Klein sat as if on pins and needles. This was not surprising, since he was in the house of perhaps the most powerful being in the world, apart from the gods. And this creature was the embodiment of death. And Klein was very discouraged, because the lich called him here supposedly to do training, but in reality... He was doing training. And this scared Klein. He didn’t understand why this monster would do such a thing, and obviously very diligently at that.

- ...And in this way you can calculate the probability that several joint events will occur at the same time. Moreover, it is important that if they form part of a complete group of events, the probability cannot be greater than one and less than zero. Hey. Were you even listening to me now?

- A? What? – Klein was scared. He hadn't listened at all for the last twenty minutes. - Y-yes. Of course I listened. You are such a wonderful teacher, how could I not listen!..

The lich stared at the man with an unblinking gaze of absent eyes. He looked at the frightened smile on the student's face for several seconds, and the cold sweat that appeared on his forehead. Askeltak looked into the paladin’s eyes again and exclaimed joyfully:

- Oh! How great! Sorry, for some reason I thought you were in the clouds. Glad that's not the case! The greatest happiness in the life of a scientist, immediately after discovering something completely new, is finding a grateful student who will happily absorb all the knowledge of his teacher! How happy I am that I found you!

Klein exhaled imperceptibly, continuing to closely monitor the dead wizard's every action. And he continued:

- And also, at our next lesson it will be like this, a simple formality, a written test, which I will evaluate, and based on its results there will be a punishment or a reward!

- A... What kind of punishment will there be if I, well, accidentally fail the job? – The student asked carefully.

In response, Askeltak looked meaningfully at the board with many painted dead cats still hanging in the room from last time. Klein swallowed hard. Suddenly these cats seemed so small, weak and unhappy to him. And he definitely didn't want to join them, and concentrated completely on the lesson, not missing a sound.

After three hours of intense study, Klein tiredly leaned back in his chair, massaging his temples. He had never studied so hard in his life, and now he felt his brain buzzing. The lich had already left by this time, teleporting somewhere through a permanent portal in the restroom, allowing the young man to rest a little and eat Ulyana’s cooking, which he decided to take advantage of.

And finally, a young girl entered the room, carrying tea and delicious cakes.

- Oh, thanks a lot. – Thanked Klein

And the maid sat down directly opposite him, sitting in the owner’s chair, she placed the cutlery in front of her, and, under Klein’s silent gaze, began to eat. The girl took out some book hidden under the chair and, holding it in one hand and a cup of tea in the other, settled down on the chair with her legs. The paladin looked at this picture for half a minute before hesitantly asking:

- And... And for me?

- Boy, do you have arms and legs?

- What? – The guy was confused in front of a girl a little older than himself. - Well, yes... Yes.

- Nice. Then you can go to the kitchen and make yourself whatever you want.

- But... But I don’t know how to cook. And I don’t know where everything is. And anyway, it’s you who’s doing the cooking here!

- I'm studying. But you pay me to cook for you?

- No, but…

- OK it's all over Now. Since you do not help with coin to the world revolution of the workers, and are not even a member of the party, then you cannot count on my favor.

The young man sat for a while and watched the maid casually run the house. Every second he felt more and more uncomfortable. As a result, he stood up and, saying goodbye, left the house, taking all the notes made during the lesson.

Klein went to the adventurers guild. He didn't have any plans for the day, and if he returned to the temple, he would get a bunch of cleaning tasks, which the guy absolutely didn't want.

Already inside the guild building, Klein exchanged words with his acquaintances, aimlessly looked around the task board, not finding anything suitable for the level of his group, and, having ordered himself something to eat, sat down in the corner intended for resting adventurers. This place was specially created so that adventurers could discuss business or simply chat with representatives of other groups in a calm environment and with food.

Stolen story; please report.

Klein ate lazily while watching his colleagues. Armed people came and went, they took on tasks, rested, and socialized. There were large groups and individuals, strong and weak. The Adventurer's Guild was always lively. Astveinken, the city in which Klein and his detachment were located, was located on the border with the wild lands. It seems like people once lived further, and there was some kind of country, but monsters destroyed it, settling in the area. Therefore, there were a lot of monsters of all stripes and sizes. And since there were many monsters, there were also many hunters for them.

Adventurers from all over the kingdom flocked here. In fact, there were much more dangerous places than Astveinken. The border is large, and there are many cities on it; their city was only one of the few. And just sixty years ago it was actually a small village. However, after a memorable battle that took place nearby, Astveinken became famous.

