The appearance of a new person at the castle made an impression. Nick was worried about nothing. Everyone liked Anna. To be more precise, everyone recognized the need to have their own alchemist and magician. And it wasn't clear what was important to the clan.

First of all, the girl got to know everybody, she was delighted with the Class Choice Room. She came out of the old clan and joined the new clan. Then Anna chose a magician class and everyone sat down to discuss their plan to clean up the ruins of the old city.

"Are you sure there's no chief monster in the city center?" asked Anna.

"There's no need to worry. In this case, we have a chief expert in destroying bosses. Dan's in Galatea now, working his specialty and studying ancient symbols."

"Then we might be able to destroy a lot of undead in one blow. But you shouldn't be hoping for the almighty power of the scroll. I'm just beginning to develop the class of magician. I can do a little damage, but in a large area."

"How big is the area? And how much damage are you talking about?"

Anna was holding a sheet with a spell, she carefully read the features of that spell.

"Damage is dealt with in all the visible areas. If there's an opportunity to rise higher, I can see a larger area and then I activate the scroll. It requires 80 initial intellect and 20 spirits. It's a mandatory minimum level for Master. I was able to obtain the rank of Master of the Earth. I have to grow up to the Expert Rank to 12 more levels. Now with this scroll, I can do 6400 damage. Will that be enough?"

"I bought four scrolls, you're going to get the best equipment for the Earth Magician," said Nick. "I think it'll be enough to destroy even Draugr. If the game is cruel to us."

"Draugr has protection against all kinds of damage. He has 60% protection against the Earth. We managed to defeat a monster with 40,000 lives."

"This is unbelievable! How did you do it?"

"We burned it. Along with Dan, who kept Draugr from leaving the trap."

"I hope to meet him soon. Nick, tell me, how will the castle be improved? I hope you've taken care of the magical protection?"

Nick spoke about the trading results and described the contract with the Builders Guild. He contracted a project to enhance the magic defenses.

The amount didn't make any impression on the guys. Anna smiled and thought that the money had no meaning for them.

Then Alexander asked Anna to tell about the beginning of the magician's progress.

The girl told me that it is difficult to develop a magician. There are 4 ways of legal magic and some magic of Death, magic that is used by monsters. Legal magic is the ways of elements: Fire, Air, Water and Earth. The magician passes 5 development ranks: Novice, Adept, Master, Expert, and Magister. There is an extra rank of Archimage, which is achievable for Master of all four ways of magic. Rank development requires an improvement in intellect and spirit.

The main feature is that the combat skills of a magician require development in combat, or in support of allies. You cannot put points of Glory into the magic of fire and finish the rank of Novice to get the rank of Adept. Anna chose the magic of Earth. At the beginning of development, Anna had no attacking spells, only defense, and control of the enemy. Two initial spells allowed her to use them all the time. The Swamp and Shield spells didn't harm the allies. But she rarely went down in the sewers. She preferred to practice alchemy, exercise, and the quiet development of Earth's magic in the open air.

Anna calmed the boys down:

"Don't worry, scrolls with strong spells are not superweapons in this game. The castle is not threatened by anyone at the moment. After a gift from the administration of the game may find players with an intellect of 80. But the damage from the scroll will be weak. Magicians are not the most dangerous players, in fact they are much more useful as a support."

Alexander didn't agree with her:

"I hate to think that someone could destroy our castle. We chose a rather aggressive path of diplomacy. You do realize that Michael would be unpleasantly surprised by your joining our clan."

"I don't care about Michael. But his friend is a funny case of a mixture of greed and ambition. Samantha won't leave you alone."

Nick stopped a new round of conversation and said they'd better get out the way of Galatea now. They'll be able to make their way downtown by tonight, try to find a suitable building, and Nick will move Anna over there. And she'll do her job. The Builders Guild workers have already received the money, they can arrive at the castle by tomorrow night. They'd better hurry up.

Anna has received a full set of excellent equipment, costume jewelry to enhance intellect and magical staff to enhance the magic of the Earth.

John was constantly joking at the ranger, who himself had set up nets and fell into his own trap. Alexander wasn't joking about Nick's choice, he liked that girl.

