Chapter 37

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I should turn on the air conditioner. I'm walking through an autumn forest, and it's stifling in my room. I wonder if there are any mods for the game with the fragrance of the virt. Right now, there's a deciduous forest, or rather a wooded area. And a lot of grass, growing in bunches about a meter and a half in height. And the sun, warming the whole thing... no, I have to turn on the air conditioner.

I distracted myself from my third hour of searching and provided myself with some coolness.

So, what else can you think of? What's a dungeon supposed to smell like? Same crypts? A morgue? Butchery? That's for extreme people. But on the Mist Field, one can set up such a mod to determine the appearance of the enemy. They're chaotic there. The most unexpected combinations can happen.

I couldn't stand it, so I stopped, got out of the virt, and went to look at the information.

Scent mods were available, but for some reason, not too many. Two basic, almost copying each other, a few additives to the conditioner, clearly made by order of the developer. Strange: a good idea, but no realization? Of course, it is not highlighting, and it is impossible to remove the smell from the room with the click of a button. But why there are no climate settings for the virt, responsive to the surroundings?

After making a note to myself to deal with the question, I returned to my search. That's it. I'm tired of walking in vain. I need to think at last. It's been two hundred years. Suppose the ruins were covered by a magical shield. But the road must remain. At least the line of trees along it? Have the buildings near the tower been magically shielded as well? They accidentally had an archmage in the garrison? Although, what am I talking about? It's the game. There's any NPC can in the first year of training to do spells of the tenth rank.

When I returned to the center of the site and climbed another hill, I looked around again.

Watch. Tower. So - we take only the hills for the view from which there are no obstacles. Designers of CODs nobody accused of stupidity. On the contrary, the supervisors invited someone from the "Medievalists" developers of historical games series. So - the top. From here, one can see three suitable elevations. One has a cliff on the side. This is the first goal.

The second one is steeper, but it is the highest. The third is something like a split rock. That's the order I'll go in.

As I approached the cliff, I read the scroll of True Sight and dashed around. I had to spend four scrolls to discover that it wasn't a magic-cloaked structure after all. Great, a negative result is fine in this case.

At the second hill, there were two five-meter snakes, and they were considerably higher than I was. The first aggressive monsters I encountered in this area did not please me in any way. They only halved my mana reserve for healing after combat. No, just wandering around the world, exp can not gain, experience is earned in the dungeons, in the Misty Fields, and when performing Quests. I spent three scrolls on the hill to make sure there was no trace of construction.

Up to the third hill, I tried my best to suppress the bad feeling. But what good would it do if the hastily drawn scrolls again failed to confirm my theory? The new dungeon, potentially rich in armor and weapons, didn't show up for some reason.

I opened the map again, checking my location. It was exactly in the middle of the patch marked as Taris Watch. But there was nothing around, nothing that resembled an abandoned dwelling.

Okay. All right, then, where's the damn tower?

I was seriously pissed off. Why do I have so much attentiveness in my characteristics? Why am I constantly refreshing my supply of True Vision scrolls? How do I even find something that shouldn't be found?

Three peaks, a stream, five hills, two ravines, sparse clumps of trees. And a river somewhere in the distance.

And there is no end to my wanderings, And no friends to help me...

Damn, I'm already talking to myself! But how do you find something that was hidden just so no one would find it? Bring in a whiny healer with an unknown talent for seeing through illusions? Search for mods that allow you to see through magical obstacles.

Or try to turn on your head.

What is a "Watch"? A tower and several buildings, plus, as we know, there are quite extensive cellars. I'm sure these cellars are very large, and there may even be access to some ancient workings or natural caves. The tower has been demolished, the walls crumbled, and the magic-covered earth hints nothing of the past. How can anything be found here? What would I do if I were in the shoes of those who thought up this quest?

Made the player hire a dozen NPCs diggers? Gave a special access item? Gave a special quality that allows you to search ancient ruins? From the reviews I've read, it could be all of these things.

