100 Questions

9

- Hello, - they answered me in a businesslike manner and immediately stated. - Cool you solved the conflict, I liked it. In honor of this, I can treat you with fermented ale. It's sour and doesn't smell very good, but one cup won't hurt. And still drunk.

“Oh, come on,” I readily agreed.

- Seriously? - the boy suddenly looked up at me, and I saw that his eyes were of different colors. - He's a wanderer. That is to say, corrupted. That is, it did not sell on time. Sour. And it's ale, it's supposed to be bitter, not sour.

- Dear, I spent two days in the forest without water, and when I came to the city, they tried to beat me twice. I'll drink everything now except piss, cum and spit. Moreover, it's free.

- Understood you, sir, - the guy answered with a laugh, leaving an unfortunate stain and briskly grabbing an empty mug. - Then I'll treat you without question. What did you do in the forest for two days?

- Helped one good ... person, - I smiled.

- NPCs do not suffer like this, - the young man winked, holding a mug of unhappy looking beer in front of me.

"And heroes don't usually sell ale," I grinned.

- Ha-ha! Well, the sinner I am, the more comforting, - the guy returned to the stain, rubbing it with enthusiasm. - I don't really like breaking people's faces and jumping among trees with arrows in my ass. And so, I sell beer, I slowly swing, it’s even easier for the owner of a tavern - he can go about his own business, and not look after the establishment. Moreover, I have experience, I did the same in a past life.

- Interesting, interesting choice. Okay, there's a lady waiting for me there. I went up to ask for a rag, we have the whole table in beer. Let's chat some more.

They handed me a cleaner rag, nodded in farewell, and returned to cleaning the uncleanable.

The sorceress, meanwhile, had somehow sorted out her hair and now sat, dejectedly rubbing her finger in a puddle of ale.

- I'm back, - he said, leaving the mug in front of an empty space and starting to carefully wipe the table.

“Noticeable,” the girl said dejectedly, looking at my ale. - So what's the deal with me?

- Wait, standing do not talk.

The table was wiped, I perched on a chair, sipped ale. The taste was really the same. But if you drink not in small sips, it will do.

Looked at the girl's face. Elvish is incomparable. Brown hair, inexpressive brown eyes, a small scar under the right eye. Round chin, thick eyebrows, but do not even try to merge into one in the ecstasy of beauty. A rather unremarkable nose, completely ordinary, except perhaps a little large in the bridge of the nose.

- What, you decided to fuck me? - poisonous-tired girl winced. - I don't do that.

- I heard that you are a healer. The scratch on my forehead is a small thing. But there is a mess with the left hand, they tried to rearrange it a bit for me. Not very successful, but moving the shoulder without pain does not work.

- Seriously? Once wounded - go to a professional. You were only looking for me to mock me?

- The sorcerer broke the price that I can not pull.

- And you decided to find cheap stuff?! - the girl looked at me already with frank contempt.

- Better. I decided to find someone who would cure me for free.

- Oh, the Almighty! The girl moaned into her hands. - It would be better if you offered to have sex, at least it would not look like an insult.

- Forgive me, but without a penny in my pocket and with a damaged arm - a direct road to the Republic, - I admitted. - Either from hunger, or after the nearest fight.

- How do I care?

The girl was furious. I'm sure she wants to jump up and leave right now. It only takes one word to say wrong. But I continued to speak honestly and directly:

- Mutual benefit. You heal my hand, I help you with your problems. That's all I can offer for now. Or cure me in debt and I will bring the money. You know that NPCs are very stubborn and it is difficult to negotiate with them.

- I can't, - the girl calmed down, sadness came to replace anger. - I'm not a full-fledged healer.

- I figured it out. Otherwise, you would not be sitting idle in the tavern right now. Yes, even before that.

- Before? The girl looked at me in surprise. - Have we seen each other?

- Not. But this purple spot was seen by the whole city. You are being talked about at every turn.

- Oh, God ... - the girl lowered her head on the table.

- Tell me what is the catch of your skill. I'm not fucking ready to walk with a hand like that.

For some time the sorceress was silent. Then, without raising her head, she muttered:

- I can only heal companions.

- And what's the problem?

- The system takes any connections between players seriously. And don't let them break easily.

- Can you be more specific? About companions.

- If we become partners, this is a contract. Contract for at least one month. I will see all the information about you in my Diary. And I'll take half of all the experience you get. No matter where I am or where you are. Also, you can only have one companion at a time.

- And that's it? Are there no more tricks? I took a couple of big sips and raised an eyebrow. - And what about that phrase about your partner, whom you healed to death?

- That's not entirely true. Or rather, so, but ... - the girl sighed. In any case, you've heard enough. Go ahead and have a last laugh.

- Tell me, come on. If rumors are circulating around you, it is better to spread them yourself. And do it more actively than everyone else.

The sorceress looked at me with some doubt. Surprised rather than incredulous.

- He had serious wounds. My skill was not enough for everything, so I had to help with something else. I heard that the pilgrim was once used as a medicine.

I sighed, but didn't interrupt. He just took a couple more sips of ale, trying not to think about the taste.

- I know I know! This is the way of the elves, but I decided to try. I dried the mushroom, ground it into powder and mixed it with water. Covered up the wounds. At first everything was fine. But then he died. Very painful. Appearing on spawn, he terminated the contract with me and began to tell everyone that I killed him and deceived him in order to take his things. The coat belonged to him. Since then I have been carrying it with me, trying to find a partner, but he is hiding. As if he is afraid that I will kill him again.

Yes, it's an interesting story. After such a difficult one to trust the participant, - I propped my cheek on my fist and stared at the girl with interest. - Go ahead, don't be shy.

- What to continue? - the girl asked in bewilderment.

