbers next to the health bar, in percentage terms, she should be on the same level as the little girl. So why did she have more than half of her health points?


    ¡°I saved you! And now I will not let you die so easily! You do realize that once you get out you will end up in the dark woods? Can you survive there on your own?¡± The girl stopped resisting and looked at me angrily. Well, it seemed like my improvised warning had hit the mark. ¡°Cure the children and cover me!¡± I told her. Una nodded reluctantly, thus confirming my presupposition that she had healing abilities.


    Slay¡¯s house was already completely on fire when I rushed in. I had to breathe through a piece of fabric. It didn¡¯t protect me too much from the gas, but at least it was something. I saw the boy¡¯s mother almost right away. She was lying unconscious on the floor near the far wall, dressed in a grey dress and a cap. The leg of the poor thing was pinned down by a massive beam.


    Villager Jonna. Level 6.


    ¡°Wake up! Wake up, please!¡± I ran up to her and started slapping her cheeks. She opened her eyes, wheezing. ¡°I will lift it, and you must crawl out!¡± I explained quickly, as I was grabbing the hot piece of debris.


    Grunting and pushing, I was only able to lift it a couple of centimeters.


    ¡°§¡-§Ñ-§Ñ!!!¡± I yelled, having a hard time holding up the weight of the beam.


    Strength increased by 1.


    Jonna was able to get out, and I threw down the piece of wood with great relief.


    ¡°Faster!¡± I said struggling for breath, I grabbed her hand, helping her to her feet. The woman was limping heavily and could not move without my help. Also, she had less than 10% of her health left.


    I wondered - if HP gets to 1, can you die? After all, there should be no slaying hit. Or maybe the gas and fire would handle it and send me to respawn regardless?


    ¡°Una, cure her!¡± I yelled as I was getting out of the burning house. Although the black-haired girl was standing at a distance, she was still waiting for me. I was relieved because I was afraid that she had decided to take off, leaving us without a healer¡¯s support.


    ¡°Okay, but there won¡¯t be enough mana left to cure you,¡± the girl said, without hiding her satisfaction.


    It took a moment for her palms to shine with a warm light as Jonna¡¯s health went up. Una restored half of the woman¡¯s health points, but, unfortunately, with a damaged ankle, she could not do anything else.


    ¡°Now it¡¯s time to get a move on!¡± I yelled, giving Slay¡¯s mother my shoulder for support. ¡°We¡¯re going to climb over the fence!¡±


    ¡°There are no other options, the gates are blocked!¡± grunted the black-haired girl.


    Fortunately, it went off without a hitch, although I was nervous when I decided to let Una climb over the stockade first. But, to the healer¡¯s credit, she didn¡¯t run away, (apparently, the woods at night are even scarier than I thought); as she had climbed over, the children and Jonna followed. I was the last one to cross over.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go! We need to get further away,¡± I said, as I was picking up the woman again, confused as to why I didn¡¯t receive the notification about the quest completion. Perhaps I had left someone burning alive in the village and as a result, had failed this mission?


    We made our way through the tall grass, toward a dense forest. We made a little break when we were about five hundred meters away from the dark, spreading trees.


    ¡°Phew¡­ finally¡­¡± Una crushed the grass when she stretched herself out on the ground. Jonna and the children sat down neatly next to her. I was standing and I kept watching the village as it was burning to the ground. If I¡¯d happened to leave anyone behind, there were definitely no survivors left there anymore.


    ¡°How did you end up in my basement?¡± I asked the teenager and the little girl, already assuming what the answer was.


    ¡°Your mother saw us on the street and managed to hide us there. What¡¯s so confusing about that?¡± said the black-haired girl.


    ¡°She wanted to help the others, but¡­¡± said Rina, but her squeaky little voice failed her, and the little girl began to cry.


    ¡°She didn¡¯t have enough time to save anyone else,¡± Una finished dryly.


    ¡°However, she saved you. Then again, so did I¡± I said coldly, glaring at the healer.


    ¡°Hmm, yeah¡­¡± She admitted, embarrassed.


    ¡°And after everything my family has done for you, you want to leave with something that doesn¡¯t belong to you?¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about?¡± The girl frowned.


    ¡°You know what I¡¯m talking about, Una. Well? What did you take from the basement? It¡¯s time to give it back.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t take anything!¡± The black-haired girl protested. ¡°There wasn¡¯t anything to take!¡±


    ¡°There was nothing left in the room after I brought you out, I checked,¡± I calmly lied and turned to the little girl. ¡°Well, Rina, tell me which one of us is right, Una or I?¡±


    The little girl, continuing to sob, cried with renewed energy. Taken aback, I thought for a moment that I was wrong and that I was pressuring the healer in vain, but then I changed my mind and turned to her again:


    ¡°You even managed to upset the girl. Shame on you¡­¡± I nodded and stretched out my hand.¡± That¡¯s enough. Give back what¡¯s rightfully mine.¡±


    The girl snorted disdainfully and pulled out an old, tattered book as if out of thin air. It looked exactly the same as it did when I¡¯d gotten the trident from my inventory, after the fight with the ¡°Little Spider¡±.


    ¡°Here,¡± she grumbled while handing the loot back. ¡°I wasn¡¯t going to keep it for myself. I was just trying to save the item, so I took it. But now I¡¯m a little bit ashamed.¡±


    ¡°The small encyclopedia of Lloyd Koala¡± the inscription on the cover stated. Although the night had finally fallen, the light from the moon and stars as well as the glow of the fire on the horizon provided enough light to see the carved metal letters. Or maybe it had something to do with my night vision?


    ¡°Don¡¯t know what you need it for,¡± continued Una. ¡°You can¡¯t even read,¡± the girl grunted loudly.


    ¡°And you can?¡± I asked her indifferently.


    ¡°What about me?¡± She was confused at first, but then she stuck out her chest and said: ¡°I can!¡±


    Was she lying? Or was she actually more educated than the other villagers? It was an interesting question¡­ as well as this one: how did the chief of this most ordinary village imaginable get an encyclopedia? I was certain it was very rare. I had to study this book, but in a more relaxing atmosphere.


    ¡°Open up the inventory.¡± I ordered mentally and I saw the grid with its eleven slots. Ten were empty, and the first one had a smaller copy of my trident. I visualized in my mind that I was placing a book into the next cell and it worked! The encyclopedia had disappeared from my hands.


    ¡°Keep going,¡± I stretched my hand to Una again. The girl had opened her mouth to argue, but after seeing my frown, she decided not to cross swords with me.


    ¡°Here!¡±


    She handed me four ¡°Gold Coins of the Duchy of Oruel¡±, which I immediately hid in the inventory as fast as I could. The money didn¡¯t need a separate slot, but the inscription appeared under the cells.


    ¡°Ok, let¡¯s eat and get some sleep,¡± the girl said cheerfully and walked away.


    ¡°Wait!¡± I called out.


    ¡°What more do you want?¡± Una asked peevishly.


    ¡°That¡¯s not everything. You kept the most precious item for yourself, didn¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°Listen, I¡¯ve had enough of your accusations!¡± She put her hands on her hips. ¡°We have to get some rest and leave for Ahkim in the morning.¡±


    ¡°You think it¡¯s safe to stay here for the night?¡± Jonna asked quietly, clutching her tired son to her chest.


    ¡°No,¡± the healer said with a smirk. ¡°But it¡¯s safer here more than anywhere else. We¡¯ll stand guard so that others can get some sleep. Until then¡­¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t think you¡¯re off the hook, Una!¡± I cut her off. ¡°Give back what you owe me!¡±


    ¡°Or I will make you¡± I wanted to add, but I shut up just in time. She was a higher level than me, and so was her health; I was better not to push it. But damn it, I wanted to see what this girl was trying to hide so badly!


    I wouldn¡¯t have surprised me if she had sent me to hell. I had to back off, reluctantly. However¡­


    ¡°Argh! I¡¯m sick of you!¡± Una tossed something small in the air, something that was barely gleaming in the moonlight. I had jumped forward, caught the ring and immediately inspected it.


    To see the inscription and use the item, you must reach level 10.


    I had decided not to wear it, so I placed it in my inventory. I looked at Una again. She was sitting on the grass and eating a loaf of sweet bread with milk. Why had she given it back? Maybe she was afraid that I might do something? Maybe because from her point of view, I¡¯d managed to survive an encounter with the Iron Faced. Perhaps she thought that she shouldn¡¯t take for granted what I was capable of doing.


    Speaking of ¡®surviving¡¯, how did Jonna and her son manage to survive? I¡¯m curious to find out, but by merely asking this question, I was putting myself at the risk of running into the same question, and I really didn¡¯t want to answer that.


    Other things were more urgent¡­


    ¡°I¡¯ve completed the quest from Villager Bon. I have found the survivors and I want to get my reward¡± ¡ª I mentally enunciated every word.


    Quest ¡°Search for survivors¡± has been completed.


    Body synchronization: 20%.


    Experience received: 2157.


    Level up. Current level 6.


    Level up. Current level 7.

 Chapter 4. The road to town

    I get two levels for one quest? Not bad! Despite the fact that I hadn¡¯t experienced any difficulties either. I completed the task without encountering any enemies. I wondered how the rewards were calculated. The treasures I had had to shake out on my own. And the quest was closed when I mentally turned into Bon¡­ But that was not a problem. If I don¡¯t approach the quest giver, then I won¡¯t finish the quest just yet. Two levels, though¡­ Obviously, the amount of experience gotten depended on how important the job was to the quest giver. That was clever and very practical.


    My whole team was spread out on the grass and having dinner. Watching them eat made my stomach growl.


    You¡¯re feeling hunger. You should eat before your hunger increases and weakness sets in.


    Wow, do physical needs get measured in figures out here, too? What was interesting was that I was a bit thirsty and needed to get some sleep, but I still hadn¡¯t received any notifications about it.


    ¡°Show me information about my physical needs¡± I sat on the ground and turned on the system.This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    A needs window, consisting of three-colored stripes and signs, appeared before my eyes. The first one was called ¡°Food¡±. Half of the scale, from 0 to 49, was colored red. The second, yellow one, showed 50-74; and the last, green one, showed 75-100. At that exact moment it fell to 74 and moved into the yellow zone, so I received the notification.


    There was no description, but I assumed that debuffs would show up once my needs reach the red zone. I was in an average state at that moment, and the green gave a positive effect. However, when the scale was full I hadn¡¯t noticed anything. Oh well, there was still a lot I had to learn about the game.


    With a tired sigh, I estimated the rest of my needs. ¡°Liquids¡± would soon fall below half. I also needed to take care of the ¡°Sleep¡± and ¡°Need to go #1¡± categories. Not only could I see these parameters in the form of scales, but I could also feel them in my body. There were others, like ¡°Communication¡±, ¡°Spiritual food¡±, ¡°Physical pleasure¡±, ¡°Adventures¡±, ¡°Self-Realization¡±, and so on and so forth. Some of them were framed with a wrought, gold edge, some with silver, but most of them didn¡¯t stand out.


    Unable to find any information about the positive and negative effects of the needs, I gave up and closed the window.


    ¡°Well, tired of self-exploration?¡± I immediately heard Una¡¯s voice. The girl spoke quietly because the children were asleep. ¡°Let¡¯s decide who will be on watch tonight. There are six hours ¡®till morning. I suggest that we each stand watch for two hours.¡±


    Hmm, it was pretty reasonable. She was a clever one, this Una. A healer, educated, and so young...

 From the author.

    Dear readers,


    First of all, I would like to thank you for a warm welcome here, on royalroad. I am so glad that so many people liked my story, despite some mistakes in the text. And it really means a lot to me.


    I am happy to announce that the editing of the book "Gloominess +1" is complete. I think I need to tell you that this book was translated from Russian. I have put a lot of effort, time and money into it. If you really liked my story and you would like to read the next book, please support the "Gloominess +1" on Amazon</a>The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    The "Gloominess" series of books are pretty popular in Russia, I have written 4 books out of the 5-6 planned. I would be happy, if I can translate all of them, and my story get more interested readers. Whether my dream comes true, depends only on you, my readers.


    According to the Amazon''s rules, the book should be represented there as a unique one, so I should delete here all the chapters. Thank you for all your comments and support!


    Tobuy or to read"Gloominess +1" free in Kindle Unlimited,CLICK HERE PLEASE</a>


    Hope you like my story and will find the opportunity to leave me a short review on Amazon.It''s very much important for the first book of the new author.


    Thanks ahead, friends.


    P.S.You can read the 1/2 of the Second Book here.

 Book 2. Prologue

    Choose your designated resurrection point:


    <ul>


    <li> Listeri Cemetery</li>


    <li> Ilsa the Hunter¡¯s Lodge</li>


    </ul>


    Floating in the pitch black, I felt light and calm. There were no sounds, no smell and no pain¡­ There was nothing there, not even my body, just the feeling of total relaxation and those three lines in front of my eyes.


    I just wanted to relax and have nothing to worry about; I wanted to stay here¡­ It was a wonderful feeling.


    ¡°Hurry up, boy!¡± the voice sounded from everywhere. ¡°You¡¯re too weak to float in me. Get back into the real world!¡±


    The Old Man¡¯s words ¡ª his voice wasn¡¯t hard to recognize ¡ª snapped me out of my trance. My self-preservation instinct immediately obeyed his words, appraised them and woke up my lethargic brain.


    ¡°Listeri Cemetery!¡± Having that thought form in my mind was enough to make my voice pierce the Darkness. My voice, not Bon¡¯s. Hmm, was that why I didn¡¯t have a body in this strange place¡­?


    The Darkness swirled around me, and a moment later I was standing in front of the heavy doors of the stone crypt.


    Why did I choose this resurrection point? I honestly didn¡¯t know. Maybe I instinctively knew that I would be able to transfer myself to the hunting lodge in twelve hours if needed be. Or maybe, somewhere at the back of my mind sounded the voice of a sly ¡°villager¡± that had finished Anda.


    ¡°Aaa! Aaaa!!!¡± Something pushed me to the side and got itself out of my left hand¡¯s grip.


    I turned my head around, puzzled and saw Berg. I had been clutching his shoulder this entire time.


    ¡°Aaa! Aaa! AAA!¡± shouted the unfortunate ranger, covered from head to toe in black haze. He took off running, stumbled over someone¡¯s gravestone, fell down, and started rolling on the ground, trying to get rid of the Darkness. The poor fellow must have wanted to use his arms, but they were still shackled.


    I ran over to him, materializing a Health Potion in my hand, but stopped halfway, suddenly remembering what happened to Grace. I didn¡¯t know whether or not Berg had already used a potion during the fight with the baron¡¯s people?


    I took a closer look and saw that the he had less than ten percent of HP. However, he wasn¡¯t losing them anymore! What was I to do?


    The black haze suddenly started to disappear, as if Berg¡¯s body was consuming it. When it was all gone, the man groaned and slowly opened his eyes.


    ¡°Oh¡­¡± he exhaled with surprise. ¡°Where am I?¡± the ranger wheezed, slowly turning his head. He stared at me and got serious at once. ¡°You saved me. Thank you. Though, you separated me from my Goddess. But it doesn¡¯t matter now; she didn¡¯t even come to help her Follower.¡±


    ¡°Wait!¡± I raised my hands in front of me. ¡°Say that again... Separated you from your Goddess?¡±


    Berg grimaced.