After all, it was a battle in which a detachment of Ground Angels, the strongest representatives of intelligent races, destroyed all the Lords. But at least one of them was alive... And the greatest healer of our time settled in this village. Therefore, people flocked here in droves, knowing that they were under the protection of the legendary Arthur of England himself. The avenging son, as the bards called him.

One way or another, Astveinken was now the pearl of the western border of the kingdom, where mid-level adventurers went in the plural. It was very dangerous for newcomers here, which is why there were few of them here, and the most powerful and legendary groups of adventurers were either in the capital, or on the northern border, or traveled between countries, eradicating especially dangerous monsters, like the Ground Angels once upon a time.

Klein's group was very, very strong. The average level of adventurers in the city was around thirty to forty. There were people stronger than Klein's squad, and there were also weaker ones. There were many who were weaker than them. However, despite this, Robert preferred to take on tasks that were not too dangerous. Firstly, they were much less likely to get hurt or die, and secondly, the current squad had only been together a few months ago, and they were still keeping an eye on each other. Plus, the difference in levels and strength within the squad itself was too great. Anya was below twenty, and Glen was above ninety.

Looking at the very top, there were now three of the strongest groups of adventurers operating in the country, not counting the Ground Angels, who had ceased their activities since that very battle sixty years ago.

The first group was Dragonsbane, which consisted of four members. Once upon a time there was a fifth among them, Jaya, the Setting Sun, but she left them, because the Bane of Dragons was only interested in killing, oddly enough, dragons. Everything else was just an intermediate stage towards achieving the main goal - the destruction of the next fire-breathing lizard. And in thirty years they had already killed six, which was an incredible figure. Dragons are not found at every step, and certainly not at every step they die. Especially considering that they were clear favorites of Largaven, the Golden Dragon, god of monsters.

As for Jaya, she went to the second group on the list of the strongest - God's Chosen. Klein had an incomprehensible attitude towards them. He liked them as one of the strongest representatives of his profession, serving the kingdom faithfully and never leaving it. But at the same time, their main feature... The fact was that in the group there were only adventurers who were noted by some god. And Jaya, chosen by two gods at once, which happened only once every hundred years, if not less often. And Klein didn’t know if they were God’s Chosen, because it coincided that each member of the squad was a chosen one, or they were God’s Chosen, so they only took in those who bear the mark of at least one of the deities.

Well, besides them there was the Golden Halo. A group that positions itself as real heroes. Saviors of the poor and oppressed, they traveled between countries, taking on tasks of any complexity. They are especially notable because the group is led by a berserker, a member of an incredibly rare race of giants.

In addition to these three groups, there were many others of a lower rank. And among them was the Feather of the Moonbird, whose member once saved Ronald. And they, having a long history, were damn good, although they did not reach the three main squads.

In any case, these were all squads consisting of the strongest people in the country. And they came very, very close to the level of the greatest Ground Angels. At the peak of their strength, they were on average almost level ninety. Some members of the group were stronger, others were weaker. And, to be honest, Klein absolutely did not like the fact that the current adventurers could outshine the Angels! He was a fan! And the guy was not at all happy with the idea that his idols could be eclipsed by other people. Yes, even if they are strong and famous, but still!..

Klein sighed heavily as he finished his food. Thinking about all these people, he himself felt a strong desire to become stronger. Thinking about adventurers whose level had exceeded the seventh or eighth decade made one think about one’s own weakness.

- I have to become stronger. – Klein convinced himself.

True, if he were asked why he needed this, the guy could not answer. All his life he grew up in far from the most wonderful conditions. He had neither father, nor mother, nor any other relatives. The closest person was the master abbot, who replaced his father, grandfather, and teacher, and, perhaps, Robert, who often gave Klein concessions and tried to show special attention to him. From early childhood, being chosen by Aronis, Klein was constantly burdened with the burden of other people's expectations. And from the age of ten he had to kill other living beings. On your own.

The paladin remembered his first fight to the death. He, a small child, then met a huge rat, which was his size. He remembered her red eyes and sharp teeth. I remembered the feeling of those teeth on my leg. I remembered the weight of the sword, which had to be held with both hands. I remembered the warmth of the blood of the killed creature on my skin. I remembered her fading gaze. And he remembered the review of the paladins responsible for him: “weak.”

But despite all this, Arthur allowed Klein to grow up in relative comfort, protecting the boy from all the attacks of other priests. He was able to give the child some semblance of a family, but in return Klein did not receive what the other paladins were counting on: the will to become stronger.

And although the guy fought, killed enemies, prayed and trained, he did not have a clear goal why he was doing this. He became stronger because he had to. And even now, despite the promise he made to himself to become stronger, Klein knew that he wouldn’t change anything radically. Unless something pushes him to make these changes.