Sitting down on the floor, I began to go over the stones. Granted: I can't see the ruins. None of my detection methods work. Required: To locate the dungeons. Where are the dungeons? Below. How do I detect what is hidden from the view below? Vegetation? It's monotonous. There are no trails, and in two hundred years there wouldn't be any. You could get a couple of kilometers in the air and look around from there. It seems that the tamers have the ability to look through the eyes of birds: maybe that's the clue?

What haven't I looked at yet?

Hills, groves, creek. Gullies!

Two ravines crossed the conventional rectangle on one side. Rising from the ground, I went to the place where one of them thinned into a ditch. I should check it out.

I found the passage in the middle of the second one, two hundred paces from the foot of the first hill I had seen. It was so frustrating that I didn't even swear. It was a waste of scrolls, effort, conjecture, and brainwork, and all I had to do was to go down and look for a big hole in the wall that wasn't even covered by bushes!

Just in case, I used the scroll to examine the passage, but I didn't notice anything special. The hole was like a hole, but very big. And for some reason, it wasn't blocked by debris piling up on the side of the ravine.

Using the light essence, I enchanted the shield for luminosity. I have nothing to hold the lantern, and the Night Sight only shows alive... Where is it, this alive, in the crypts of two centuries old? Well, if I meet a bear, or find a den of wolves.

Step by step, I carefully checked the path, holding the glowing shield in front of me. This essence would have to be changed every fifteen minutes, but at least the light is very conventional. The shield "creates" light, allowing one to see ten paces in all directions rather than illuminating the gradually widening passage like a lantern. While we were walking along the earthen vaults, two fasteners came across. Most likely - a secret passage from the Watch to send out messengers in case of a siege. The floor underfoot was earthen but obviously leveled, the walls of something stone-like. Good thing no traps remained here. The only trap hole was gaping right in the middle of the passage, the rotted lid no longer covering it. When I saw it, I finally came to my senses, summoned the Companion, and sent it forward.

But the door that covered the dungeon entrance was in place. I jerked the sturdy planks with my hand and spent a long time looking for a way to open it, and decided that a good kick would do the trick. The door flew open after the third.

After a little scolding, I rubbed my bruised leg and carried the overturned chair into the hallway. Then I returned to the room. The door was still there, but it was already hanging on its bottom hinge, which creaked when I pushed it open with my left hand.

Congratulations! You have opened a new dungeon - the Cellars of Taris Watch.

Time of the first passage - 25 hours. Into battle, Creators of Destiny!

I scowled and stepped forward carefully. There were very few videos with such a warning on the Net, and, as a rule, the appearance of such signs was followed by screams and the camera rushing around the room, showing the level of feelings. To find a new dungeon is to contribute to the history of this world.

The bad thing is that the first passage time is more than a day. These caves are designed for a group higher in level than those usually present in the area. The foothills are packed with monsters from level thirty-five and up, and the dungeons from level forty. It's even more difficult.

And I have nothing to catch here. But on the other hand, the zone in which there is an entrance to the dungeon has already been generated, and the countdown has begun, in which time information about the "Watch" will appear on the store, pale yellow maps. Explorers will come in droves, and they will shake off all the loot from the monsters without leaving me a single shabby piece of iron. The entrance, so suitable for the ambush, would be guarded by mercenary gunkers. The dungeon would be overrun by groups of greedy, well-armed players.

Stop the panic.

"The order is to read this scroll. The order is to follow that turn."

Companion moved forward, hovering over debris and piles of garbage. Just as he passed a narrow niche covered in cobwebs, a creature leaped out of it.

A blow - and the life of Companion was halved.

"Heal!"

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

I tried to figure out what the creature was. After receiving a response from the Blood Shield, the creature rebounded and leaped in a long, stalking leap at the Companion.

"Heal! Heal!"