    ¡°I said it in my own words,¡± he clarified, groaning and getting onto his feet. ¡°The system informed me that the other person¡¯s will affected me, pushing aside my Patron¡¯s will. As a result, my Patron decided not to resist for too long. Though, she must have felt nothing at all, for I am only a Follower and not a Disciple, let alone a Gleam.¡± Berg stood up straight and tried to see my face in the moonlight. He then bowed, ¡°Thank you again, Bale. You saved my life, and I¡¯m ready to return the favor.¡±


    I tried to comprehend what I just heard, to digest this information, make things clear in my head and decide what to do next. Taking into account everything that had happened so far, I had more trust in the ranger now. However, I shouldn¡¯t get ahead of myself. Although, it would be good if I could get away from him for a bit and contact the Old Man. I wouldn¡¯t mind spending fifty faith points on that; I could always get more. The most important thing was to keep my head clear, for it was threatening to burst from all the questions I had.Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.


    The ¡°Call of the Patron¡± has been activated.


    You have spent 50 faith points.


    I froze, glancing at the message. It took me a lot of effort not to fall backwards onto the grass. What a self-willed deity! Weren¡¯t there too many eyes here? What about conspiracy?


    I felt its presence behind me. Turning around, I saw a figure levitating a foot and a half above the ground, clad in a hazy black robe with a cowl pulled over its face. I couldn¡¯t see the Old Man¡¯s eyes, but judging by the direction in which the hood was turned, he definitely wasn¡¯t looking at me.


    I shifted my gaze toward Berg who was standing there with his mouth wide open before he fell to his knees.


    ¡°Thank you, Great One!¡±


    ¡°Well, then¡­ Be my Disciple!¡± the Old Man roared.


    The ranger¡¯s eyes widened even more as he yammered on.


    ¡°What a great honor! I¡¯ll serve you faithfully and loyally! I¡¯ll devote my life to you and to your Followers!¡±


    The man who I used to think was a gloomy and harsh loner was now fawning like a dog in front of its master who had just returned home from work. After losing his Goddess, which didn¡¯t seem to care the least bit about him, he found a God that personally appeared in front of his new Follower and raised him to the rank of a Disciple. This was the second time today that I saw people bend their knees in front of their Patrons. The Gods were honored here and their will was respected¡­ Maybe I was treating my Old Man with too much familiarity?


    ¡°I understand, Great One!¡± the ranger answered the Patron¡¯s silent words, then nodded and, getting to his feet, turned his back to me.


    ¡°Free him, boy,¡± I heard in my head.


    The Lockpicking skill and the lock picks that I got from Tael let me open the lock quickly. Feeling that his hands were free, Berg thanked me and, getting a bow from his inventory, walked cautiously to the border of the cemetery.


    ¡°I asked him to check the surrounding area, boy,¡± the Old Man explained silently. ¡°But don¡¯t be afraid, there is no danger out there.¡±


    I chuckled. The dark deity cunningly sent his Disciple away.


    ¡°You wanted to talk to me, boy?¡± the voice in my head was very serious. ¡°I¡¯m listening.¡±


    ¡°Who are you?¡± I asked mentally.


    ¡°You¡¯re too weak, I cannot trust you completely just yet, boy,¡± the Old Man answered calmly. ¡°You have to get stronger, so that I could open myself to you¡± I clicked my tongue in exasperation and clutched my fists. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, boy. I know how it is when you¡¯re betrayed.¡±


    ¡°So what? Do I have to stumble around like a blind kitten?¡± I snorted, involuntarily enouncing my question aloud.


    ¡°Not at all¡±, I suddenly felt a pleasant, relaxing warmth, emanating from the dark figure. ¡°I can guide you, boy. I gave you a companion,¡± he nodded in the direction of the trees, where Berg went. ¡°I can¡¯t guarantee that he will be completely loyal to you, but it can¡¯t hurt to have a Disciple. Make an Altar for him. He won¡¯t be able to do it himself, because¡­¡± the Old man got silent for a moment and then shook his hood. He then laconically added: ¡°He can¡¯t¡±.


    ¡°Having only one companion won¡¯t be enough to fight against I don¡¯t know what,¡± I retorted.


    ¡°You¡¯re wrong, boy. Sometimes, even one person can change history. But you¡¯re right, it¡¯s better when you have more allies. That¡¯s why you¡¯ll have temporary ones ¡ª the Followers of Rugus. His Disciples already know his will. You can count on them in your search of the parts of the Zurtarn.¡±


    ¡°Why do we need this Zurtarn? And what does ¡®the Cradle of Gods¡¯ mean?


    ¡°I can¡¯t tell you just yet,¡± the Old Man answered calmly.


    ¡°Do you have a temple?¡± I asked quickly. ¡°Or am I again too weak to know the answer?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t have temples, boy.¡±


    Alright, that was a start! Let¡¯s try and make more progress.


    ¡°Is this world real?¡±


    ¡°What do you think, boy?¡±


    ¡°I got here from a virtual capsule¡­ There¡¯s a game interface here and a resurrection option. It looks like a game, but¡­¡±


    ¡°Only we get to decide what¡¯s a game and what¡¯s real life, boy.¡±


    ¡°Can I go back to Earth?¡±


    The Old Man kept silent for a few seconds, floating motionlessly. Then a word sounded in my head.


    ¡°Theoretically.¡±


    Another controversial answer. How should I interpret it?


    ¡°If you are able to collect all parts of the Zurtarn¡±, the Old Man spoke suddenly, ¡°and if you stay loyal to me¡­ I¡¯ll explain to you what I mean. Let¡¯s call it a day. I¡¯ve been here for too long.¡±


    ¡°Wait!¡± I blurted out. ¡°This body you chose for me. Could it act up? Could I remain stuck deep within its mind forever, losing control over it?¡±


    The hood of the black figure looked up toward the sky, then to the left and to the right and then stared at me again with its impenetrable darkness. I wondered why was there a time limit.


    ¡°He cannot¡±, he answered shortly. It seemed to me that it was hard for him to say those words. ¡°We have an agreement. Good luck, boy. Hurry up with the Zurtarn. The enemies have seen your map.¡±


    The Old Man vanished, leaving me alone to ponder. What? When did they managed to do that?

 Book 2. Chapter 1. The Gleam of Rugus

    Chapter 1


    The Gleam of Rugus


    I immediately opened up my inventory and looked through it, paying special attention to Bon¡¯s father¡¯s map. It looked the same as usual.


    I frowned, trying to figure out what the catch was. According to the baron¡¯s words, you could steal from someone¡¯s inventory. Did that also mean that you could also find out what was in it without taking it?


    My thoughts were interrupted by a rustle and Berg¡¯s loud voice.


    ¡°Just no funny business! Got it!?¡±


    ¡°Sure, sure,¡± replied a haughty, familiar female voice.


    Turning toward the source of the sound, I shook my head with a heavy sigh. Sooner or later, this dark world will make it so that nothing surprises me anymore.


    There she was, walking proudly with her head up, wearing the same leather armor and cloak that Anda had on today. She held her arms up demonstratively. However, in the world of magic that didn¡¯t mean a thing. Although Berg, who was walking a feet behind the girl, kept his bow at the ready, it wouldn¡¯t help us if the girl decided to pull a trick on us.


    Anda? Huh¡­ It looked like her, but her face was different, younger, more impudent, and her hair was black. The system message made my head spin.


    Una


    Level 96


    HP: 4978/4978


    She noticed my gaze and smiled broadly, but kept advancing with her hands up. Yeah, if she decides to attack, Berg and I would turn into her puppets ¡ª I still had no idea how to deal with the controlling spell.


    ¡°Hey, Bon!¡± Anda/Una spoke boldly, stopping some thirty feet away from me. ¡°Thank you for finishing me off. Just I feared, I lost the Fraction of Rugus after my death. But since a Follower of Rugus dealt the finishing blow, the Great One returned to me what I had lost. And he also told me to look after you. Could you maybe tell your friend here to put his weapon away?¡±


    ¡°Please, make yourself comfortable,¡± I answered hospitably, gesturing toward the cemetery. ¡°Berg,¡± I looked at the ranger, ¡°stay alert.¡±


    After having looked me up and down, Anda/Una lowered her hands, chuckled and sat on one of the gravestones.


    ¡°Sorry, grandma,¡± she said to the stone, stroking its cold surface. ¡°I used to love sitting on your knees.¡±


    I asked enough stupid questions for today talking to my Patron. I could allow myself to be me in front of him as he could read my thoughts anyway, but I couldn¡¯t reveal my weaknesses to these two. All I could was keep silent and analyze my current situation.


    Una and Anda were definitely the same person; a person with two different faces. There must¡¯ve been a simple answer for it ¡ª if there were artifacts that could change your name, why couldn¡¯t there be ones that could change your appearance? That seemed like a logical explanation to me.


    There was also her level. It was twice as high as mine. But when Listeri was on fire, we were of the same level. So, she either took a Weakening Potion, or her skills were even more unique than mine. Upgrading was long-term thing in this world ¡ª slow regeneration, potion use limit¡­ So the first option was the more likely one, but that theory still needed to be tested.


    And the last thing ¡ª where were her shackles? She couldn¡¯t have taken them off herself. Did the system take mistake for debuff ¡ª or something like that ¡ª and removed them after her resurrection? Did somebody help her remove them?


    ¡°Where have you found this beauty?¡± I asked Berg, who obeyed my order and kept his bow aimed at the girl.


    ¡°She found me herself,¡± the ranger muttered. ¡°She told me to bring her to you.¡±If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    ¡°As far as I understand, there was nobody else around?¡± I looked at Una with the corner of my eye. She was looking at the starry sky as if nothing was wrong.


    The ranger shook his head. It looked like he wanted to add something, but after glancing at Rugus¡¯s Gleam, decided not to. That was right, we couldn¡¯t trust her. At least, for now.


    I moved my gaze onto the girl. Feeling it, she stopped observing the stars and stared at me with a predator-like glare. She then moved her gaze higher, looking at something above my head ¡ª she seemed to be reading my stats.


    ¡°I was killed by someone called ¡®Villager Bon¡¯,¡± she said. ¡°Not by you, ¡®Secretive Bale¡¯. But you defeated me¡­ That¡¯s very weird. I asked you back then, the night when Listeri burnt down¡­ And I will ask again ¡ª what are you? Are you a Gleam with a rebelling source inside you?


    ¡°Source?¡± I wondered.


    Una grimaced and shrugged.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what to call the poor soul that gave you the body. That Bon guy, Chief Jason¡¯s son... Well?¡± she leaned forward. ¡°Am I right? Is Bon is trying to kick you out?¡±


    Both admitting and avoiding the question would reveal my weak spots to her. All I could do is come up with a very convincing lie.


    ¡°No, we get along just swimmingly and even swap places sometimes.¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡­¡± pondered Rugus¡¯s Gleam.


    ¡°And what about you? Do you talk to your source?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± she calmly answered. ¡°I have never heard that little girl speak.¡±


    ¡°How long have you been in her body?¡± I asked almost immediately.


    ¡°For ten years,¡± Una answered indifferently.


    My heart sank, but I strained every nerve not to betray my discomposure. I felt that I made another step toward understanding the secrets of this world. I have never had a chance to talk to a Gleam before.


    ¡°And who were you before Rugus put you in the girl¡¯s body?¡±


    Una squinted again, drilling me with her look. Then she chuckled.


    ¡°Maybe you¡¯ll also ask me when was the last time I changed my underwear? What was in my past life stays there. The only thing that matters is what we have in this life. And in this life I am the Gleam of the Great Rugus. I am his eyes, ears and arms. I was ordered to help you to find the Zurtarn. The Great One told me that you know where another part is hidden¡±.


    ¡°I have a map,¡± I nodded, showing her the rolled up piece of paper that I immediately hid in my inventory. Una¡¯s eyes widened. She jumped from the gravestone and blurted:


    ¡°It was in your inventory this entire time?¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± I exhaled, understanding what she was getting at.


    ¡°Oh, damned Decay!¡± she cursed. ¡°Tsunter hinted that some of the Followers of Viyon came with him¡­¡±


    ¡°Someone invisible was following us,¡± Berg confirmed. ¡°But their skills were such a high level that I wasn¡¯t even able to pinpoint their approximate location. I just felt their presence.¡±


    Shifting my gaze from Rugus¡¯s Gleam to the Old Man¡¯s Disciple, I was feverishly trying to remember everything I read about Viyon. Putting it mildly, he was called ¡°the God of Cunning¡± but, in truth, he was the God of Slyness, or even the God of Insidiousness. He was a perfect candidate for the Patron of thieves and swindlers. At least, I hadn¡¯t come across any other similar deities in the Small Encyclopedia¡­


    ¡°He must have checked your inventory when you were in the runic shackles,¡± Berg said without taking his eyes and aim off Una. ¡°The world would have told you that you were being spied on otherwise.¡±


    Hmm, so I would have got a system message. Thank the Old Man! For a moment I honestly thought that any invisible person could rummage through my inventory at any moment without me noticing it. However, not really at ¡°any moment¡±.


    But why did the thief just take a look at the inventory? Why didn¡¯t they take the map? I could only assume that I would have known about it even with my mana blocked. Or maybe they wanted to persuade me to cooperate with them, so that I would hand them the map on my own.


    ¡°Speaking about shackles¡­¡± I decided to clarify how she got free. Of course, nothing prevented her from lying. She repeated my theory word for word ¡ª the shackles simply disappeared after resurrection. Maybe she was speaking the truth.


    ¡°But that doesn¡¯t matter now!¡± the girl quickly said. ¡°We have to hurry up and get to the artifact before them! Where should we go? How much time will it take?¡±


    ¡°As if I would tell you,¡± I chuckled.


    She pursed her lips tightly and threateningly shook her head.


    ¡°Nothing prevents me from beating the answer at of you. Or manipulating, in my case. You are not strong enough to stand against me. I won¡¯t break my Patron¡¯s will by doing that because I¡¯m going to help you. Well? Speak up. The baron must already know the location and is preparing an expedition¡­ Despite having other things to do,¡± the girl snorted bitterly.


    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± I nodded, ¡°as far as I understood it, he wants to control Ekheim. And it seems to me that he will fulfill his task quickly.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure finding the second part of the Zurtarn is a more pressing matter to him,¡± Una said.


    ¡°But we are much closer to it than he is,¡± I said, deciding to trust her. After all, the Old Man said that the Followers of Rugus were our allies.


    ¡°Just as I thought,¡± she replied. ¡°So, how long will this trip take?¡± she repeated her question.


    ¡°If we don¡¯t have to fight the wolves, it will take us a day.¡±


    She made a wry face and sat on the gravestone once again.


    ¡°Do you enjoy it, when I pry information out of you?¡± Una asked, flicking a strand of hair behind her shoulder. ¡°You didn¡¯t tell me the direction, not to mention that you didn¡¯t show me the map,¡± she chuckled and shook her head. ¡°We can¡¯t count on your ability to accelerate regeneration. It¡¯d be pretty stupid to just walk through the Territory of Decay. So, we need three horses and six Glozeysk Crystals. And potions, too.¡±


    She looked at us. I could¡¯ve sworn that I hadn¡¯t said a word about the decayed lands. Una knew¡­ But how?

