Chapter 17

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The first of the new paths to the crypts was through ravines. The road from the "official" map, paved, straight, led through the woods, where it was not so easy to squeeze between the trees, but it was easy to get lost in the bushes of the undergrowth. It was another level of training for newbies, who were occasionally given quests to explore the dense woods. Having tinkered and shed a sufficient amount of sweat, the players discovered a new dungeon full of loot, unfulfilled quests, and new monsters, and the news There's loot turned the flow of adventurers on a new, still difficult-to-pass road. And the old hunting grounds are given fewer and fewer quests. They are visited less and less often, the road to them overgrows, monsters rest and fatten up, and now another newcomer hears from the quest NPS: We haven't visited those places for a long time, check if is there a new evil. And the pendulum goes the other way.

The map, apparently, began as if not with the start of the game, and was often supplemented. If a verified, green-colored location is not visited for a while, the color will start to change, showing less and less credibility. And here, apparently, the drivers pumping characters for sale were actively checking the maps they needed to work.

There was mud and streams at the bottom of the ravine, and at one point I was glad I wasn't running in person. I jumped over particularly nasty places using the "jump with a shield kick" macro, and somewhere I used my sword to cut my way through the branches of fallen trees. I got to the crypts from the other side, but really, almost one and a half times faster. Plus running on wet clay with a sword swinging should be counted as increased use of modules, from such small things form the result.

"Appear from the scroll, Companion!"

There were doubts. The plot engine could only track the conversations of key NPCs, such as the Priest we argued with in the temple, or not. But judging by the misty ghost that appeared, the game loosely interpreted the players' actions down to such little things as a slight deviation in the voice commands. This command should have sounded different, but it was executed.

"The order is to read the scroll. The order is to attack this zombie."

Here we go. I slapped myself on the forehead as I looked behind the departing Companion, remembering that I'd forgotten to put my blessing on myself with the scroll. Heading to grind, I visited the trading house and left a new masterpiece, and a couple of fourth-ranked scrolls to sell. My mind seems to have deemed the scroll action for the day exhausted. Silly brain, silly brain!

Zombie has already taken out half of Companion's hps.

"Heal. Heal. Amala's blessing be with you!"

Your deed pleases the Goddess!

Darn!

I hate surprises! I'll have to take a closer look at the information on faith pumping; apparently, the blessing of the conditionally evil has something to do with Amala's ministry. Brain, you are justified. But don't do that again anyway!

"Heal. Jump!"

The zombie swayed with its shield and backed away from the Companion, and I immediately stepped between them. The raised sword glowed, hit, and the zombie scattered.

Not bad. It turns out that my faith strike takes out about a hundred and fifty hit points on the evil character. Hmm... about three times as powerful as a simple hit. As I remember, the damage and chance of a crit on the evil ones are doubled, so it's about one and a half times stronger on a normal target. I can live with that.

"Scroll of blessing, give me power!"

The changed formula worked this time, too. The parameters went up, and the bonus characteristic became a strength. Okay, I'll pretend that this is very useful to me. But in general, such a smart game, I'll have to take a closer look at the settings.

"Heal. The order is to attack this zombie."

The companion was enough for two more foes. Then, with some excitement of anticipation, I finished off my faithful slave.

Your deed pleases the Goddess!

Yep, so it's not a bug, it's a feature. The Companion, conditionally evil because of the Blood Shield, gains enough negative reputation that destroying it is considered a good deed.

Again, a combination of rare, albeit non-unique, factors.

Of course, there is nothing exceptional about pumping "on scrolls". It's just inefficient. The lower levels are fast enough as it is. There is simply no need for such tricks, and starting from the thirtieth, resistances, defense ratings, and other mechanics that provide passive damage reduction, which the Companions do not have, because they can not equip and, therefore, will die uselessly from one monster hit. The damage returned by the shield is unable to penetrate the defense with the monster's high level of resistance to the forces of darkness, so it's simply not worth using. A regular player will team up with the same newcomers, a pumped for sale or guild character will have a buffer and healer behind him. That's why it's not prohibited because no one needs it.

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But if, without showing off my abilities, I need to raise my level quickly, without showing off the actual level... And that's exactly what I need. At first, I was supposed to get up to the fifteenth with the scrolls "donated by a friend from the guild". Then to look for a place in the twentieth or thirtieth level boost groups, presenting myself five to seven levels higher. Healer there, aura there, and combat feats from the paladin no one expects. Support char with specific skills in a group where no one expects a large flow of exp. Just enough to two or three months to fatten up to the forty-seventh level and, having received the basic paladin tricks, to move on. At the same time acquiring a lot of acquaintances, which I can fall on the tail.