All in vain, a figure in a hood of dusty cobwebs finished off the Companion and rushed toward me in long leaps.

"Her light shall shine!"

I threw myself to the floor, and the blinded creature flew over my head, crunching into the wall, stunned, shook, froze for a second, and then started sniffing, clearly not intending to pay attention to the blinding. Surprise!

"Evil shall not be!"

It worked: the creature froze. I quickly cross-edged it with my sword and grimaced. It took two percent off, in addition to the five taken by the crossbow arrow and the Companion's Blood Shield. It worked: the creature froze, and I quickly cross-edged it with my sword and grimaced. It took two percent off, in addition to the five taken by the crossbow arrow and the Companion's Blood Shield. Force breaks the straw, and I'm not gonna get much out of it. But I couldn't escape either, so it made sense to see what the creature could do.

After slashing three more times at my opponent's legs, which were covered by a hood, I jumped back and put up my shield.

The enemy has eighty-five percent of health. Let's start to check how strong his attack is against the armored paladin.

A blow to the shield turned me with my unprotected side toward the creature. The missed hit knocked out half my HP. I checked it out. Did it get any easier? The creature bounced, scraped at the stones of the floor with its long claws, then made a few twitching movements, provoking me into action. I retreated bravely.

"Heal. Heal. Hea... damn!"

I managed to set my shield and flew backward into the passageway.

"Thank you, my unknown dead friend!"

I'm stupid. I should have just stood with my back to the corner. Or I should have dashed over here.

Damn, that thing is frighteningly real. The cloak must have once been a knight's cloak. And what was underneath was a brave warrior. But then he had no five-inch fangs, no three-toed paws with huge claws, and no green lights in his empty eye sockets. At least there was no flesh left on the bones, so there was no need to feign a long swing of the sword to cut through it, just a slash. And stabbing, on the other hand, is ineffective.

I retreated deeper into the passageway and began to calculate. Stabbing with the sword was a pleasure. It was a shame that for a skeleton, such blows were almost imperceptible. And chopping in this cramped space didn't work. On the other hand, the shield protects me from a direct attack, and if the guardian tries to duck underneath, it's just right...

The creature just tried it.

"Jump!"

I collapsed on its back, happy that in the virtual world, the characters are more stable. In the real world, I would have fallen off such a twirling platform fast. I managed to hit it five times and stab it somewhere in the direction of her outstretched skull. I jumped again, switching places with the creature. Now I had the dungeons behind me, and it had the cramped passageway at its back. Maybe I should push it out into the sunlight.

The creature tried to jump again, just under the reloaded Faith Strike and crawled back with a howl.

Well, she's already got fifty-five percent left, which is good.

And I have thirty-five. That's good, too.

"Heal."

My Healing Touch restored about fifty HP, but it only cost five mana points, so if it didn't hit me with crit, we had almost the same amount of life. Plus, I hadn't drunk the bottle of healing potion yet. Just don't rush it! Then I'll survive.

The creature seemed to understand that, too. It kept making little jumps to get me to open up; as soon as I started to heal, it attacked. Damn, it wasn't the stupid zombies of the crypts or even the boss of the Mist Spawn! This appears to be a second-ranked dungeon monster, reduced in HP but not in intelligence!

I survived as best I could, counting the seconds until Exorcism was restored. I took out all the protection scrolls as the battle progressed, taking advantage of the moment to do so. I attacked myself, occasionally retreating, stabbing if the Faith Strike was on recovery, chopping as soon as it was refreshed, hitting with my shield, and jumping to meet the guards' leaps. Finally, with a hoarse hiss, the creature swayed and collapsed, scattering ashes.

I had ten percent life and mana left for two Touches

"Loot."

Yeah, that's what I thought. Two scraps of armor, three bones of sufficient quality for the craft, and a clump of the cloak with embroidery that could probably be copied and used. Rich, very rich. As I raised my hand to heal, I noticed only the flash and the paw of the creature flashed before my eyes...