 Book 2. Chapter 2. The Invitation

    Una must have learnt that from Rugus. But where did he get the information about the artifact¡¯s location? This question really bothered me. I saw the system message that informed me that Bon got a Fraction of Rugus. But I checked my inventory long ago; there wasn¡¯t any Fraction there. The sorceress said that it was returned to her because she was killed by a Follower of Rugus. The most obvious conclusion then was that Bon was, or rather, had been, a Follower of Rugus. The least possible conclusion was that the Old Man was Rugus himself and I was, by extent, also his Follower.


    Was that ridiculous? It was ridiculous enough. However, the lilac sand did vaguely resemble the magic of Darkness. And Rugus himself was our official ally.


    ¡°Besides,¡± Una continued without taking her watchful eyes off of me, ¡°after hearing the story about the level 130 creature, I really doubt that it¡¯s wise for the three of us to go into the Territory of Decay alone.¡±


    ¡°I have to agree with her, Bale,¡± the ranger said, still keeping an eye on her. ¡°Even the five of us almost died there. If it weren¡¯t for Mayor Elliot¡¯s help, we would all be dead by now.¡±


    ¡°Do you think so?¡± Una chuckled. ¡°Do you remember, Berg, how you got away from the baron?¡±


    The ranger shuddered involuntarily. Memories of that seemed to be quite unpleasant.


    ¡°You have a skill that allows you to open portals, don¡¯t you, Bon?¡± a sly smile touched the girl¡¯s lips.


    Portal? Was that a word from her past life? Or did such phenomenon really exist in this dark world? I should find out.


    ¡°No,¡± I shook my head. ¡°But you seem to be able to do that...¡±


    Una glared at me for a couple of seconds before sighing helplessly.


    ¡°Don¡¯t be so nit-picky! I really can¡¯t open portals,¡± I chuckled.


    ¡°But you can teleport yourself to your resurrection point,¡± she smirked. ¡°And as for your question ¡ª yes. I can do it. But it leads only to Rugus¡¯s Abode. That¡¯s where I invite you both. The Great One¡¯s trusted Disciples will gladly fulfill his wish and provide us with everything we need in our quest to get the part of Zurtarn.¡±


    A crowd of lunatic Followers of the God of Control? What a great place that had to be. Especially remembering how other God¡¯s temples affected me. Of course, a God¡¯s personal presence hurt much more, but their temples could also make me lose quite a lot of HP. I knew what I had to do.


    ¡°Be in no hurry to refuse,¡± Una said as soon as I opened my mouth. ¡°The Great One saw what Einar¡¯s aura did to you and asked me to tell you that he would diminish his presence in the Abode. Yes, there will be some sort of a residual effect, but it would be quite weak. Your regeneration should be able to deal with it.¡±


    ¡°Did he just tell you that?¡± I smirked. The girl blinked in confusion.


    ¡°Yes, he did. So what?"


    I said nothing, just chuckled. Though my Old Man was looking after me, he still didn¡¯t use me as a transmitter. Was that a good or a bad thing I didn¡¯t know, but I didn¡¯t want to live being some supreme creature¡¯s eyes and ears. I liked freedom; even a feigned one.


    But let¡¯s get back to business¡­ I definitely needed some new clothes. The rags that I was wearing gave no stat bonuses. It would be useful to get my hands on a Glozeysk Crystal. Without one, I would have to spend a lot of time fighting and regenerating.


    It would be reckless to go into Rugus¡¯s lair while Elusive Darkness is still in cooldown. Though the Old Man called the God of Control and his Followers our allies, he did so with obvious reluctance. And if they betray us¡­ It wouldn¡¯t be smart to kill me, but they could get rid of Berg. I didn¡¯t want to lose him in such a stupid way. However, I shouldn¡¯t miss an opportunity to get stronger at the expense of others. I also needed to activate the Altars of Light and Twilight¡­ Damn! What was I to do?


    I yawned, covering my mouth with my hand at the last moment. I hadn¡¯t slept for a very long time. It would be a pity to get a debuff because of that. Fine. Then that¡®s settled.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Una, but I don¡¯t think that we should all go into the most holy place of the Great Rugus. Go alone. If possible, bring back a piece of bark the Wisdom Tree.¡± What? They were offering help, and I had all intentions of using that. I wasn¡¯t going to let the cat out of the bag in front of everyone I met. I had to learn how to stop being paranoid of every rustle, and how to get as much as possible out of every situation. Yes, I would have to reveal some of my secrets, but I could get much more in return. The rest of my secrets would remain safe.Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.


    She fell deep into thought and seemed to be looking through me. I was sure that she was getting useful advice from her Patron. She reminded me of a computer downloading a software upgrade.


    ¡°Okay, Bon,¡± the girl nodded after a while. ¡°Wait here, I¡¯ll be back in an hour with the gifts. You can have some rest until then.¡±


    ¡°Deal,¡± I replied. Yielding to the feelings that were gnawing at my heart, I added: ¡°Just don¡¯t call me like that. I¡¯m not Bon.¡±


    ¡°Huh. Ookay,¡± the sorceress chuckled and, raising her hand in front of her, began creating a portal. Lilac grains of sand danced in the air, rushing from her fingertips to create a broad archway. It took her about thirty seconds to do her magic. Looking at it, I came to a conclusion that the skill would be useless during a quick escape ¡ª the spell required too much time to cast.


    Finally, the arch glowed with a purple light; the girl waved her hand and, after stepping into the magic haze, was gone together with the portal.


    ¡°Do you trust her?¡± I immediately asked Berg. I clearly remembered how she left me in the mercy of the wolves. I remembered how she used her healing skills. How that correlated with the God of Control was beyond my comprehension. There were too many mysteries about her. I was afraid that she would stab me in the back¡­ Though we were not match for her in a fight, and she must have known it. I wanted to believe that she wouldn¡¯t betray us, but it was quite possible that she would use us and leave us with nothing.


    The ranger put his bow back in his inventory, stretched his neck and sat on the grass.


    ¡°More or less. In fact, she was Mayor Elliot¡¯s right hand. If she wasn¡¯t a Gleam she would have died with him there,¡± he shook his head and then materialized a piece of jerky and a flask with wine. I sat beside him, and took out my supplies as well.


    ¡°Do you think Godwin is dead?¡± I asked. Berg nodded, looking angry. ¡°Tell me, why didn¡¯t you leave him like the others did?¡±


    I needed to understand his motives. I needed to decide whether I could trust him my life or not.


    Berg took a sip of wine and shook his ginger mane.


    ¡°I like being alive,¡± he answered. ¡°But I want to choose by myself what to do and whom to follow. I want to do the right thing. I would have never forgiven myself such a vile betrayal. I would rather die than live like a rotten scum,¡± he looked away. Did he get embarrassed? As if confirming my thoughts, the ranger stared at me again and blurted out: ¡°You do understand what I¡¯m talking about, don¡¯t you? You also didn¡¯t do their bidding and saved Anda and me¡­ or Una, I have no idea what her real name is.¡±


    ¡°It was a big risk,¡± I replied. ¡°You could have died.¡±


    ¡°But I survived!¡± Berg chuckled. ¡°And Anda¡­ Una shouldn¡¯t have survived such a transfer. I have no idea how you found out that she¡¯s a Gleam, but you did the right thing.¡±


    I gathered my thoughts and carefully asked:


    ¡°Where did you get that?¡±


    ¡°The Great One told me to explain to you some obvious things.¡±


    Confused, I shook my head. I put my hands up in front of me.


    ¡°Stop. Wait. You¡¯ve heard my question. Please, be so kind as to answer it as clearly and as detailed as possible.¡± I was afraid that we would have problems with communication, but I had expected them to be related to some other issues.


    Who could have thought that this gloomy fellow could come up with such rubbish? Maybe he didn¡¯t have much experience talking to others.


    Berg spent some twenty seconds gathering his thoughts and then told me what, from his point of view, our getaway and the later events looked like. Everything fell into place; while the archer was rolling on the grass, wrapped in black flames, the Old Man¡¯s powers were fighting with his former Patron¡¯s powers. Having easily won, the Darkness told him that if Berg had been a Disciple or a Gleam, his Patron would have appeared in person. Common Followers were just a congregation, but Disciples and Gleams were a wealth of information about their Gods; incomplete and fragmented, but very dangerous in the hands of wrongdoers. Then the body of the poor Follower could then burst from the collision of the Gods¡¯ energies. The Old Man couldn¡¯t just let him go after transferring him through the Darkness because my spell had filled Berg with Darkness from head to toe.


    The Old Man asked his new Disciple to tell me all about it and to explain everything I needed, even if it all seemed like common sense to Berg.


    Lost in thought, I scratched my head as I listened to my companion¡¯s story. My Patron wanted me to broaden my horizons, which is why he provided me with a guide. He wasn¡¯t able to do it personally. For some reason, the time he could spend talking to me was limited. That¡¯s why, for example, he passed information about Elusive Darkness through his Disciple.


    This made me happy. It turned out that taking too long to guess how to save Berg they way I did was a good thing. If I had cast that spell to transfer Anda/Una, she would have died a much more terrible death. Yes, she would resurrect, but there was no guarantee that she would have done this as easily and effortlessly as she did. Still, the influence of a Gods¡¯ power on your soul definitely had some impact.


    And the most important thing¡­ My last-chance skill turned out to be a last-chance weapon. You couldn¡¯t transfer Gleams and Disciples with the help of Elusive Darkness without hurting them¡­ What if I did it deliberately? What if I clutched their hand when fleeing from a stronger enemy and pull them into Darkness? Even if they were a common member of the congregation, they would still lose their ties with their Patron! And what would happen, if I, let¡¯s say, fill a Warrior of Decay with Darkness?


    ¡°Oh, by the way,¡± Berg broke the silence, ¡°the Great One asked me to tell you not to use that spell on creatures of Decay. But I don¡¯t think you would ever need to save them,¡± he chuckled, putting the flask back into his inventory.

 Book 2. Chapter 3. Preparations

    Only specific skills depended on your Patron. In other words, if anyone in this dark world decided to be an atheist, they wouldn¡¯t be a burden. You could access some skills with the help of different items; for example, I unlocked Blind Eye after putting on the Ring of Rascal. Some skills would be unlocked after upgrading everyday and personality skills; like War Horseman that appeared after my Riding reached level 5. Some skills could be unlocked only through training, especially if you had a mentor. Berg unlocked some of his special bow shots training at the shooting range at the ranger¡¯s camp. However, ¡°unlock¡± and ¡°learn¡± were two different things. The second was impossible without the first. In order to ¡°learn¡±, you had to spend skill points in the menu of those skills. So, no matter how much time you spent on training, everything had a limit. You could either max out a couple of skills, or you could spend points on learning a bit of each.


    Why I had decided to pay special attention to the rules of the game in the middle of the night while hiding in the trees not so far from the Listeri Cemetery you might ask. I needed to know what my new companion was capable of after being separated from his former Patron and how separating a Follower from their God affected their skills.


    ¡°I was just an ordinary Follower, so I didn¡¯t lose much,¡± the ranger said.


    Of his God¡¯s skills he had a skill that allowed him to hit several enemies with one shot; one maiming shot that went right through an enemy¡¯s knee, dealing some extra damage and slowing them down; and Hunter¡¯s Hunch with which he could detect invisible enemies. It was based on hearing and its range covered an area that was divided in three, 100 ft zones. The closer was the zone to Berg, the more difficult it was for the enemy to hide from him. These were useful and valuable skills. Especially the last one.


    But here¡¯s the most interesting thing¡­ According to information that Berg got from the Old Man and that he passed to me, once separated from the Patron, the skills you got from them would stop working, for they would lose the connection with the deity¡¯s power that fed them. A new Patron could reset them all, returning to their Follower all of the spent points, or they could try and modify them according to their element.


    As a result, Berg¡¯s Hunter¡¯s Hunch became All-seeing Darkness. The skill¡¯s range had shrunk to 150 feet and there was no zone division. Though the limitations of the skill were the same, it now depended on how thick the surrounding darkness was. My companion could easily pin down the location of a fly in pitch darkness, not to mention that he could detect enemies even if they had upgraded invisibility. However, he was as blind as a newborn kitten during the day. Therefore, we would have to stay in the shadows. The skill wouldn¡¯t work to its full extent, but it would work.


    The Maiming Knee Shot became Horror Shot. It didn¡¯t slow the enemy down anymore, but it dealt the extra damage and made the enemy run away while the effect lasted.


    The Old Man didn¡¯t try to change the third skill; he just removed it and returned the skill points to Berg.


    Berg knew how to spend them ¡ª our Patron gave him a couple of passive skills and the opportunity to learn Eyes in the Dark and Dark Side of the World. Berg upgraded the first skill to the second level ¡ªAll-seeing Darkness couldn¡¯t be activate at all times ¡ª and the second one he upgraded to the third level. The remaining skill points were not enough for anything else.


    It was funny that the ranger didn¡¯t get the Tranquility of Darkness. Not to mention the Elusive Darkness. As far as I understood it, the Old Man couldn¡¯t give us all of the elemental skills that he had. There were some limitations. However, I was convinced that Berg would get more skills after getting an Altar and earning enough faith points through praying. I didn¡¯t know why, but it seemed to me that they would be quite different from the ones that I got from our Patron.


    I told the ranger to remain hidden in the trees near the cemetery. He would be invisible for those who couldn¡¯t see in the Darkness, while being able to keep an eye on the spot where Una¡¯s portal had been. The girl said that she would appear at the same place. But who knew what kind of company she would bring back with her and what their intentions would be.


    My desire to clear my head was stronger than my desire to sleep. That¡¯s why, after deciding on a secret meeting place in case we needed to hide from Una, I went deep into the forest. I decided to go south-east, for I had already explored the north-eastern region last time. The Wolves in that area could still be in their ¡°calmed¡± state. There was no need to disturb them.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.


    Once the cemetery was several feet behind me, I slowed down my pace and slowly came to a stop. I exhaled, looked up at the sky, and stretched my neck¡­ Finally, I was alone. So many things happened during the last couple of days.


    But I will reminisce when I retire, if I¡¯m alive by then. There were more important things to do right now.


    ¡°Look, Bon,¡± I called my ¡°source¡±. ¡°We need to talk¡±.


    Silence.


    I spent half a minute trying to call him mentally, but he refused to answer.


    ¡°We really have to discuss a lot of stuff,¡± I spoke aloud. ¡°I don¡¯t think that you like being denied control over your own body. I¡¯m not pleased with this unwanted transfer and with the thought that you can take over. Well? Let¡¯s talk. Do you hear me?¡±


    This time I waited for a whole minute. Alas¡­


    I cursed and started walking. Fine, I had other business to do anyway.


    I took out the Altar of Darkness from my inventory and, still walking, said,:


    ¡°Thank you for the given powers! I dedicate my escape from the baron¡¯s superior forces and Berg¡¯s and Una¡¯s rescue to the Darkness! Hail Darkness!¡±


    The black wood got pleasantly warm, and a system message appeared in front of my eyes.