Now, it turns out, I can get two faith gains from one Companion. I spent twenty Companions on my first pass through the crypts. Isn't it up to half a thousand gains for a one-rank faith increase? If I keep this up, by level fifteen I'll have one or two faith points, and with them a twenty percent increase in paladin abilities, which is a match for the image I made up.

I'm on fire. I'm really on fire!

And this is worrying. Free cheese is only in mousetraps.

"Come, Companion, contained in the scroll."

A rustling, foggy figure. It works, though. A clever game.

"Amala's blessing be with you!"

A whirlwind of sparks, but the coveted sign is absent. What the?!

Wait, Vova, you were just speculating about the "blessing of the evil ones". The companion is not yet "desecrated"... and the restoration of the spell is five minutes. Minus one gain plus one check.

"The order is to read the scroll. Order - attack this skeleton."

"The companion sailed toward the target. Oh, stretch the shoulder, swing the arm!"

I remembered my intention to learn "Ice Arrow" when I was finishing off the third mage skeleton. Fortunately, this was not the last one, and after two Companions, I entered the hall with two monsters. It seems that this was where I had a hard time yesterday; today I'll be smarter.

Find the spellbook and activation button of the capture in the interface, put the weapon away, and make sure no one is around.

"Spell Capture!"

You have activated the spell-capture skill.

The skill is active, the period of use is 30, 29, 28...

Hurry up. Retreat to the corner, so that only the skeleton mage is visible in the archway, otherwise, the skill can hit the zombie standing nearby and will be wasted.

Holding out your hand, indicating the target. Gesture with the glove.

Congratulations! You have captured the Ice Arrow spell of rank one

Attention, this is the first time you have used the skill. Please read the Help

I'd better check out the spell.

So, "Ice Arrow", first rank; 15-20 points of water magic damage and slowing for 5 seconds.

Spells from the scrolls do not increase the strength of the magic of the user, but the third rank will hit by fifty units and slow for seven seconds. Not so good in combat, but as a "last hope" it'll work.

Back at the exit, I drew three scrolls in a minute and wished I had a belt, even the simplest, two-slot one. The voice commands should roughly match the timing of the spell. And the belt charged pointed the target with a finger and released the charged one word. Convenient.

So, what to do with these?

It's like there's a choice.

"Order - attack this skeleton!"

The faith strike was recovering. I had to take three hits to finish off the zombie. I stopped, took off my virt helmet, and wiped away the sweat. Something had to be done about that. Of course, one, maximum of two strokes per minute is not that much of a load, in the sewers, it was much worse, but the stress, the constant waiting, and the need to monitor the life of the Companion was exhausting. What's worse, the experience was still too little compared to the effort involved.

The tactic I chose before I created my character is correct. The main thing in it is not that I alone get all the exp, but that there will not be companions who are ahead, who will look down and say: "Ah, that's the paladin, whom we helped". Even if you do all the work, whoever rises above you won't fail to spit from above. And when I surpass them (which I will!), there will be accusations of cheating and attempts to screw around at my expense. So there's no getting around it, I'll have to suffer for a week or two before I can move up as an equal.

When I found two nearby zombies, I waited until one had knocked half his hits off the Companion, and then set the badly beaten phantom on the other. I managed to kill them both in the same amount of time, but I almost lost the Companion. Deciding that the risky acceleration wasn't worth losing a chance to boost my faith, I went back to the old, boring, but reliable knocking out monsters one at a time.

Zombies, two zombies, a skeleton mage, and more zombies. The experience was playing out, and it took me fewer Companions to get to the boss; the boss himself was killed in forty seconds. Again, a quest bone and a handful of coppers. I wish I'd had some serious loot, though...

I took the second route back to town, along the animal trail, and encountered a level nine boar. The hog was aggressive, so I had to jump around, dodging strong but straightforward attacks. Toward the end, when the totally wild pig froze for a second, hitting a tree during another tug, I took a moment to read out an Ice Arrow scroll. Weak, at the level of a good sword strike, but a five-slot belt would allow me to deal half as much damage in five seconds as my equal opponent's hits, plus the actual kick of faith. Admittedly, it takes me two minutes behind the tablet plus expense to prepare this bundle. "It's not OP" as they used to say in my childhood, but if anything, it's a good reserve for just in case of danger.

I made it back to the temple on shaky legs.

Barracks, room, inventory, lay out the loot, equipment - in the closet, logout.

Dinner and sleep. I'm exhausted.

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