But on the road, Anna showed herself to be a nasty partner. She was quickly tired. Strength 7 and dexterity 6 were not the characteristics that allowed a long run in the company of skilled hunters. She was not confused by her weakness and allowed Nick to carry her in his arms. Alexander calmed down when she said that she would bring her physical characteristics to 10 necessarily. She winked and added:

"I will definitely find a recipe for fatigue recovery, Daddy. You'll be happy."

Next to the hunters, their pets were running. The little bear delighted Anna. That cheerful and furry clot of energy wasn't afraid of werewolves at all. There were fights between the pets all the time. But everyone saw that it wasn't a serious fight, but more of a joke contest between pets.

They approached the dead city before dark.

Dan met his clan in the suburbs of the town.

He was wearing a mask, but his sight didn't scare Anna. She grabbed on to him with her curiosity and made him show her his face. Then she admired for a long time that she had first met a real monster hunter.

"We're all ordinary. Not interesting at all. Dan is like the incarnation of heroes from fantasy books. Moorcock! Moorcock had a hero with grey hair and a very dangerous sword. Dan looks like him. We're not interesting," said Anna.

Dan put on a mask and said that Anna was interesting enough. She doesn't know how interesting she is yet.

There was no time to talk. The hunters went to work. Nick warned Dan in advance that the clan was coming to the final part of the operation.

The sinner was given the job and left the trophies in the cellars and the ancient inscriptions on the walls alone. He was slowly clearing the street of dead people this morning. Dan walked to the square and chose a house that was comfortable as a platform. Almost all the ruins were the same, all had stone stairs to the second floor. There were no second floors, but the stairs were left in most cases. Dan only killed the nastiest enemies, banshees, skeletons of scouts and archers. The monsters couldn't escape the skill of Autodafe, he didn't have to follow them. Dan looked at two houses, picked a better option for their plans. Then he destroyed the monsters in the homes and went up to the second floor of one of the houses.

The painting made him happy. An idea came to mind. That the view reminded him of a stadium filled with unusual fans of entertainment and spectacle. A real sea of bones was moving in front of him. Different shades of grey were slowly moving around the square. The sinner did not know how many skeletons and other undead creatures there were. He saw banshees, zombies, and ghouls. But then he noticed a nasty opponent in the middle of the square. Dan texted the whole group right away:

"Guys, Draugr's here."

"And the girls! I'm happy to welcome you, my new brother in arms! This is Anna, I hope to see you soon."

"Are you sure it's Draugr?"

"Alexander, I can read. Level 21. But he's kind of weak, only 20,000 life. All skills are normal, he has 50% protection against magic."

"I've already thought about it. The monsters in the dungeons and our opponents on the quests have higher performance. These ruins have not given us any quest. It's just a place for free hunting. That's very bad, by the way."

"Here and without a quest, everyone will have enough experience."

"Dan, how many monsters are there around here?"

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"Alexander, there's no way to count them. The creatures are moving."

"Don't worry, brother, our new magician will burn them all."

"Johnny, I'll bury them. The burning isn't for me."

"What about our trophies!"

"I'm not sure about the trophies, this is the first time I can use a scroll like this."

"We've had enough trophies, stop talking. Dan, be careful. But work on clearing the way to this square. It's going to be completely dark soon. We're on our way."

Dan looked around and began to destroy the most dangerous enemies.

Then he came back and met the group. In a calm situation in the suburbs of the city, he was able to summon his cat and Anna got a reason for another explosion of emotion. She grabbed the cat with both hands and stroked, and tickled and tormented the defenseless animal with her attention. Pussy was patient for a long time, but her patience ran out, the cat broke out and hid behind its master's back.

The good mood before the fight was wonderful. Dan immediately realized that having this girl in the group would be helpful, at least in supporting the good spirits.

Anna made a link to the temporary point of rebirth and the group started the hunt.

The girl looked at the skill of the hunters with delight. She had never seen anything like it before. These players were different. They were completely different from the players in town. In battle, they were transformed! The transformation of classes caused an external transformation of a player if he used special skills.

The warrior chose the Berserker path. Sometimes his body would glow red and almost double in size! This desperate hero did not care about defense, he destroyed his opponents quickly and skillfully. It seemed that the wounds and pain only gave him extra strength for a new attack. Then 'the ball was blown off', as thought Anna.