    You have received 40 faith points.


    That wasn¡¯t bad, my gift was duly appreciated. I almost had the same amount of points I had before using the Call of the Patron.


    I smiled, put the Altar back and opened the Elemental Types menu. There was a sign in the third column.


    Lives saved by the pure being: 187


    The addition of more than 60 souls could be explained only by the fact that the world counted the Warrior of Decay not as one, but as tens of souls, for it consisted out of many bodies. But even after such a gift I still needed 113 defeated enemies to activate the Altar of Light.


    I thought about seizing the moment and spending that half an hour I had on something useful. But the Wolves were now avoiding me instead of attacking. They were smart creatures that stayed away from those whose level was almost four times higher than theirs. I didn¡¯t have time to look for willing victims to help me progress.


    I heard a nasty, but too familiar clicking noise. I turned around and chuckled ¡ª eight cloudy eyes belonging to a puny Little Spider Changed by Decay were staring in my direction. Clacking its mandibles, it rushed at me, paying no need to the huge difference in levels.


    Moving out of its way, I took out the pitchfork from my inventory. Strike. Strike. Victory.


    I totally forgot that these creatures felt at home here. This was the third time that I found myself near the cemetery and the third time I got attacked by a small creature of Decay. Was it a coincidence? I thought not. I was sure that this was how they usually behaved.


    I looked in the direction of the cemetery and listened. There were no sounds. If Una had come back and Berg decided to trust her, they would have followed my trail. I would have heard them and went back. I had about twenty minutes left.


    Getting a rough estimate of where the Little Spider had come from, I trotted over in that direction. Seems to be east¡­ Thanks to the Tranquility of Darkness I had no problems with energy. After upgrading the skill to the sixth level, it restored thirty points of each stat per minute. I had almost completely recovered all of the HP that I had spent on teleportation.


    I took out the map of the area from my inventory. I didn¡¯t know how much time had passed since it was printed, but according to it there should be no Decay anywhere nearby. But I could clearly smell that specific scent.


    I sped up, defeating three Little Spiders on my way and arrived at the edge of the dead forest in about eight minutes. According to the map there was no Decay there, but it was already spreading from the north. I went south, parallel to the border of the Decay. I doubted that I would be able to see the place where the decayed lands ended as I was short on time. I hardly had enough time to reach it, I had to go back.


    I got lucky! Two hundred yard ahead was a completely different scenario.


    ¡°A few minutes won¡¯t make much difference!¡± I thought without breaking my stride.


    I was a bit excited. As soon as I started feeling that I was about to get a hold of another secret of this world, my heart threatened to jump out of my chest. At least, my mind was focused and mindful of the surroundings. Another Little Spider appeared¡­


    For a while now I had been curious about the principle that defined the spreading of the Decay. It definitely wasn¡¯t spreading in a single wave. It was as if it was throwing its tentacles forth and then pulling its main body after them.


    I wasn¡¯t that far away from the truth. Reaching the furthest point of the decayed lands, about a mile away from the cemetery, I smiled smugly. It really was a ¡°tentacle¡±. Or, at least, 50 yards long ¡°appendage¡±. From my current location I could clearly see the ¡°living¡± part of the forest.


    So from where was the Decay stretching its arms?


    I turned around and looked south. What was there? No matter how hard I looked I only saw the usual forest ¡ª high trees, hills, grass¡­ While I was looking, a small cloud passed over the moon, obscuring it for a couple of seconds, and a hundred yards ahead of me I spotted a flicker of light. Eyes in the Darkness did its job. Something was hidden there.

 Book 2. Chapter 4. New Equipment

    Just as I expected! The Decay was really stretching toward something. The way it was spreading and its direction were not random. I wondered what attracted the Decay? What gave this awful phenomenon a reason to move further?


    I made a few steps and, hearing twigs snapping behind me, stopped. A few moments later I could distinguish Berg¡¯s voice.


    ¡°Bale! Bale! Everything¡¯s fine! Come back!


    His timing was really bad¡­ But I expected this to happen. Now I had to choose if I would take everyone and try to find out what Decay¡¯s goal was, or if I would hurry after the treasure, hidden by Bon¡¯s father. I decided not to reveal what kind of treasure might be hidden there so as not to get upset if the part of Zurtan really wasn¡¯t there.


    What were the pros of checking out the area with the others? There were none; there were just my curiosity and desire to get my hands on new information. However, information was also a valuable thing; it would be silly to squander it. Yes, the Followers of Rugus and Berg were now my allies, but that didn¡¯t mean that I had to share everything with them. I¡¯d rather visit this place alone and investigate at my own pace. I could easily teleport back to the cemetery if I needed to.


    Also, we didn¡¯t have much time at the moment. Although we did have a head-start, we could easily lose it. We definitely shouldn¡¯t underestimate the baron of Leronta, who seized the reins of power in the big town for the sake of getting a piece of the Zurtarn.


    One moment the voices would sound near and then they would be far away again ¡ª the guys didn¡¯t know exactly where I was and were moving in circles. I hurried to the sound, not wishing to reveal my exact location to them. I soon noticed four riders: Una, Berg and two men I didn¡¯t know, dressed in dark-purple, hooded cloaks, were moving through the underbrush in my direction. One of them was holding the reins of the fifth Mueskan race horse. For me I supposed.


    Still hiding from my temporary allies, I identified the strangers.


    Jerome


    Level 91


    HP: 4010/4010


    Hulne


    Level 90


    HP: 3890/3890


    It was hard to distinguish one from the other with their cowls pulled over their faces, especially from afar. Hulne¡¯s figure might¡¯ve been a bit bigger.


    I hesitated for a moment and then started toward the group. They noticed me and came closer. Una introduced us to each other, and her companions revealed their faces. With a thick beard and shoulder-length hair, Hulne reminded me of a grim Viking. I would have thought that Einar or Bers, the Gods of Military Valor and Bloody Battles respectfully, would suit him better than Rugus. Jerome turned out to be a scrawny guy with a neat haircut ¡ª a typical sorcerer¡¯s apprentice depicted in games and movies.You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.


    ¡°What were you doing there?¡± the girl asked once we were done with getting acquainted.


    ¡°I went for a walk,¡± I answered.


    ¡°You should have taken some rest,¡± Jerome lectured me with obvious dislike in his voice.


    I frowned, trying to understand the reason behind his behavior. Was he acting against his God¡¯s will? Was he displeased by Rugus¡¯s decision to help some gloomy fellows?


    ¡°We¡¯ll have a rest on the way.¡± I replied.


    ¡°Hmm, do you think you¡¯ll have time for that?¡±


    ¡°Jerome,¡± Una said in a low voice; the guy flinched. The sorceress turned to me. ¡°I also think that it would be good for you get some rest. But, on the other hand, you can¡¯t get enough sleep in one hour. There¡¯s nothing we can do but sleep in our saddles,¡± she chuckled and shook her head. ¡°I don¡¯t like that at all¡­¡±


    ¡°As if anyone does!¡± Hulne chuckled, dismounting. He tied the reins to a branch of the nearest tree and approached me. ¡°We¡¯ll give you some new clothes, fellow. You look really pathetic.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t forget to praise the Great Rugus for his generosity!¡± Jerome grumbled, glancing sideways at me. ¡°His Followers paid for the equipment with their own money,¡± the guy turned away and spurred his horse. ¡°I¡¯ll check the area,¡± he curtly said.


    ¡°Don¡¯t pay attention to his tone, Bale,¡± Hulne said, materializing a pair of heavy leather boots and putting them on the grass before me, ¡°he¡¯s a little bit upset about what¡¯s going on. It¡¯s hard for him to come to terms with the fact that, instead of taking the powerful relic personally or telling his Disciples to get it, the Great One ordered us to help strangers in getting it,¡± he dumped a pair of thick pants and brown gloves, made of thick, scaly leather, onto the grass. Looking at them, I thought how even a German Shepherd Dog from the real world wouldn¡¯t be able to bite through them. Though, I wasn¡¯t so sure about the high-level predators in this dark game¡­


    I was surprised to find out that the mighty Disciple of Rugus was so honest. What game were the three of them playing? I had to keep my eyes wide open around them. The minions of the God of Control couldn¡¯t be simpletons.


    A picture suddenly came to mind ¡ª a beautiful girl¡¯s severed head lying in the grass. Dina¡­ She was also a Follower of the God of Control. I don¡¯t think that she was a Disciple, but still¡­ She helped me. If it hadn¡¯t been for my paranoia, I could have felt comfortable around her. And now she was gone, and I felt heavy-hearted.


    Maybe I should be more open with people? Maybe I should trust them more and¡­


    I stopped the stream of treacherous thoughts. Una had already abandoned me once and used me as a shield in order to escape. Later, when I helped Tael save the heir of Nelburg¡¯s baron, Sir Crane also left me alone in the woods not far from the enemy¡¯s town. Though he thanked me not only with words, but also by giving money and valuable things, the unpleasant aftertaste of betrayal remained.


    I couldn¡¯t trust anyone.


    At least, not to the full extent.


    That meant that I should expect dirty tricks from Rugus and his minions; even though one of them laid out a good set of armor at my feet.


    ¡°So,¡± I chuckled, ¡°your friend doubts the God¡¯s will?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± the sturdy guy retorted, taking out of his inventory a beautiful crossbow with varnished limbs, emblazoned with an intricate ornament, and a black stock. I noticed that Berg¡¯s eyes widened as he looked at the weapon. But Hulne continued speaking, as if nothing had happened. ¡°The will of the Great One is our law. We don¡¯t dare doubt it. However, for those who have just recently started hearing the voice of the Great and set their feet upon the path of a Disciple, it¡¯s hard to understand his motives sometimes.¡±


    ¡°The foolishness of youth,¡± Una chuckled. It was funny to hear something like this from her as she looked to be the youngest among the five of us. Physically at least. ¡°They want Rugus to be the leader of the other Gods. That¡¯s not only our Patron¡¯s problem... Well, you know,¡± she waved her hand. Then she looked at Hulne. ¡°Enough dillydallying. They are already impressed by our gifts. Let¡¯s finish with getting Bale dressed!¡±


    ¡°You ruined the moment,¡± the man shook his head. I almost cursed again. Hulne¡¯s external simplicity attracted; he was a smiling man who liked armor and weapons. That was great! I could see myself drinking a mug of beer with him in some cozy pub and talking about life¡­ But I had to remember that he was a Disciple of the God of Control.


    To be continue reading go to Amazon

 Book 3. Prologue

    Sitting astride Vella, I watched from atop the hill the creatures of the Decay destroy Ekheim, trying to decide what to do next. If Una was no longer in town ¡ª who knew, maybe they had already taken her somewhere else ¡ª then I had no reason to risk my neck. If she was still in prison, that wasn¡¯t too bad either as the situation had changed. Baron Tsunter definitely wouldn¡¯t be able to save Ekheim, which meant that the new owners would eventually kill everyone, and that the Una would have to resurrect.


    I couldn¡¯t tell that for sure, of course. I could still see, or at least I thought that I saw, women in dresses on the walls, who calmly watched the bloody feast. If my eyes weren¡¯t deceiving me, they were most likely the Mothers of the Decayed. This meant that the troops that broke into the city had intelligent commanders who could torture Una in hopes of prying out of her the location of the Parts of Zurtarn.


    A black spot moving across the sky distracted me from my thoughts. Kane¡¯s, and partially mine, eyes and ears returned from scouting. Flapping its leathery wings, the zombified Bat hovered in the air in front of my face.


    ¡°I¡­ wouldn¡¯t¡­¡± it forced the words of its master out of its unfit for human speech throat. ¡°Go¡­ in there¡­ And neither¡­ should you¡­¡±


    Was Kane worried about me? It was easy to guess why if that was the case. I was important for the God of Darkness, and the congregation needed me, too. The stronger the Old Man and his Followers were, the higher the chance was for Kane to live a long and happy life with Mara. From Kane¡¯s point of view, there wasn¡¯t much sense in saving Una. Yes, it was important for strengthening our relationship with Rugus and for further development of all the Followers of our patron. However, the risk was definitely higher than any potential profit.


    ¡°I¡¯m a Gleam, and you know it,¡± I replied. ¡°And don¡¯t tell me that Gleams can be taken prisoner, too. I know. Now, let¡¯s get down to business, Kane. What have you seen? Is she still there?¡±


    The Bat shook its withered, covered with matted fur head and spoke again.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­ But the baron¡­ is still there¡­ He had¡­ no time¡­ to leave¡­¡±


    ¡°So the attack of several monster hordes was unexpected?¡±If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    ¡°It would¡­ appear so¡­¡±


    Holy cow¡­ Were the Longoria¡¯s authorities wrong with their prognosis? Had the speed of the Decay¡¯s spreading gotten higher than the calculated sixty times?


    I sighed heavily and jumped off Vella¡¯s back. I patted her neck and looked her in the eyes.


    ¡°Go back to the camp, dear.¡±


    ¡°Wooo,¡± she grumbled with displeasure.


    ¡°Don¡¯t argue,¡± I said strictly. ¡°You have a whole pack of subordinates to take care of. What will they do without their leader if you wind up dead here?¡±


    ¡°Grrr!¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about me. I got this.¡±


    She snorted and then licked my cheek. She turned her head and stared at the Bat.


    ¡°Grrr! Woof!¡± she woofed quietly, looking at it with an unwavering gaze.


    ¡°I will¡­take care¡­ of your¡­ master¡­¡±


    Getting her answer, Vella nodded and looked at me one more time and then, turning around, darted off in the opposite direction.


    ¡°Okay, lead the way.¡± I said to the Bat. ¡°You have an idea how to get inside inconspicuously, don¡¯t you?¡±


    Kane, of course, already knew which way to go in order to improve our chances of avoiding unnecessary skirmishes. Following the Bat, I looked around. Even from afar, I could see the mutilated corpses that lay scattered along the road. Those were the bodies of the people who tried to escape, but didn¡¯t manage to. I doubted that anyone in Ekheim would be able to survive the attack.


    Thinking about it, I felt a pang of guilt. The tiny, na?ve idealist that was living deep in my soul, brought up on books and movies about honorable heroes, demanded from me to ignore all the obstacles and, without regard for my own life, save every doomed citizen.


    But that was impossible now. First of all, I had to find Una; there would be more use for the world from her than from a dozen of commoners. I was almost sure that my mysterious patron was this dark world¡¯s only chance of stopping the Decay. However, the Old Man needed help. Rugus¡¯s as well. But Rugus needed help, too¡­ So, in order to achieve a bigger, perhaps global scaled, goal in the future, we had to sacrifice something in the present. In our case, it was people.


    Secondly, my most effective saving method, Elusive Darkness, which could immediately make new Followers of the God of Darkness from ordinary citizens, was unavailable now. The Old Man hadn¡¯t contacted me since the battle for Ilyenta. Several hours ago, I spent points on Call of the Patron myself. He managed to say a couple of sentences in a rather tired and exhausted voice. He wasn¡¯t physically able to transfer a crowd of people through him right now.


    ¡°Here¡­¡± the Bat wheezed, pointing with its muzzle at a part of the wall, somewhere between the wide-open northern and closed river gates in the western part of the city.


    I looked around. There was no sign of any decayed beasts.