- That's all. How is it that you are sitting in the initial city, flooded with alcohol, and you are only the third level. Have you mastered magic? Is it possible for the third one?

- And what is your level?

- Second. I was born two and a half days ago.

- It is now clear. Well. This city is not quite the beginning. It's just a settlement. Overgrown, but really and the city can not be called sincerely. Places of appearance, or birth, as you put it, are scattered all over the world. This is the complexity of pumping. Players appear on small patches cleared of monsters and dangerous plants. But what is around the spawn is already a matter of luck. This village rarely gets new Heroes, and the place here is dangerous for leveling. The elves are not far away, to leave the forest to the steppe - humanoid monsters begin to meet. Quite dangerous, some even possess skills. And among the hills, beyond the steppes, in general, sometimes such monsters are found ... Well, in the mountains there are mines with feral gnomes.

- And what are you doing here then? One, - I finished my ale and put the mug aside.

- I came here. After death.

Remembering the information about the deaths, then I remembered about the fines. And inside it became somehow unpleasant. She's level three now, right?

Don't say that you...

- No, no, I didn't kill myself to change cities. This is almost impossible, because after death it sends to the nearest one. Just traveled, looking for ... - the girl fell silent.

"You're not level three, are you?" I asked with a bad feeling.

- Now - the third ...

The girl was uncomfortable talking about this topic. The Empathy Skill literally screamed about it. So I had to turn my head on.

"I'll go get some ale for us and we'll keep talking if you want to talk more."

- Of course, I'm waiting, - I answered automatically, almost not making out anything, except for "I'm going."

I have been told many times about death penalties. Whole two. But no details were ever given. Now in front of me is a girl who is supposedly the third level, but before that she traveled with a partner. After spending three not very busy days, I got more than ten experience points. Eleven. How many experience points can you get for two in a month, traveling through dangerous places, killing different monsters, finding adventures on your asses? In just one day, most likely, it is not difficult to raise as much experience as I raised in three. Of course, I didn’t really strain, especially since I don’t have enough strength for such a strain. But still.

The girl had to go beyond the third level, to which I had thirty-two points of experience left. But now she's in third. At the same time, he owns magic.

- Your beer.

I automatically replied "thank you" and took a sip. The taste is pleasant, the bitterness is rich. Even a slight sweetness. He continued to think, contemplating one point on the table.

Moreover, I saw her kick. He was so slow and clumsy that only a child could not dodge. Yes, the healer is not a warrior, he will not be able to crush his head with one hand, and drink his favorite beer with the other.

But at least somehow you should be able to stand up for yourself. The girl said she was dying. So, when you die, the System fines. Apparently, it takes away experience points. And - characteristics. Almost certainly, otherwise the power will not be lost.

But then why? Why did she travel by herself, and also for one person? Dying over and over again, until she was so weak that she was frozen in the settlement, surrounded by dangers?

If you put yourself in my place... I would only do it because of the feelings inside.

- You loved him, didn't you? I asked suddenly.

- AND?! What?! - she started, looked at me with bewilderment and indignation.

“You died so many times that you lost your powers due to the penalties of the System. And all this time I was dying just to find this man.

- AND? - the girl asked in bewilderment.

- It's love, right? I looked straight at the sorceress. Why so much effort for one person?

- Holy gods, and I already thought that you were thinking about something useful, since you were silent, - the healer turned away with a heavy sigh. And quietly said: - I want to make him suffer.

- What? .. - I was petrified when I heard such an answer.

- Judge for yourself! - the interlocutor began to actively gesticulate. - He died! Sad, yes, but! He knew that if the contract was terminated unilaterally immediately after death, then mourning and a penalty of Confession would be imposed on the second one! Because of this idiot, I could not conclude a contract with anyone for a month, and I also lost almost all karma points. But that's okay... This creature has many friends, and after his death he began to write to everyone, say my name and spread some ridiculous rumors! And he did it so well that these fables reached me quickly. As a result, although the mourning ended, no one wanted to be with me! I lost the Confession, you know what it's like for a high level player? This is a sentence, because at a high level, karma must be either one way or the other. And if you're a level ten healer with ten Recognition points,

- They will think that the rumors are true - it began to dawn on me.

And the girl continued, and the emotions in her went off scale with such force that she could only drink beer and be silent.

- Exactly! And what was left for me to do? I traveled, tried to fight on my own to change my class, but I died so many times that in the end it’s impossible for me to go further than safe ground! And all low-level monsters don't give me experience for a long time. Auto-da-fe could help, but I'm still not so Outcast that I could be carried out. And you know, somehow you don’t want to lose all the memories! This goat ruined my entire career as a healer, and I want to release his guts so tightly that this creature with a nose respawn does not show! I want to get revenge on him, and this damn rag that I carry on my back is my oath of revenge!

“Why didn’t you become a partner with a brand new Hero who doesn’t know the rumors about you?”

- Yes, because you will find brand new dick! And if there is, then their guilds immediately recruit them, before that they scared them well!

- Scared?

- Yes. Usually put at the entrance to the settlement or city of scarecrows. These are such bastards that they themselves have not yet really pumped. They attack newcomers, but they don’t beat them, but it’s a trifle. Pushed, humiliated. So that the NPCs and the System are not indignant at the beating of an innocent. The new ones, of course, do not have the strength to resist the scarecrows, especially if there are three or four of them. This is where they get bullied. The scarecrows leave, and immediately a kind uncle appears out of nowhere, who washes the offended, shows concern, along the way luring with words about the quality. Recruiter in general. The newcomer agrees, he is raked into the guild, and there he becomes just an ordinary soldier, because he is signed to a contract in which he gives a tangible part of the experience to the guild. Well, the head, know for yourself, swings constantly, without being distracted by anything.

“Well, fucking myself,” I could only answer, realizing the scale of the situation.