The assassin did not change in size, but around him began to concentrate darkness, the figure of the killer could not be seen, and his skill was not suitable for a fair fight. Everyone admitted that they felt uncomfortable being blind surrounded by enemies. John said that they understood nothing about the beauty of his skill. He sees everything very well in person and he enjoys admiring the confused faces of his friends. All agreed that Assassin was well prepared for solo missions and solo hunting.

Nick also couldn't boast of a special transformation of his appearance. He became even more invisible and completely disappointed Anna. She said the "ranger is the most unattractive."

Dan didn't react to her requests to show his true face. The guys told her about his problem. Anna wasn't embarrassed by the Sinner class at all. She laughed and looked forward to meeting with this player. When she saw Dan turned into some kind of dark Angel, Anna froze and after a few seconds screamed with delight. Then she found out it wasn't their sinner's main trick, but his main trick was better not to look at his friends.

The girl was a little annoyed with Alexander's behavior. He thought all magicians were the same. All magicians remained children with stupid fantasies in their heads. But then the warrior saw that above the wide-open and happy smile of the girl on her beautiful face are well noticeable attentive and calculating eyes. The girl knew what death was. She had already died several times. In this battle, she got a great opportunity to show her abilities, and Anna showed class. She constantly updated the defense on partners and masterfully used the Swamp spell. It was a very useful spell. It slowed down the enemy's movement, and it could serve as a skill of provocation.

Anna neither risked nor cursed skeletons with spears, but skeletons of swordsmen she competently and carefully pulled out to slaughter. 

When the evening twilight fell on the street and it became too dark for a confident continuation of the battle, Anna again surprised the guys and lit up a large ball of light over his head.

"It's dangerous for you, we can use torches. This way we will attract less attention from the undead," said Alexander.

"You're wrong, Daddy! With your torches, you're just attracting the attention of monsters. It's the mechanics of the game. Monsters react to fire. And my spell is everyday magic. My Firefly is invisible to monsters. It's magic, Harry!"

Alexander laughed and nodded approvingly. The Firefly was a large ball that illuminated the space in front of them with a soft light that didn't cut the eye even when you look at the ball.

The close proximity to the final stage of their operation was disturbing. From the concentration of skeletons in the square sometimes came out new scouts and archers. Banshees also occasionally appeared on this side of the square and flew into the street on which the group was moving.

At the very edge of the attack was Sinner. He would walk ahead of the group, sometimes return on Nick's orders, and kill the banshee that flew into the rear of their squad. Nick could handle that beast, but he was always taking damage. Anna had already died twice from the attack by those creeps. Nick would come back for her to the point of rebirth and listen to that angry fox hissing. Now he knew exactly which pet they'd be looking for Anna. When the girl was angry, the features of her face sharpened and she looked like an angry fox. 

He told her about his thoughts and the girl laughed and said that the fox was great. But she'd like to tame a little dragon. A dragon is a good pet for a magician. It's a classic.

Nick never understood if she was joking or seriously looking to get a dragon as a pet. 

Now they've had enough problems without dragons. They weren't in a hurry, they were careful, but the promotion was met with a decent fight against monsters.

Alexander said they were wasting their time. It's like the undead is following the orders of an invisible commander. The protection of the approach to the square was constantly updated. The Undead prevented the group from completely clearing the approach to the last building in the street.

Everyone agreed with him, and Dan offered to break through to the second floor of the building. He could go ahead and destroy the skeletons of scouts and archers. And then Nick could jump past the other monsters with Anna.

Everyone agreed to try this scenario. They didn't lose anything by trying it. Another death? It's a regular thing.

John and Alexander took over the defense. It was a fairly strong six-unit combat team. Two men and four pets could cause a lot of trouble for the monsters. The group had already found a boundary that it was undesirable to cross. It was useless because destroying the enemies caused an influx of new enemies. 

Nick and Anna supported their partners and waited for the signal from the sinner who had gone ahead.

A new day had already arrived. After midnight, the sinner appeared to Anna and she said that everything was fine. Dan may not have to worry. There will be no problem with her, she already has a boyfriend, her chosen one is certainly not the most luxurious man in the world, but for a humble girl, it will be enough. She doesn't claim to have special attention for a strange sinner.

Dan laughed and ran away. Nick stood there and heard everything. He kept firing a bow and had no time for emotion.

Dan was attentive. He had already cleared the roof of the building he wanted and didn't want to risk the magician's life. The sinner quickly ran into the street and saw that the entrance to the house was guarded by a new archer skeleton. 