    ¡°Thank you,¡± I nodded to my guide and, lifting up my arm, aimed Joy of the Acrobat¡¯s hook at the nearest pinion of the wall.


    ¡°Wait¡­¡± Without waiting for me to react, the Bat flew up higher. Glancing over the wall, it flew down at once. ¡°Clear¡­ Go¡­¡±

 Book 3. Chapter 1. Invisible

    The grapnel hooked itself well to the corner between the pinion and the gap. Pulling a lever on the device, I rushed upward with the speed of a bullet.


    Landing onto the gray stone of the wall-walk, I ducked at once, pressed my back to the pinion and looked around.


    ¡°Hurry up¡­¡± said the Bat with an effort, nodding its head to the left.


    I nodded and ran after it. Crouching, I moved forth, mindful of my surroundings.


    Kane chose a really good starting point. Groans, cries, bomb explosions, and clanging of metal all sounded muffled from where I was standing. The nearest fight was about one hundred and thirty yards away. Several Formidable Bears Changed by Decay, supported by Colossal Spiders Changed by Decay, had surrounded a small group of guardsmen in the middle of the street and were killing them off methodically, ripping their flesh off with special attacks and casting Effects of Decay on them.


    BOOOM!!!


    A house came falling down a bit further away from me. Turning toward the sound, I saw the heads and shoulders of two Warriors of Decay. Because the city houses were built close to each other, I couldn¡¯t properly see who the creatures were fighting with, but judging by the jade flashes that hit their faces a couple of times, as well as the golden glow that flashed between the houses, there were definitely some skillful archers there, Followers of that crazy Aerida, and Einar¡¯s fearless fighters. This didn¡¯t surprise me at all.


    ¡°Duck¡­ Lower¡­¡± the Bat wheezed, pressing itself to the stone surface of the walkway. I followed its example immediately. Ten seconds later, it flew up again and stared down at the city. ¡°Let¡¯s go¡­¡± it commanded, making sure that we were relatively safe.


    Next time I was the first one to notice a decayed Spider that was crawling near the bottom of the wall. When it started to turn in our direction, I called the Bat quietly. We managed to stay unnoticed.


    I didn¡¯t have direct connection to Rugus so I couldn¡¯t find out where exactly his Gleam was at the moment. Even if I could, theoretically, get in touch with him, I doubted that he would answer. In the last battle he got hurt no less than our Old Man, and now he had to be licking his wounds as well.


    Through his Disciple, Liro, the wounded man that I had met a couple of days ago on the hill, Rugus told us that Una was kept not in the city prison that was by the garrison, but in the basement of the town hall. The former mayor, Mister Elliot, personally equipped several cells for very important prisoners there. I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if ¡°City Secretary Anda¡± helped him with that¡­


    We also got a map of Ekheim from Liro. Kane studied it and could now easily navigate the city, even though he watched the world through the eyes of his winged Wight.


    ¡°Stop¡­ Get down¡­¡± the Bat ordered again. ¡°Crawl¡­ To the edge¡­¡±


    I didn¡¯t ask questions and crawled on my stomach to the edge of the wall. The Bat landed beside me.


    ¡°Can¡­ You¡­ Jump¡­ Up that¡­?¡± It pointed its matted head at a rectangular building with a gable roof that looked like a warehouse. It probably was one, given that the river gates and a small port were nearby.


    ¡°Sure thing. Where to next?¡±


    Of course, we had a well thought out plan of navigating around the city. Unfortunately, due to the unexpected invasion of the Decayed, it had to be dropped.


    ¡°Wait¡­¡±


    The Bat went to scout the area. While it was absent, I watched the city, carefully peeking from behind the wall. A fire broke out in the southern part of the city. I wondered if it was an accident, or if somebody decided to burn Ekheim down so that the decayed beasts wouldn¡¯t siege it.


    ¡°Aaaa!!!¡± Someone¡¯s scream pierced through the cacophony. This wasn¡¯t the first time that that had happened. The damned monsters tore open the bellies of still alive people and gobbled down their innards before the poor bastards could find solace in death.


    I clenched my teeth and tried to regain my composure. Thanks to the Old Man, Kane was by my side. Had I been alone, I could¡¯ve bumped into a group of the Decayed by now, or worse, the Warriors of Decay, or even¡­


    One of the Mothers.


    Luckily, the strange ladies were too far away from my position, so I couldn¡¯t read their info nor look at them properly. But if they weren¡¯t the Mothers, what sort of women could calmly watch a city be destroyed? I counted four of them. Maybe there were even more.The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    Why are they here? I supposed that they were there to be support to the common decayed beasts in case some of the Gods decided to help Ekheim.


    The Bat returned and told me that the coast was clear. With help of the Joy of the Acrobat I jumped up the slanting roof, unhooked the grapnel from the eaves, jumped down and rolled over, slowing down my momentum.


    ¡°Hurry¡­¡± it ordered, rushing along the warehouse.


    Hiding in the shadows of the buildings, stopping now and then so that the Bat could explore the area, we reached the central street. It took us more than an hour, but we managed to get around dozens of groups of the Decayed.


    The battles raged on. The defenders fought desperately for their lives, and the closer we got to the center, the louder the cries and the clanging of metal of the torn apart breastplates and broken swords were.


    ¡°Those who couldn¡¯t get to the city gates began to fight their way to the city hall,¡± I said, glancing at the torn family of five that was lying in the puddle of blood amidst the cobbled road.


    ¡°Yes,¡± the Bat agreed. ¡°Stop¡­ Hide¡­¡± It nodded at the nearest house that welcomed unwanted guests with its wide-opened door.


    It went to scout again, and I hid in the house and sat quietly by the window. The Bat was absent longer than usual this time around. I got especially worried at the moment when three Colossal Spiders in the company of an Alpha of the Black Wolves appeared on the street.


    It was difficult to see me through the muddy window from the outside, but I could observe the monsters with the corner of my eye and think of a strategy.


    I was sure they had noticed me; they looked askance in the direction of my hiding place. But trouble avoided me; they didn¡¯t slow their pace, continuing to move fast in their original direction.


    It¡¯d be good to find out how the Decayed ¡°saw¡± the world. Could they smell me? Or could they feel my life energy? I was leaning toward the second option. They apparently didn¡¯t attack me because they had more important things to do.


    But if all the monsters were connected with each other through the Mothers it meant that another group could be sent after me. It wasn¡¯t safe to stay in the house anymore.


    Cautiously looking out, I noticed the returning Bat. There were no enemies nearby, so I exited the house.


    ¡°There¡¯s¡­ A large¡­ Battle¡­ It¡¯ll take¡­ Too long¡­ To go¡­ Around¡­ Battles¡­ Are everywhere¡­¡± it reported with an effort.


    ¡°Just as we thought¡­ Have they all gathered there?¡±


    Confirming my guess, a triple explosion sounded somewhere nearby.


    Well, that made sense. Here, in the center of Ekheim, was a garrison, and that meant that the arsenal was here, too. But, more importantly, there was a secret passage in the city hall that led outside. Very few people knew whether it really was there or not, but every citizen was notified that in case of danger, if they couldn¡¯t hide in their houses or evacuate, they should immediately go to the city square.


    And that was what was happening now.


    People who would hold the enemy back until the more important citizens of Ekheim had escaped through the back door were gathering around the city hall. If the ¡°cannon fodder¡± was lucky, some of them would be able to get out, too.


    It was interesting that Carl Tsunter, Einar¡¯s Disciple, hadn¡¯t ran away at once, but tried to stand up to the invaders. Perhaps, he wasn¡¯t so bad after all.


    We ran some two hundred yards more before the Bat pointed at a stone house. Following the wall, I looked round the corner.


    Right in front of me, Captain Koyne, the one who was the first to take Tsunter¡¯s side during Mayor Elliot¡¯s capture, threw an orange phial at a Warrior of Decay. I remembered Arthur using the same tactic against a similar monster during our quest for the Part of Zurtarn.


    Enflamed, the decayed giant froze with its mouth open in a silent scream. Immediately after, arrows, glowing with different colors, flew in its direction. The Warrior was too close to the fighters in the front line and so they couldn¡¯t use bombs.


    Well-coordinated attack of several dozens of Ekheim¡¯s defenders was decreasing the giant¡¯s HP fast. However, the latter didn¡¯t come alone. No matter how much the armored swordsmen tried to cover the archers, the rush of various decayed beasts forced them to stop showering the Warrior with arrows and crossbow bolts and concentrate on the weaker enemies in order to help their friends.


    As a result, when the burning liquid stopped eating away the giant¡¯s HP, keeping him in place, it still had a couple of thousand HP left. It rushed at the crowd of guardsmen at once.


    ¡°Shields up! Don¡¯t retreat! We have to let the civilians evacuate!¡± Captain Koyne shouted at the top of his lungs. ¡°Don¡¯t forget that your families are among them too!!!¡±


    Several more groups like this one fought on both ends of the street as well. It was just like Kane had said: it was practically impossible to go around the battlefield inconspicuously. Besides, if I wasted my time sneaking, there was a high chance that there would be no one but the creatures of Decay left by the time I got to the city hall. No matter how disgusting it sounded, I had to use this opportunity while the Decayed were busy to do what I had come to do.


    ¡°Get into the inventory,¡± I curtly said to the Bat.


    It silently landed onto my hand, and I put it into my inventory.


    ¡°AAAAA!!!¡±


    A horrible scream echoed throughout the street. Shifting my gaze instinctively, I saw Captain Koyne. The Warrior had lifted him by both arms over its head, and was now stretching him.


    Deprived of its upper limbs, the body fell. Throwing the captain¡¯s arms at the nearest guardsmen, the monster caught him and bit off his head, thus increasing its own HP a little. Then, shifting its victim in a more convenient position, it sank its teeth into the mangled corpse¡¯s stomach.


    Though Koyne had betrayed Elliot, he fought bravely to defend his city. He met his end with honor. His conscience had to be clear now.


    I didn¡¯t let rage overwhelm me. It was a stupid feeling. It was senseless to hate the Decay. It was like hating a hurricane or an earthquake. One had to keep control over oneself. And I had to do what I had come to do.


    I gritted my teeth, breathed out and imagined streams of energy pulsate through my body. Good¡­ Now I had to blur them¡­


    Twilight Wanderer.

 Book 3. Chapter 2. Sluggishness

    The world around me turned black and white. Without wasting time, I rushed through the crowd. My body, free of its physical form, easily moved through the tangible things, like the defenders of the city and the Decayed.


    The combatants were left behind. Feeling that the spell was about to end, I quickly turned around the corner of a house, third from the crossroad, and looked around. All was clear.


    When the world regained its colors, I immediately took the Bat out of my inventory. At first it lay immobile on my palm, but a few seconds later it unsurely moved its wings. With every second, the Wight¡¯s movements got more and more confident. Soon, it flew up and set off in the direction of the town hall.


    While I was waiting for the news from the scout, the cooldown of Twilight Wanderer had ended.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go¡­¡± the Bat said upon its return.


    Our movement speed got significantly slower. Three times in the following half an hour I put the Bat into my inventory and went into the Twilight. In all honesty, I was worried about using this unusual skill near the crowds of Decayed too often. Who knew what they could sense? To be exact, who knew what the Mothers could feel through them?


    ¡°That¡¯s where the real fight is,¡± I whispered, peeking from around the iron-wrought fence that surrounded the mansion.


    ¡°And it¡¯s¡­ Drawing¡­ To an end,¡± the Bat wheezed.


    Finally, we reached the city square that had now been turned into a bloody battlefield. The battle had been going on for a long time now, and the amount of torn bodies I saw counted more than the number of alive defenders of Ekheim. The road to the city hall was littered with corpses. Some time ago, people hurried through here, but nobody was trying to join the fighters on the square now.


    No one would come anymore.


    The rest of the people would die, banded together in squads like the one Captain Koyne had commanded near the center of the town.


    There would be no reinforcements for humans, but every minute crowds of Decayed poured onto the town square from different sides.


    I heard tramping and a loud rasping sound. Looking over my shoulder, I saw two Warriors up the street and a horde of weaker monsters approaching me. If they came from the same place I had come from, that meant¡­


    ¡°Hurr-¡­¡± the Bat began, landing onto my hand, but didn¡¯t have time to finish. I hid it in my inventory.


    Twilight Wanderer.


    In one second I rushed forward, knowing full well how crazy my decision was. Though the physical abilities of my current body exceeded those of the best athletes back on Earth, I wouldn¡¯t be able to cross the square, run up the stairs and get inside the town hall in five seconds. Once the skill ends, and the world gets its colors back, I¡¯ll have to use the Joy of the Acrobat and fly into the building through a window.


    Damn, I didn¡¯t want to draw unnecessary attention to me. If someone followed me, saving Una would be jeopardized. Not to mention that somebody could shoot me down.


    Damn! I had to get as close as possible to the town hall.


    Faster! Faster!


    Even faster!!!


    Feeling that the spell was about to end, I jumped forward with all my might, hoping to close the distance between me and my goal as much as possible. I had the Joy of the Acrobat at the ready, but¡­


    ¡°Oh, what was that?¡± I heard a scared woman¡¯s voice near my ear. ¡°Have they caught up with us? Do you feel something disgusting?¡±


    Blind Eye.


    While one part of my brain tried to understand what had happened, the other, noticing a crowd of people in the lobby of the town hall, hid me from them and rushed to the staircase.


    Hmm, that¡¯s strange. I couldn¡¯t say that I had sped up, but I managed to cover more than a hundred yards in five seconds. I noticed that every time I used Wanderer, today especially, I covered unbelievable distances. Not as big as the one that I had covered just now, but still¡­


    What does this mean? Distortions in space? That¡¯s quite possible. What a curious skill I have¡­


    But there was no time to think now. Getting to the staircase that led to the basement, I stopped, pressed myself against the wall, and materialized the Bat.


    ¡°Already¡­ There?¡± Kane, who was following my adventure, couldn¡¯t hide his astonishment. However, he quickly got back to business. ¡°Wait here¡­¡±


    The scout came back in a couple of seconds.Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.


    ¡°She¡¯s¡­ Here¡­¡± the Bat informed. ¡°Some¡­ Lade guy¡­ Is torturing her¡­ Level¡­ Sixty¡­ Five¡­ HP¡­ Almost¡­ Three¡­ Thousand¡­¡±


    ¡°Thank you,¡± I said, going down the stairs. ¡°Take care of things around here while I¡¯m gone.¡±


    I didn¡¯t notice when I materialized the trident in my hands. I didn¡¯t think myself a nice guy or, what¡¯s more, a hero. However, the sole mention of the bald monk almost made me lose my temper. That scum had betrayed me once. And Dina, who considered him her friend, died in that battle. And now he, while the others were fighting to death with the spawn of Decay, was torturing another helpless girl.


    However, from a rational point of view, he was doing everything right. It looked like Tsunter¡¯s people failed to extort from Una the information about the whereabouts of the Quarter of Zurtarn and Splinter of Unity. It won¡¯t be long before the Gleam of Rugus falls into the clutches of the Decayed. This was their last opportunity to pry the information out of her. If Lade succeeds, and if he¡¯s a Disciple of his God, then he could connect to Guer-Shui and tell him everything. For our enemies, not the Decayed, but humans and their patrons, the monk would become a hero.