You are dead. Since there are no sanctuaries near the place of death, you are transported to the point of creation.

The priest said nothing but raised his hand in blessing.

When I opened the map, I found the Watch and read the data on the only monster I knew.

Dark Guardian - level 50

I took off my helmet and walked back to the wall of the temple, leaving Vlad sitting on the pew, ticking off the "AFK" so that NPCs wouldn't bother me. I let the debuff wear off for a while.

After washing my face and setting my glasses to the choice of music at random, I went into the kitchen to make dinner. With Blue Сanary and my thoughts flowed unhappily.

So, here's the problem. There is an asset that I really want to explore - a pristine, fresh dungeon. I can't do it by myself. I spent three minutes beating the lone monster gatekeeper with full dedication. Friends? No one's made it to fifty yet. Some of my friends are decent guys, but to go on a quest like this with them? No, I shouldn't.

I can call someone from not-so-friends.

To invite the Flame of Anor is to admit that there is no guild behind me. No one will give up the right of the first pass, and thus the automatic assignment of the dungeon to the guild.

Hiring high levels from the side isn't an option, either. First of all, I only have twenty-four hours until the moment when all the game directories will know about the existence of Cellars of Taris Watch, and secondly, how to motivate them? Money? One could. But who in Adar can be recruited within twenty-four hours? "Buyers" and clan recruiters: the others are simply not there. The first ones are not trustworthy. Although, I can play on the fact of paying for their help. Like, just bought a character, and he already takes the money back. The latter will kill me as soon as they see the entrance to the dungeon, and they will be right. There's too much benefit to the guild from such an acquisition. A fresh dungeon with mobs of increased difficulty!

Twenty-four hours. What shall we do, Vova?

The doorbell rang and made me jerk nervously and drop the cutlet in the butter. Swearing, I went to open the door.

"Hello, Vovchik!"

Werewolf threw me out of the way economically, quickly pulled off his jacket and fancy shoes, and rushed straight into the kitchen. Yeah, what did I expect?

"Wash your hands!"

"Easy!"

I placed the shoes dropped in the middle of the hallway on a coaster and went into the kitchen. My old friend had a plate with a pile of steaming cutlets and was now carefully coating the first one with a thick layer of ketchup.

"Vovchik, you're golden. I would have married you if it hadn't been for Galka."

"Would she be against it?"

"She'd sell herself for those cutlets, too! That's why I won't let you near her."

"Yes, a rising star of anesthesiology would marry a profiteer."

"You underestimate the power of properly cooked cutlets! I've always loved coming to your house. Your mother used to make them for me."

"They are charmed. So don't eat too much."

"You're regretting it, aren't you? Plushkin is a miser!"

"On the plate, that's yours. I'll make my own with greens."

"I want some greens, too."

"I'll give it to you for your wife. Why did you take the second one? Finish the first one first!"

"You don't know shit about delicious food! One with ketchup, one with mustard, and alternately!"

"Put honey on the third one."

"I will! Don't ramble under my arm."

Waving my hand at my friend, I flipped a second batch in the pan and checked on the temple. The temple was quiet, almost empty, and music was playing.

"Vovka?"

"What?"

"I looked at those logs. Nothing interesting..."

"Well. Talk."

"Five requests I could not identify."

Five? The HR girl forwarded me a resume with a full list of references from the last month. Five out of twenty-seven. And who was it that was interested in me that could not be identified by the Werewolf's acquaintances?

"Vov, why are you getting yourself upset? These five inquiries could be from government agencies, some secretary was looking through all the available candidates, and that's the mark. Be optimistic - who needs you? By the way, there is a place..."

"Don't start. I can find a place by myself in a day."

"Why don't you find it?"

"For what? It's not hard to find a job, it's hard to find a good job."

"Yeah. That's right, that's the way it is. By the way, what's your deal with the Ministry of Health?"