"Nick, take Anna and go!" said Dan.

Then he attacked the archer, killed the skeleton and cast Autodafe on two scouts. Skeletons quickly ran in his direction, stretching the bone shoulders of swordsmen, zombies and spearheads. Dan jumped towards them himself and started the fight. It wasn't easy to fight surrounded by other skeletons. The two-handed sword was a great weapon to destroy monsters, but now Dan was careful not to catch other opponents. As long as he didn't touch the skeletons, they wouldn't pay any attention to him. He could push the skeleton with his shoulder, push it aside if the skeleton was blocking his way. It didn't cause an attack. But an attack with a weapon was already considered a challenge. A sinner had to beat his opponents gently.

He didn't even notice Ranger with Anna in his arms. Nick speeded past the skeletons and ran into the building. He ran straight up the wide stone stairs to the second floor, which had become the roof of this house.

Nick and John had already been to the house and had examined and appreciated Dan's choice. They checked the house across the street and admitted that a sinner could be praised for his work. From the second floor of the building there was a good view of the square, but the sight of the undead crowd once again made them excited. 

Nick was worried about Anna's condition. He was afraid that the girl would panic when she saw a lot of dead things. On the other hand, he was worried about another problem. Will Anna be able to see all the dead? He warned the girl in advance about the unpleasant spectacle. In reply, he saw the mocking look of the green eyes and heard a few gentle words about how a good boy should behave in the company of a respectable girl.

When Nick received Dan's command, he instantly put the bow in his inventory and picked up the girl. He ran with an increase in speed. There was enough time, the ranger knew his way to the right place. Nick ran to the second floor and recalled his pet. Then he got ready to defend Anna.

They discussed the issue with the pets quickly. Dan was being honest. That he would call Pussy off. She'll overtake him quickly, and there's no knowing if he'll be able to level with her. Alexander agreed with him and decided to take all the experience for himself. John decided to share the experience with his werewolf. Nick understood that such a case to gain experience will not be presented soon, and it is not worth losing it. He pulled his pet out of the game.

Anna was ready. She was given two scrolls. They were enough to do 15000 damage. It was enough to undead 17 and 19 levels. Skeletons were mostly found and their life stock was 9,500 hp. The Banshees on level 19 had 14300 hp. 

When she got back on her feet, she immediately lit up space in front of her. They ran in the dark, she couldn't see anything and didn't have time to see anything at the speed that crazy Nick was moving.

But now a ball of light flew high above her head and she saw a disgusting picture. The sight was a little frightening with its strange, but an obvious threat, some nasty gray mess of bones swarming downstairs. And that mass of bones was really terrifying. Anna saw the limits of this square. The sphere could move in different directions if she wanted, and she moved the light source forward and up. She didn't want to waste the expensive scrolls. Suddenly a beautiful smile appeared on her face and a scroll appeared in her hand.

Anna pressed the scroll with the spell.

*

[Do you wish to activate the spell 'The Shiver of the Earth'? Yes/No]

*

Anna gave her an agreement and immediately repeated the attack.

The ground under her feet was shaking. Anna did not see the effects of the spell, Firefly's light was not enough to see everything in detail. But she was afraid that the building would collapse and she and Nick would fall to the ground floor.

Her legs were bent. Her eyes were loaded with endless reports of damage to her enemies. She couldn't even understand how many new levels she was getting. 

She should have listened to Nick! He warned her not to activate the battle detail reports. After a battle, it is always possible to raise status information and clarify all the details of the battle.

In the final, the information from the game was the most pleasant news:

*

[Congratulations! You have destroyed over 5000 opponents of the undead class. You get the achievement of 'the Enemy of Unclean Power'. Your damage to the undead class has been increased by 3%. You have 5 points of Glory. +1 Spirit. ]

*

Anna woke up and saw she was standing on the street again. Next to her, men were fighting the dead. She instantly lit up space and entered the battle. First throw the shields of the earth at all the boys and pets, and then start cursing monsters. It's a good thing that scrolls aren't wasting mana! 

Anna didn't have the patience, so she took a look at her status. Now she was laughing with delight. She looked like a happy, lively witch from the outside. 

Level 27! Twenty, bloody seven, goddamn level! In two seconds of combat...

She loves these guys! She loves that clan! Maybe the handsome ranger will soon get a special gift from her.

Maybe.