    Well, to be honest, I probably would¡¯ve done the same if I were him.


    But I wasn¡¯t. I was going to kill the bastard in order to keep the important information safe and save my ally. And for my own satisfaction, too.


    The stairs ended, and I found myself in a dark corridor. Dim light came only through the open door right in front of me. I rushed forward, past four closed doors that were facing each other, and burst into the prison.


    Tranquility of Darkness.


    I attacked Lade without hesitation, and only after that did I glance around the small room. It was about 215 feet square and it had no windows. In other words, it was a dump. It had two cages at every wall, eight in total, three of which were empty. Una was in the furthest one; iron cuffs that glew with pale blue light and by the chains of which she was tied to a hook cut into her wrists. Her light armor and cape were torn and covered in her blood; her face was swollen, lips cracked, and one eye was swollen shut. But that was nothing comparing to the black, curved daggers, which reminded me of saber tooth tiger¡¯s teeth that stuck out of her right side and back.


    With difficulty, Una began to turn her head in my direction, but I had no time to look at her any longer than a second. The effect of my favorite skill failed to work on the first try, so I activated the Aura of Darkness and switched to defense.


    ¡°Now¡¯s not a good time, lad,¡± Lade said before rushing into the fight.


    I managed to deflect his palm strike, which aimed at my face, with the trident, but he drove his hand downward, turning his body clockwise, without losing any speed. A powerful heel kick hit my temple and dealt almost 500 points of damage.


    For a moment, everything reeled in front of my eyes. I staggered backward. My opponent used the opportunity to attack me again. Hell, he¡¯s so fast¡­


    I wouldn¡¯t like to be hit with his Paralyzing Strike again. I remembered when I couldn¡¯t move for almost a minute and hung limply like a rag doll, while Lade carried me from the tavern to this very town hall. I didn¡¯t know how to get rid of the debuff back then. Now I knew, but the monk was one level higher than me, so I would lose ten percent of all my stats to dispel it. At that moment, my body would be defenseless and would turn into a very convenient training dummy.


    He soon began to glow with the same pale blue light as the shackles; his wrists at first, and then his arms and shoulders. Lade¡¯s strikes became faster and they now reminded me of spear strikes. I didn¡¯t manage to dodge them. I couldn¡¯t block them either. And although not every hit of his dealt much damage, there were too many of them. I felt like a punching bag. Luckily, his hands soon stopped glowing indicating that his buff had ended. Though, I had less than half of my HP left.


    Damn, if I had at least a hundred of ¡°lives¡± in stock, I could use the ¡°Power of Light.¡± The cooldown must¡¯ve ended by now; enough time has passed since the attack pierced Aerida¡¯s collarbone. Though, using my strongest skill on a common human doesn¡¯t seem as epic as using it on a Goddess.


    I hated having my back against a wall, so I always tried to have a backup plan. I could throw grenades all around the place. Una would die and resurrect, but she would be saved. The same would happen to me. And someone would be gone from this dark world forever.


    But again, that was the worst case scenario. While I was in the town hall, I wanted to use being here to its full extent. I had things to do in here, after all. The most important thing was to remain hidden from the masses.


    The world, or maybe my patron, heard me.


    Lade has fallen under the effect of your ¡°Aura of Darkness.¡±


    Lade has felt the ¡°Tranquility of Darkness.¡± Lade loses the desire to fight you and your squad.


    His lightning-quick high kick halted right next to my temple. The monk drew his leg back, put it down and brushed the dust off his baggy trousers as if nothing had happened.


    ¡°Fine, fine, I give up. I¡¯m tired!¡± he said with a heavy sigh. ¡°So long.¡±


    Waving his hand, he went past me and headed to the door. But something was bothering me. This was the first time that I had ¡°calmed down¡± an intelligent opponent, one that wasn¡¯t an animal. And¡­


    ¡°Turn around!¡± Una wheezed, but even without her hailing I managed to guess what was wrong.


    ¡°So you can suppress will, too?¡± the monk cried out, kicking me square in the chest. I managed to block his kick with the trident¡¯s shaft, but the attack was so powerful that it threw me back a couple of feet.


    Yes, even though I had successfully casted Tranquility of Darkness there was no message about winning and getting XP. I figured that people could combine their HP, mana and energy to shake off the shackles of mental, that is, magical, control. Lade was a higher level than me, and it cost him only five percent of his stats to clear his mind. How did he do it so fast though?!


    It was a good thing that I didn¡¯t attack him the moment he felt Tranquility; otherwise I would¡¯ve freed him myself and he wouldn¡¯t have needed to spend his stats. From this point of view, my skill differed from skills that imposed direct control, paralysis and audio-visual hallucinations.


    Using no special skills, Lade aimed for my head with his palms. I managed to block most of the hits and dodge the rest, but I still missed a few.


    ¡°Oh¡­¡± I wheezed, reflexively falling to my left knee. With his uninterrupted flow of attacks he made me switch to defense and carefully watch his hands. So it wasn¡¯t surprising that I missed a strong, low kick.


    Damn! He¡¯ill clobber me! There¡¯s little space for maneuvering and the ceiling is very low.


    I tried to close the distance between us. I jumped back, but he caught up to me almost instantly. I was unable to counter attack.


    Another low kick was followed by¡­


    Lade used ¡°Paralyzing Fist.¡±


    You have received 138 points of damage.


    You cannot move for the next 50 seconds

 Book 3. Chapter 3. Speed

    He got me after all¡­


    I felt my knees buckle, and I fell face first onto the cold stone floor.


    Lade kicked and punched, tossing me around like I was a rag doll. Bastard¡­ I expected the fight to be hard, but I didn¡¯t think it would be this difficult! I wondered what he was going to do to me once he wins and I lose conscience. Would he hang me near Una? But he had no time for torturing. Would he take me with him as a trophy?


    Stop¡­ I had to clear my mind and distance myself from everything. I had to forget about the pain and imagine my stat bars.


    Imagine the vertical line that divides the red... Divide the blue and yellow bars into full and empty parts.


    Good.


    Now pull them simultaneously¡­


    I recalled that in some games you could slow down time during a battle or even press pause to make a tactically right decision. Unfortunately, though this world had a game interface, it didn¡¯t have such an option. However, it had something else ¡ª experience. Not only the level up kind, but real fighting experience that couldn¡¯t be compared to the one I got through a VR-headset.


    My brain was working at full capacity even though I was engaged in a deadly fight. It was in moments like these that it used its hidden reserves.


    How can I win?


    The first option was a combination of Twilight Wanderer and a grenade into his chest. However, that was too dangerous as I risked Lade dying, which would put a stain on my ¡°pacifist¡± record. Not to mention that the explosion could attract more enemies, and that Una would see something that she probably shouldn¡¯t see.


    The second option was to increase my own speed and stop being his punching bag. There was only one way to do that though.


    Having gotten rid of the debuff, I deprived him of his most powerful skill for some time as it had a several minutes long cooldown.


    Upgrade ¡°Acrobatics¡± by three levels.


    Why did I decide to spend this amount of Everyday Skill points? Because I now had level 4 Acrobatics. Joy of the Acrobat gave me three bonus levels. Upgrading it by one level wouldn¡¯t help me much now. I needed at least two. But since level ten was a milestone I hoped to get some bonuses. And so I did.


    Attention! You have acquired ¡°Acrobatics¡± level 10. You can now choose its further development. Agility has been increased by 100.


    My body became lighter at once. I rolled over to my side and leapt to my feet. Lade chuckled balefully and rushed after me. I jumped up, gripped the cage¡¯s bars with my left hand, and lifted myself up; I looked like a flag fluttering on the wind.


    A phial with Enhanced Healing Potion appeared in my right hand. I uncorked it with my thumb and quickly poured it into my mouth.


    Aside of the already mentioned bonuses, upgrading Acrobatics to level ten gave me something else ¡ª I could now clearly see how to best utilize the space around me. My style of fighting was best suited for open spaces before, but now¡­


    Jumping at the bars of a nearby cage and holding onto them with one hand, I aimed the other at Lade. Black smoke rushed from my splayed fingers. The effect didn¡¯t work. Jumping up as well, Lade grabbed the bars and, turning, tried to kick me with both feet.


    I jumped on the floor, materialized the trishula, and aimed upward. The monk dodged, ran up the bars as if they were a staircase, and landed behind my back.


    Darting forward, I rolled over and found myself right at the door of the prison. I jumped to my feet, pushed off the floor, and gripped the bars again, this time taking the Master of Fast Shooting¡¯s Crossbow out of my inventory.


    You have dealt 130 points of damage.


    Lade has fallen under the effect of your ¡°Aura of Darkness.¡±


    Lade has felt the ¡°Tranquility of Darkness.¡± Lade loses the desire to fight you and your squad.If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    The monk¡¯s expression changed again. He stretched his neck slowly, and then opened his mouth to say something¡­


    I understood that he was trying to get rid of Tranquility¡¯s effect. If he succeeded, everything would go down the drain. I needed to use the situation to my advantage before it was too late.


    Copying Lade, I ran across the bars toward the ceiling.


    Trident of Darkness.


    I hit him in the back. Yes, it wasn¡¯t fair, but I bought myself enough time to attack him again.


    Power Strike.


    A fight to the death with a strong and experienced enemy, what could be better for discovering new abilities? What else could¡¯ve made me stronger? Blood was boiling in my veins; the thrill overcame me like a tidal wave. However, if I was to be honest, I didn¡¯t like it. I preferred it when everything went according to a well thought-out plan, when chances to fail were close to zero.


    It was a pity that things almost never happened that way.


    Although I managed to become as fast, or maybe even faster than Lade, and even though I managed to ¡°calm down¡± and attack the helpless monk twice, he managed to find a way to counterattack every time. Getting tired of running, we started openly exchanging hits.


    ¡°Well, you¡¯re good, lad!¡± Lade suddenly said, jumping back. ¡°I wish we fought on the same side!¡± A dark-green phial appeared in his right hand.


    He threw it in my face without as much as a swing of his hand.


    Everything about his appearance gave off his assurance of victory. I couldn¡¯t avoid whatever was in that phial ¡ª something expensive and very powerful, something like the paralyzing flame that we had used against the Warriors.


    Lade saved his Ace for last, huh? Did he only now realize that he could really die?


    Well¡­ Then it¡¯s time that I take out my Joker.


    Twilight Wanderer.


    The phial and its dark-green contents flew right through me. Looking over my shoulder, I noticed that the phial had dissolved into viscous acid before it touched the stone floor.


    Drops of acid spattered everywhere; the dense vapors filled the air.


    Rushing forward, I went through the astonished Lade and appeared behind his back. I turned around to assess the fallout of his attack ¡ª half of the room, from the floor up to the middle of the walls, was covered with a layer of the dark-green stuff. Had I been in my corporal form, I definitely wouldn¡¯t have been able to dodge that. And if I had decided to jump up, the gas would¡¯ve poisoned me.


    Trident of Darkness.


    You have dealt 357 points of damage.


    You have defeated Lade.


    XP received: 5,310


    You can use the slaying skill on Lade.


    Phew¡­ It¡¯s over¡­ Keeping on a straight face, I glanced at the defeated monk and walked confidently to Una.


    ¡°Have you heard about¡­ Monkeys?¡± she croaked. Flashing a tired smile, she lifted her head to meet my gaze.


    ¡°I have,¡± I answered, thinking that she was talking in delirium.


    ¡°You jump like monkeys in a cage,¡± she snickered and coughed dryly.


    ¡°Shut up, smartass,¡± I chuckled. ¡°It¡¯s bad for your health to talk.¡± I tore off a piece of her cape and put it in her mouth. ¡°Endure. This might hurt.¡±


    ¡°Erghh-aghh¡­¡± Una wheezed and jerked when I pulled the dagger out of her side. I glanced at the item¡¯s characteristics and put it into my inventory.


    ¡°A little bit more¡­ Good girl¡­¡± I muttered, grabbing the handle of the other dagger.


    ¡°Arghh!!! Phew! Damn you, Bon!!!¡± she shouted, managing to spit out the makeshift gag. ¡°Is this how you to treat a lady?! Damn you!!¡±


    ¡°Shh-shh-shh,¡± I whispered, wrapping my arm around her, ¡°we don¡¯t want the enemies to rush in here.¡±


    Getting her off the hook, I carefully put her onto the floor and took out the yellow phial that I got from Liro.


    ¡°No¡­ Don¡¯t waste it on me.¡± Lifting her hand up with some difficulty, Una covered my hand with hers. ¡°Finish me off, Daerk. It¡¯ll be easier that way.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t be ridiculous,¡± I snorted and poured Restoring Potion 3 into her mouth.


    Her wounds started to heal in front of my eyes, and her armor and cape began to restore themselves. Casting Tranquility on myself, I materialized a couple of lock picks and got rid of her shackles without much difficulty.


    ¡°Thank you, my knight. You¡¯ve saved the princess,¡± she giggled.


    ¡°Don¡¯t make such comparisons, nothing good comes of them,¡± I chuckled. But still, my heart skipped a beat when I remembered the other girl thought me her knight.


    ¡°What? Can¡¯t I be a princess?¡± Una snorted and, sitting on the stone floor, drew her face close to mine. ¡°Thank you¡­¡± she said quietly, putting her hand on my cheek and looking me in the eyes. ¡°No one risked their life for me before.¡±


    She tenderly kissed my cheek and quickly retreated.


    ¡°We have no time to waste. Give me a dagger.¡± She outstretched her hand demandingly. Taking out a regular dagger out of my inventory, I offered it to her. ¡°Do you mind? He owes me something,¡± the girl asked, nodding at the unconscious Lade.


    ¡°He¡¯s yours by right,¡± I answered coldly, feeling glad that another problem solved itself. I couldn¡¯t finish him off.


    Lifting up his bald head, Una cut the monk¡¯s throat with a flick of her wrist.


    ¡°Hmm¡­ Not a Gleam,¡± she said thoughtfully. ¡°Great.¡±


    ¡°You thought he would drop a Fraction of Guer-Shui?¡± I asked, pretending not to care.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. Do you hear thumping?¡± she asked. ¡°That¡¯s the Decayed, they¡¯re gonna be here soon. I don¡¯t know was it the noise that attracted them or the use of very powerful potions. Will you cover me?¡± She smiled and outstretched her arm. Lilac sand rushed from her fingertips, dancing in the air and drawing out the outlines of a portal.


    There wasn¡¯t a trace left of the dark-green acid. It corroded the stone for about ten seconds before it just disappeared; nothing prevented the two Spiders from rushing into the prison. Not in a hurry to attack, they halted at the entrance, scanning the room and transmitting the information to one of the Mothers.


    Suddenly, they simultaneously ran forward at Una. They were definitely ordered to stop her from opening up a portal.


    They didn¡¯t succeed. Level fifteen weaklings were nothing for someone like me.


    ¡°Thank you, Daerk. Come back, too,¡± Una said, disappearing together with the portal.