"What?"

"One of the inquares is from the Ministry of Health."

"The hell I know. No inquiries from the Office of the President?"

"Yeah, they won't read the résumé. They call straight to them."

The phone rang very inappropriately. I picked up the phone.

"Hello? Ah, Artem Ilyich, it's been a long time. I'm glad to hear from you. Yes, everything is more than... Well, you know that I'm always ready... and what exactly is it?"

He took a jar of honey from the shelf, looked at it thoughtfully, and, scooping it up with a spoon, carefully dabbed it on the edge of the cutlet. He took a bite, listening to what it felt like. He grunted contentedly. He put the honey back and reached for the adjika.

I hung up and dialed the number

"Dmitry Stepanovich, Polushkin is bothering you. I'm looking at the majestic snow-covered expanses, and I'm thinking - how do you deal with the quota for special garbage disposal? Is that so? How about..."

Mitka liked the adjika less. He sneezed, grimaced, and quickly chugged down his tea."

"Vasilich, hi. I have a job for three hours. Two trucks to take out. A man will go with you, teach him, tell him some stories... Yes, make sure that..."

I began to remove the cooked cutlets from the frying pan. One of them was immediately grabbed by Mitka. Burning, puffing, and cursing, he ate it quickly.

"Student, hi. Do you want to make money? In a relatively honest way..."

After calling all the chain back, I noted in my notebook that I needed to supervise tomorrow's shipment, and turned to the table.

"All right, now with the greens."

"Vov, listen, I have a question."

"Yes, Mr. Investigator?"

"What do you get? I take it from your conversation that the drivers and the kid will do everything and split the cash."

"I get the job done."

"It so lay to go out?"

"No. The kid is a third-year student; I supervised him during the summer when the firm took "dumbasses" for internships."

"And?"

"And in two years he'll come out a decent manager."

"Do you want to open your own office?"

I shook my head regretfully:

"Nah. That's not my thing. I'm a hired gunslinger. I'm not suited to being an officer at all. It's boring and disgusting to me. But it's useful to have a friend who is a well-behaved kid."

Werewolf nodded and took another cutlet. He still ate this one with gusto, but at a much slower pace.

"Think about it. They are good people, they just need a specialist in your area. There will be money and occupation."

I shook my head in silence, and he shrugged:

"Well, as you wish. Should I get another one?"

"Don't break your appetite. Have dinner at home, and feed your wife. Since you're hungry than she on duty again?"

"Yeah. There's an empty fridge at home. Why would I go there if it was empty?"

"And take some with you?"

"It's not appropriate!"

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"Pfft. Take it. And anyway - two adults, well-earning people! You should have hired a housekeeper a long time ago. At least they'd provide the food!"

"Speaking of women, there is one here."

"Dmitry!"

"That's it. I say nothing." He finished his tea, and then knocked the mug down on the table. "Thank you, feeder."

I put half a dozen cutlets in a box, sprinkled them with porridge, and, closing the lid, handed them to my friend.

"Vov, for the New Year - to the dentist?"

"Uh-huh. He promised to brag about the renovated estate. How are your shifts going?"

"There's so much intrigue at work, you can't imagine! But it should be okay.."

"The most insidious and complex intrigue I know of was around the need to take a box of samples to the courier twice a week. That was where the drama was happening!"

"A big box?"

"Two kilos. It fit in the bag. One heart attack, a dishonorable discharge, and three flat tires. And here it is - duty on New Year's Night."

"You don't know what it's like to have a holiday in a hospital. Frontline, damn!"

"Yeah. Come on, say hello to Galka!"

"Yep. Bye!"

As usual, Werewolf neglected the elevator and ran down the stairs. Heavy, puffing. I was right not to let him eat the last cutlet. Otherwise, he would have slid down the stairs from one to the other.

So, since nothing is known about the resume, what about the dungeon?

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