    You¡¯re welcome. Get there safe. As for me¡­ I¡¯m in no hurry to get back home

 Book 3. Chapter 4. Inventory

    I was glad that Una left without much talk. I feared that she might want to make sure that I also returned home. She could¡¯ve started acting all noble, saying things like: ¡°Teleport yourself, I¡¯ll cover you,¡± because she was very well aware of my ability. Luckily, everything happened the other way round. But on the other hand, she left her savior behind far too easily. Was I being paranoid again? Or was my intuition reminding me once again that I shouldn¡¯t trust this girl, and that her ¡°romantic¡± gestures were nothing more than means to an end? Though, after everything we¡¯ve been through, maybe I should stop seeing a disguised enemy in her.


    Or was she, under her patron¡¯s capable guidance, just trying to lull me into safety?


    Anyway, there was no time to think about such things now. I had unfinished business to attend to. My primary reason for coming to Ekheim was to save Una. But now that that was out of the way, I could give one of my old ideas a shot. This city was rich and unguarded, and its new masters were yet to lay their hands on its treasures.


    Hearing the flapping of approaching wings, I looked up and saw the Bat.A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    ¡°There¡¯s¡­ Trouble¡­¡± it wheezed. ¡°The people¡­ In the hall¡­ Have¡­ Evacuated¡­ One by one¡­¡± It shook its head and fell silent for a few seconds. Longer conversations were more difficult for it than any tough battle. ¡°Through¡­ The escape¡­ Route¡­ But I¡­ Sensed¡­ The energy¡­ Of the Decayed¡­ They are coming¡­ Through¡­ The same route.¡±


    I frowned.


    ¡°Just as I thought, the creatures won¡¯t let anyone get out of Ekheim. I suppose the abilities of the Mothers were enough to track the flow of the refugees¡¯ energy and send their children there. Well, all they have to do is clear the tunnel,¡± I said.


    The Bat nodded slowly.


    How horrible it was to walk over the corpses! Theoretically, I could save a few dozen people. But I didn¡¯t want to make the Old Man suffer. For me, for all his Followers, and even for our allies, it was of vital importance that the God of Darkness restores his strength as soon as possible. And even though transporting a crowd of people with the help of Elusive Darkness would immediately make new Followers out of them, thus enlarging the Old Man¡¯s congregation, and the size of his tiny ¡°batteries,¡± too, that would be difficult for him to do now. I couldn¡¯t tell whether the growth of his congregation would cover his current energy expenditure, or if he¡¯d overstrain himself and wouldn¡¯t be able to get back into the divine ranks in the near future.


    To be continue reading go to Amazon

 Book 4. Prologue

    Noriduel and the Old Man, both battered and tired, propped me from both sides. The contact with the former brought me incredible pain and cost me a lot of HP, but I had no other choice. There was no other way for the two to stabilize the portal.


    In all honesty, I didn¡¯t fully understand the technicalities. Noriduel would have to either temporarily stop being a patron to his Followers or accept the Old Man¡¯s energy for a short period of time. Perhaps he¡¯d do both ¡ª it didn¡¯t really matter. What mattered was that we¡¯d be able to teleport the mercenaries via Elusive Darkness. However, according to Noriduel, once that and the battle with the Mother of the Decayed have been done, he won¡¯t be able to use his true form for a week at best.


    Elusive Darkness.


    Black smoke began to cover the main square of Al-Harum, where all of the survivors had gathered after the battle: my warriors, the mercenaries, and the Ishirians.


    The latter had decided to join us. Greiv and Hask caught up with the refugees when the Decayed attacked them. The God of Darkness appeared in front of the citizens of Al-Harum and offered them to pledge their loyalty to him in exchange for help and salvation. The scared refugees were ready to do just about anything to avoid dying a painful death. Therefore, they, together with Greiv¡¯s fifty soldiers and Hask¡¯s pack, rushed back to the city through the tunnel. The Old Man then blocked the exit. While I was out cold, the Ishirian warriors pledged their loyalty to him. The best among them had to cut themselves with a ritual knife due to the high-level bond with their former patron.


    Did I disapprove of his decision? It was hard to tell.


    I was glad that the Ishirians didn¡¯t become food for the Decayed. But thanks to Horn¡¯s order to make a living shield out of their comrades, it¡¯ll be difficult to maintain a peaceful relationships in my army.


    Speaking of Horn¡­ He died... He was the one who stood between the Mother¡¯s attack and me. He was the one that saved me, sacrificing his life for mine. Unfortunately, this meant that the Old Man and Noriduel had to fight the enemies two-on-three. And I had already sucked a lot of strength out of my patron by using the Small Avatar of Darkness¡­


    But, in the end, the two Gods won. In the last moment, Rugus, who was also pretty beaten by the time he had appeared, came to their aid. We owed the success of our campaign to him. We had swallowed the bait of Viyon, the God of Cunning, Slyness and Guile and the patron of the ruler of Al-Harum ¡ª Anur-Sin. His plan didn¡¯t seem to have been to defeat us with the gas; Viyon was sure that we¡¯d be able to get out of his trap. Everything they had done was to mess with our heads. Through his Disciple, Viyon allowed us to taste victory and waited until we found the Part of Zurtarn as he couldn¡¯t find it himself. Only after my diggers had found the legendary artifact did the God of Guile appear in flesh. He then set Anur-Sin and his minions free and ordered them to run away with the Part.This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it


    But Rugus had foreseen this. Sitting on giant Crows, several of his Disciples watched everything that was happening from the sky.


    Rugus attacked Viyon, and their Followers attacked one another.


    My allies won. Viyon fled.


    And then the three Gods defeated the Mothers and won us enough time to regroup and leave Al-Harum. We couldn¡¯t have stayed ¡ª the vengeful Decayed could¡¯ve attacked us at any moment.


    So many things happened while I was unconscious after having used the Small Avatar and the Power of Light¡­ Una even kissed me¡­ It hadn¡¯t been a dream. She said that she¡¯d personally give the artifact to me and asked the others to step back and not embarrass her. The Old Man must¡¯ve complied with her request. Like hell my people would¡¯ve listened to a Disciple of Rugus otherwise.


    He had done well to comply with such a small, insignificant request.


    But Una was arrogant. Control was her element, after all. That¡¯s probably why she had kissed me in front of hundreds of people. Did she want to make everyone believe that we had a special bond? Or did she want to get in the way of my marriage? Did she wanted to hint to me that my main allies should be Rugus¡¯s Followers, and not those of other Gods?


    It was unlikely that Una¡¯s kiss was just a woman¡¯s whim. That would¡¯ve been stupid. There were political reasons behind her actions, but I hadn¡¯t the foggiest what those reasons were.


    The world around me was engulfed in Darkness.


    The Shard of Sherr¡¯s Gravestone.


    Darkness swirled around me. A moment later, I, together with the united army and 10,000 Ishirians, was transferred to the outskirts of Dark.


    I stumbled, like a marionette whose strings had been cut, but the Old Man and Tael (Noriduel¡¯s human form) supported me.


    ¡°My Followers!¡± The voice of the God of Darkness sounded from everywhere. ¡°Take the Senior Disciple to his house and go rest. Restore your strength! Tomorrow, under the command of Disciple Kazimir, you¡¯ll set off to Longera! The Senior Disciple will go to fulfill a task that I¡¯ll soon give him. He¡¯ll join you after its completion!¡±


    Despite the fact that they had given me the Restoring Potion 1 a while ago to heal the burns left by the Power of Light, I was still in terrible pain. My vision was blurry ¡ª I couldn¡¯t see who was carrying me to the house. I thought that it was Berg and Greiv. The voice of the new thegn, who had been appointed by Noriduel in Al-Harum in front of all the people, could be heard in the distance.


    ¡°Brothers and sisters!¡± Tilda shouted. ¡°We had a great battle today! A great victory! And great losses! We lost many¡­¡± She seemed to have stuttered. ¡°But we had chosen this life ourselves. It was our choice! That¡¯s our freedom! Led by it tomorrow, we¡¯ll set off to Longera! We¡¯ll help the Followers of the God of Darkness in their search for the damned artifact! We¡¯ll have our revenge! And our money, of course!¡±


    Her speech was greeted with a roar of hundreds of throats. Oblivion was beckoning me, but I was still catching the tails of the thoughts roaming in my head:


    ¡­I did well today. Yes, I made some mistakes, but I can learn from them¡­


    ¡­We¡¯ll have to learn to live differently... I¡¯m a high level... That means new powers... The Ishirians have found a new home... The Old Man¡¯s ¡°Followers¡± have gotten new brothers in faith... The mercenaries have a new thegn... Kane¡­ Kane got a new, second ¡°Highest Wight¡­¡±

 Book 4. Chapter 1. The Start of the Journey

    The following morning was a bit chaotic. Berg had been feeling guilty for having wakened and disturbed his resting commander, but the Disciples and the new thegn thought they had no right to discuss the upcoming campaign without me.


    I had hardly had time to wash my face when the guests began to arrive at my house. Not taking Berg into the account, first to arrive was Kazimir, who gave me the riches found in Al-Harum¡¯s treasury and asked what to do with the rest of the trophies.


    Maids had laid out the table for breakfast beforehand. Shawn had promoted the most attractive and, even more importantly, the most skillful village girls to this honorary position. The girls, who had climbed the career ladder, were now helping the most important persons of my barony with their household work on a full-time basis.


    ¡°Well, let¡¯s drink to the beginning of a new, wonderful day!¡± Horn toasted as soon as we took our places at the table.


    Horn, the Highest Wight


    Level 142


    HP: 1,002/13,110


    Horn didn¡¯t seem to have changed at all. He was the same cheerful and loud man, who was ready to attack his enemy at any moment, get smashed, or hug a woman he fancied. The only difference was the blue skin and the bright blue eyes.


    As far as I knew, three persons immediately asked Kane to bring Horn back to life: Noriduel, Tilda, and the Old Man. Berg told me in secret that the necromancer didn¡¯t want to do it at first, but then suddenly agreed. I wondered why he had a sudden change of heart. After some thinking, I came to the conclusion that the Old Man probably made him understand the importance of this task and that having one more Highest Wight would help Kane develop his skills further. Horn¡¯s high level would only be a benefit. Where else would Kane be able to find a level 142 fresh corpse? I wasn¡¯t an expert in necromancy, but I supposed that it was much easier to reanimate a fresh corpse than a half-decayed one.


    But why hadn¡¯t Kane made a second Highest Wight already? I had two theories. The first one was that he simply wasn¡¯t strong enough before. He was a much higher level now, and had apparently upgraded his Element ¡ª Death. I heard that during the battle he used every chance to ¡°charge¡± his Altar, using it instead of the Finishing Strike. Also, before the battle had even began, first in the camp and later in Dark, he asked the people to call him whenever a hen or a swine was to be slaughtered. He¡¯d also go to the woods with the hunters from time to time. At first, the villagers were creeped out by him and his requests, but they soon got accustomed to it. Though, they¡¯d still glance at Kane cautiously, as if he was mentally ill.


    The second theory had to do with his psyche. First of all, Kane didn¡¯t want one more person in his vicinity, he had enough people around as is. And secondly, he didn¡¯t want to create a Highest Wight of anyone aside his beloved.


    But all that was now in the past. Kane had made a step forward.


    ¡°Heh, glad to see you safe and sound, Horn!¡± Tael chuckled, lifting his mug.


    Horn frowned and Tilda kissed his cheek. He turned to her and kissed her passionately.


    ¡°Ahem,¡± Kazimir coughed.


    ¡°Oh, come on, let them snog a little,¡± Mara chuckled. ¡°People die all the time, you can¡¯t let death get in the way of fun. You¡¯d go crazy.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a matter of politeness,¡± Berg grunted, agreeing with the former prince.


    ¡°Stop grunting already! Let¡¯s drink!¡± Tael said and clanked his and my mug as hard as he could. The others followed his example and drank.


    After that, there were no more distractions. We ate and talked only about the upcoming campaign. Honestly speaking, not much happened during the conversation. We discussed provisions, possible routes, the length of the trip, and so on.


    Tilda suddenly smacked her fist on the table. ¡°What about money?¡± She turned in my direction and rose an eyebrow.


    ¡°And here I thought that you wouldn¡¯t get to that,¡± Tael laughed.


    ¡°Me too,¡± Horn chuckled.


    In Al-Harum, we acquired a little under million gold coins as well as some valuables, armor, and weapons. Kazimir assured me that they hadn¡¯t found any valuable artifacts in the city. That was understandable. The citizens of Al-Harum had been preparing themselves and the city for the attack of the Decayed and everything that could¡¯ve been used for enhancing one¡¯s skills had been given to the soldiers. I allowed the Ishirians who had joined us to keep their armor. Having ordered that, I asked the Old Man to watch after the people he had taken under his wing.


    ¡°How much do you want?¡± I inquired calmly.You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.


    As a bonus for the previous campaign and as an advance for the upcoming one, I paid Tilda 700,000 gold coins. Of course, all of the agreements were sealed with an Oath Keeper. In the presence of the new thegn and her patron, I gave 300,000 gold coins to Kazimir, who promised to pay the mercenaries either when they take Longera, or if we they manage to get the last Part without fighting. The agreement suggested giving bonuses after the business had been done: ¡°no less than 100,000 gold coins.¡±


    Aside from that, I gave Kazimir 250,000 more gold coins to cover the military expenses such as potions, new artifacts (we weren¡¯t content with what little we had), and salary for the soldiers.


    I planned to give the majordomos 50,000 each ¡ª we needed money to expand and cultivate the land after all. I turned to the Old Man for advice, and he answered.


    Don¡¯t worry, boy. I¡¯m looking after the congregation. You¡¯re doing the right thing getting rid of some of the additional duties. You¡¯ve got enough on your plate, boy. Hurry up, you¡¯ll be leaving in an hour. You and Vella will go west.


    He made it clear that he wasn¡¯t going to reveal everything at the moment. I thanked him and returned my attention to the discussion of the upcoming campaign, which was, in all honesty, a bit boring. And not only to me, but also to Mara and Kane, and even Berg. Kazimir, on the other hand, seemed to be in his element, just like Tilda, Horn, and Noriduel.


    I shooed away the sad thought that, minus the 100,000 gold coins that were a bonus for the mercenaries, I had hardly 200,000 left. And to think that I had taken almost three million from two different treasuries... War was a really expensive affair. I¡¯d have to ask the majordomos to think of a tax system. If they can¡¯t do it themselves, they can hire an expert, they had the authority to do that. But where would they find such an expert? Hell, Shawn¡¯s witty and Olyest is experienced. I¡¯m sure they¡¯ll find someone.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll adjust the route,¡± Tael assured Kazimir. ¡°Zheng Roundface, one of my Disciples, is in the duke of Oruel¡¯s army. So I¡¯m well informed about where our allies are and what they¡¯re doing.¡±


    I took a closer look at Tael. He looked pretty much the same as when I had met him in the cave.


    Tael the Handsome


    Level 85


    Despite his human appearance and the absence of a divine aura, that was definitely Noriduel sitting with me at the table.


    He really could turn into an ordinary man and tweak his level. I wondered could other Gods do that, too. Did this mean that Tael¡¯s body once belonged to someone else, just like my body was once Bon¡¯s? Was Noriduel possessing someone or could he simply change his appearance, switching between being a God and being a human? I wanted to believe that the latter was the case. Otherwise, Ilsa would forever remain a part of Aerida. Not that I cared much about her, but becoming a body donor was an unenviable fate.


    I caught myself thinking that my speculations were rather hypocritical. Because that was exactly what had happened to Bon, my current ¡°avatar.¡± Then again, Bon had managed to reclaim control of his body once¡­ He hadn¡¯t made his presence felt since then. I hoped it wouldn¡¯t happen again.


    I also wanted to believe that the Old Man would never make an Avatar out of me. Yes, my strongest skill was called Small Avatar of Darkness, but that was different from being an actual Avatar. The skill just let me borrow my patron¡¯s powers. In Ilsa¡¯s case, being an Avatar was a permanent thing.


    My thoughts returned to Noriduel. He was a very strange God. I mean, they were all strange, but the rebellious spirit of the God of Liberty was too strong and there was too much humanity in him. His ¡°hero¡± wasn¡¯t a high level, and he enjoyed all the joys of human life through him. He could¡¯ve chosen a higher level person, but I supposed that that would¡¯ve cost Noriduel more energy. Not to mention that he¡¯d stand out, which would hinder his freedom of movement, among other things. Right now, he just lived and was satisfied with his life. Before the trip to Al-Harum, other mercenaries, except for some of the Disciples, didn¡¯t have a clue that Tael was their patron. After the campaign, rumors started to spread and Tael had to admit that he was an Avatar. In other words, Noriduel had lied to his Followers.


    The Old Man glanced around. ¡°I think there¡¯s nothing else to discuss.¡±


    I nodded. ¡°Looks like it.¡± The others kept silent.


    ¡°Then you¡¯ll excuse me,¡± Tael said with a slyly smile. ¡°One of your village girls promised to show me something before we set off.¡± Chuckling smugly, he got up from the table and walked toward the door. ¡°By the way, Ken, about that black Serpent. I¡¯ve sent Gerta, one of the Disciples, to guard the island from that beast. Well, the Serpent has returned with a full belly. Seems that someone¡¯s ship didn¡¯t reach its destination. Anyway, it¡¯ll remain on the island for a couple of weeks. You owe me 5,000 for the information¡­ As a token of good will. Give it to Tilda together with the bonus for the campaign.¡± He chuckled and went out.


    ¡°Look, Kane,¡± Tilda said when the door closed. ¡°How long until Horn fully recovers? One can¡¯t fight much with 1,000 HP.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, how long until I¡¯m good to go?¡± Horn inquired.


    Kane sighed heavily and answered with some reluctance.


    ¡°I¡¯ve told you already. About two weeks.¡±


    ¡°You also said that it might take less. That only time will tell,¡± Tilda said immediately.


    ¡°A week minimum,¡± the necromancer replied. Tilda wanted to say something, but Mara butted into their conversation.


    ¡°Guys, don¡¯t push it. By the time we get to the capital, my brother-in-death will be healed. Until then...¡± She wagged her finger at Horn. ¡°Don¡¯t you dare risking your ass. Bringing you back isn¡¯t an easy task, and Kane and I have other problems to take care of.¡±


    ¡°I got it, I got it,¡± Horn grunted, getting up from the table. ¡°Pipe down. And thank you again.¡± He bowed to Kane. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s prepare the troops,¡± he said and smacked Tilda¡¯s butt.


    Following the couple out with my gaze, the four of us ¡ª Berg, Kane, Mara and I ¡ª were left alone.


    ¡°I hope Horn realizes that he¡¯s not a mercenary anymore,¡± Mara said thoughtfully, looking at the door.


    ¡°He knows,¡± Berg sighed. ¡°It¡¯s just difficult for people to change their usual way of thinking and get accustomed to a new reality.¡±


    ¡°Be they dead or alive,¡± I added, bringing down everyone¡¯s mood. I smacked the table with my hand. ¡°Okay, enough of dilly-dallying! Great things are in store for us. Prepare the people for the trip. I¡¯ll talk to the majordomos and be on my way, too.¡±


    Fifteen minutes later, people had gathered to see me off.


    ¡°Maybe you should take someone with you, sir Senior Disciple,¡± Shawn offered again.


    ¡°No,¡± I answered firmly. Since Kazimir and Berg were obviously ready to agree with the majordomo, I had to intervene. ¡°Our patron has ordered me to go alone.¡±


    No one dared to go against the Old Man¡¯s order.


    Having held a farewell speech and wished luck to everyone, I led Vella to the western gates of the village.


    Go to the ¡°Duchy of Oruel,¡± boy. I¡¯ll show you the detailed route in a bit.

 Book 4. Chapter 2. The Road

    I trusted Vella to lead the way. She had no trouble choosing the route on her own. It looked like she had gotten the same order from the Old Man as I did. Despite the incredible speed with which we were travelling, I let myself take my mind off the road. I just had to remember to hold on tight.


    I had a few things to do. I could finally scroll through the logs with a clear conscience. I hadn¡¯t done that for a very long time.


    The message I began with wasn¡¯t the most important one, but it was still pretty significant.


    You have fallen under the effect of ¡°Noriduel¡¯s Aura.¡± You will receive 300 points of damage for every second spent within its range.


    You have received 300 points of damage.


    Remembering the fight, I realized that his Aura didn¡¯t hurt me nor the Old Man while the three of us were fighting side by side, which was strange since Aerida¡¯s Aura made both of us suffer. I thought that maybe Tael-Noriduel didn¡¯t have an Aura, but it turned out that he did and that it even dealt the standard damage. However, thanks to the Small Avatar and its stat boost and bonuses, I didn¡¯t feel any pain. And neither did the Old Man. The increased number of his Followers had positively affected his powers.


    Taking my eyes off the logs, I glanced around. Vella was rushing along the empty road at full speed. A thick, deciduous forest was growing on both sides of the road. Everything seemed to be in order.


    I resumed reading. Scrolling through the logs of the fight with the Mother, I felt like I was back on the streets of the desert city again; so strong was the memory of the fight.


    When I got to the message about my victory, my lips stretched into a smile.


    Level up!


    Current level¡­


    My level, of course, grew with each new line.


    Due to the number of people that had died in the siege of Al-Harum, I wasn¡¯t sure if using the word ¡°lucky¡± would¡¯ve been appropriate. But I really had gotten lucky. During the fight, I had used the Trident and the bonus strikes hit not only a small decayed beast, but also two of the Mothers, thus granting me twenty-five percent of XP for each. The reason for that was that the Old Man, Noriduel and Rugus had also attacked the same targets so the XP was equally divided between everyone. Though I was certain that their and my view of XP and its application were very different¡­


    If the logs were correct, I had defeated one and a half level 500 monster, reached level 126 and maxed out my bond with my patron. I wondered if this pleased the Old Man. Was he glad? He couldn¡¯t say that I was too weak and dodge my questions anymore.


    For reaching level eighty I got plus fifty points to all stats; for level ninety I got plus sixty; for level hundred I got plus hundred; and then +125 and +150. I also received forty-eight stat points, half of which I spent on intelligence. The other half was spent on strength and vitality.


    Level 126


    Vitality: 959


    Endurance: 753


    Strength: 814


    Agility: 860


    Intelligence: 858


    Pretty impressive, if I do say so myself! I liked the thought that even an ordinary strike of my trishula (without taking into account the enemy¡¯s armor) would deal almost 900 points of damage.


    Having 9,690 HP also pleased me.


    And although I hadn¡¯t spent my Everyday and Skill Points yet, of which I already had fifteen and thirty-one respectively, I already looked quite impressive. Despite that, I still felt a pang of fear. Horn was stronger and a higher level, but he still died. Small and weak decayed creatures were numerous and relentless. Their ability to merge into Warriors only gave us more trouble. I could easily defeat one of those in a one-on-one battle without the Wanderer or other powerful skills. Theoretically, of course. In reality, if I failed to dodge a couple of paralyzing Effects of the Decay, I¡¯d be dead¡­ Not to mention that it was practically impossible to meet a Warrior wandering on its own.


    There were legions of the Decayed. There really were¡­


    I frowned at the memory of the endless river of the creatures that hit us in Al-Harum. It would get only worse. I wished that we would unite Zurtarn as fast as possible. Whatever the Cradle of Gods was, it was our only chance of victory. Because no matter how strong you were, you couldn¡¯t stand against a strong current on your own.


    We passed by a cart, and moved to the side of the road at once. Vella didn¡¯t pay attention to either the coachman or his thin horse. The horse neighed and its master looked up at the sky and started moving his lips.


    I bent down to Vella¡¯s ears. ¡°Let¡¯s go through the forest, honey,¡± I said. She woofed and rushed off the road into the underbrush, choosing a new route. It was safer this way. Who knew who the traveler¡¯s God was? What if I attract their attention and they order their Followers to set up an ambush for me?This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    The forest wasn¡¯t as nice as the road was. Branches kept smacking me in the face. Vella didn¡¯t care about such inconveniences, and she continued running at full speed. I had never thought it possible to pick up such speed on such a rough terrain.


    I bent low and almost hugged the dog¡¯s back, deciding to trust her and her choices. I was sure that the Old Man would correct her route if he deemed it necessary. I also had other things to focus on.


    ¡°Upgrade Gloominess to level ten.¡±


    Gloominess 10


    Attention! Your personality is now in better harmony with your main ¡°Element.¡± A new skill has been unlocked: ¡°Clot of Darkness.¡±


    Attention! You have reached the maximum level of ¡°Gloominess.¡± One point of ¡°Great Personality¡± has been generated. All your stats have been increased by 150.


    Attention! Your personality is now in even better harmony with your main ¡°Element.¡± A new skill has been unlocked: ¡°Omnipresent Darkness.¡±


    As expected, level ten of Personality Skills was the maximum one. There probably weren¡¯t many people in this world that had upgraded at least one Personality Skill to level ten. First of all, you had to be level hundred, which in itself was an achievement. Secondly, people often leveled a bit of everything. Of course, they¡¯d chose one main skill and pay more attention to it than to others, but they wouldn¡¯t spend every Personality point they got on it. And thirdly, you had to not only reach level hundred and spend points on only one stat, but it also had to suit your character. You had to use only the Element that suited your personality. Only in that case would you get the maximum benefit of a Personality Skill.


    I wondered how many people got that strange Great Personality point.


    Studying the interface and asking for info about the mysterious Great Personality, I felt just like I did during my first days here. Everything was unclear again, and there were riddles everywhere. I was level 126 and I still had more questions than answers.


    I chuckled and decided to drop my senseless searching. When the time comes, I¡¯ll know what to do with this mysterious gift. This had happened many times. I currently had more important things to focus on.


    I got two new skills. Let¡¯s see what the world has rewarded me with.


    Clot of Darkness


    Level 1


    Active skill


    Cost: 1,500 mana


    Activation time: 4 seconds (cannot be interrupted, possible to activate while moving)


    Cooldown: 2 minutes


    Range: 50 feet


    Concentrated power of ¡°Darkness¡± deals 200-2,000 points of random damage to all living beings not loyal to the ¡°Darkness¡± that are within the range of the skill. The skill has 10% chance to trigger either ¡°Horror¡± or ¡°Tranquility¡± status effect, depending on the target¡¯s loyalty to ¡°Darkness.¡±


    Cost to unlock: 8 skill points


    What a powerful skill¡­ It reminded me of the single-use weapon Tiara had given me and which I hadn¡¯t used in Al-Harum. And even though the skill was much weaker, it could be used every two minutes. What I liked the most about it was that I could activate it while moving.


    I stared at the tutorial GIF with great interest. Okay, I get it... Gather a black ball of energy in the left hand... Throw it, and BOOM! While you waited for the skill to be ready, you could run, jump and fight. The most important thing was not to use other skills.


    Unlock the ¡°Clot of Darkness.¡± I realized at once that I could now do what I had seen in the GIF.


    If that was a level eight reward what would I get for the maximum one?


    Without wasting time, I opened the description of the next skill.


    Omnipresent Darkness


    Level 1


    Passive/Active skill


    Cost: 0/1,000 mana


    Activation time: none/5 seconds (cannot be interrupted, possible to activate while moving)


    Cooldown: 0/4 hours


    Range: unknown


    You are completely filled with your ¡°Element.¡± There is a very slight chance that all the living beings around you will fall under the influence of the ¡°Darkness.¡± Those who are already connected with your ¡°Element¡± have a chance to get a random skill bonus ¡ª temporary or permanent. Those who are loyal to the ¡°Darkness¡± but are not connected with it yet can be converted, even if they worship another patron. Those who are not loyal to the ¡°Darkness¡± risk losing their connection with their ¡°Element.¡±


    Activating the skill on purpose and aiming it at a specific target:


    <ul>


    <li>If the target is connected to your ¡°Element¡± it will get only a temporary bonus and skills;</li>


    <li>If the target is not connected to your ¡°Element¡± but is loyal to it, the chance to convert it significantly increases;</li>


    <li>If the target is not loyal to the ¡°Darkness,¡± there is a 10-75 % chance that it will lose its connection with its ¡°Element,¡± temporarily or permanently.</li>


    </ul>


    Cost to unlock: 10 skill points


    After reading the wall of text I was, to put it mildly, flabbergasted. The skill was definitely awesome, even if the percentage wasn¡¯t all that high and that the active version had a four hour long cooldown and a very low success rate. This was all fine because it was precisely the Followers of the God of Darkness who usually gathered around me. I had practically no Followers of other Gods in my barony. I could give somebody a new skill just by walking around my backyard.


    Though, I was far away from home now. I wasn¡¯t even with my army¡­


    Yeah, it was funny. At the beginning of my adventure, I picked both my main Element and Gloominess because they were suitable for a loner, but both the Darkness and my Personality Skills helped my friends a lot. It was only among those like me and other Followers of the God of Darkness that I could unlock my full potential. It was a bit ironic. I never wanted to be a leader¡­ Yes, I had transferred most of my duties to Kazimir, the majordomos, Erg, and even to Kane, but that was what a real leader does.


    Personally, I¡¯d like to travel with Vella and fight small groups of enemies. The fight with the Tree Frogs, after which I found the source of energy, was the one I liked the most. It was a hard one, but the memory of us two against twelve enemies was one of my favorite ones now. We won, none of my friends died, and I didn¡¯t have to look after anybody. Good times¡­


    But things don¡¯t always go the way you planned. Sometimes you wanted a million gold coins, but got a hundred of copper ones instead. You should think hard, come to the right conclusions, and adapt your strategy accordingly. And then you¡¯d do something different and get two million coins instead of one. That still might not be what you wanted, but it¡¯d hardly make you disappointed.


    I took a deep breath. ¡°Upgrade Leadership by two,¡± I commanded aloud for some reason.


    Leadership: 2


    There were no other messages. No wonder. Gloominess was level three when I got its first skill.


    Did I do the right thing upgrading this Personality Skill? I wanted to believe so. And although I had done well without it before, and although sometimes (like today) I travelled only with Vella, I was a baron and a leader of the Followers of the God of Darkness. I believed that quality was more important than quantity. A leader didn¡¯t always have to direct his subordinates. Ideally, people should be willing to fulfill your orders themselves. It sounded like a fairy tale, but what if upgrading my new Personality Skill would bring me a step closer to that?