- Fuck you.- What?I didn't even waste the spell, I just punched him sharply from below in the jaw.- Bitch! he croaked.Flying away, I waved my knife, but the stone skin held out, and I didn’t even get hit.I ran up to him, fear appeared in the stranger's eyes, he hastily stabbed with a knife, but, like last time, nothing happened. And his blow was weak, and the quality of the steel of the knife left much to be desired. No, if I had ordinary flesh, his weapon would easily enter into it, but my skin became equal in strength to stone.His eyes widened in surprise as he realized that the knife hadn't even pierced the skin. He must have thought it was artificial. My fist hit hard on the nose. The enemy howled, dropped the knife, fell to the ground, covering his face with his palms, but even so he could not restrain the flow of blood, which rounded his lips in two red paths, accumulated on his chin and began to drip onto the ground.Crap! Some petty robber. I thought one of Yuuji's guys
Kingdom of Santon.I froze."Don't move," came a voice from behind. - Tell me, who are you? Ah, please forgive my manners, my name is Farust.- I'm Tim.- Tim? By chance not summoned by Sol? the stranger asked.- Yes. And by chance you are not studying this gap here. Are you a friend of Alast?I felt the tense gaze of an invisible interlocutor behind my back, but as soon as I called out the name of the alchemist, the tension hanging in the air eased. A weary exhalation reached his ears. Realizing that the immediate danger had passed, I slowly turned around.Three paces from me, near a small tree, stands a tall man in his fifties with a short white beard, in a dark robe and a pointed hat typical of a magician. It rests on a wooden staff, on top of which is attached a large shiny black stone with sharp edges.- So, you are the young man about whom Alast studied alchemy?- Yes.There was a short silence. Faroust studied me for a few moments, then turned his gaze to the rift.- So, you ge
We don't really know what it is either. All our knowledge is just guesswork. Sol tried to tell us, but we could not comprehend his great thought in full. But it is understandable - if an adult begins to explain the complexity of the world to a small child - will he understand much?Faroust turned around and started back through the woods.- They say that once the world was out of chaos...Suddenly his glory became muffled, as if Farust had moved away from me twenty meters. And memories of twenty years ago, when I read Alion's lore, surfaced in my head.Everywhere was chaos and only him. Thousands, millions, billions of years passed, when suddenly chaos became aware of itself as a personality. And this awareness was expressed in the birth of Sol - the first God of chaos. Not wanting to be a single mass anymore, Chaos wanted to change, and Sol was the embodiment of that desire. So from the God of chaos, he became the God of order. He condensed chaos and created matter, stars, as well as
"Mr. Faroust," I called.- Already gone?- Almost. I just wanted to ask what spell you used on that bear. It is powerful and at the same time created quickly. It seemed to me that the more powerful the spell, the more mana and time it required.- Oh, it's simple.With these words, Farust showed a ring on his right and left hands.- Epic Grandmaster Rings. Accelerate mana flow. Thanks to them, I can form any spell twice as fast. And the staff has the ability to increase the effectiveness of the mana used, so I need less mana to cast spells than a normal mage. The combination of these two factors allows you to cast spells three times faster and spend less mana. That's it, boy.Well, another advantage of the firearm, such as the rate of fire, has been lost. Only the target range remained. I wonder if there are long-range spells?- By the way, you don't take students? I asked.Farust chuckled.- I'm sorry, man, but no. You may be good, but I have neither the time nor, sorry, the desire.-
Mist of Astarte.I took the call. A familiar face appeared in front of my inner eye. Narrow, with high cheekbones, a straight nose, sensual, scarlet lips like ripe cherries, big green eyes like a cat's, and hair red as a sunset. If I didn’t know her a little closer, I would definitely fall in love like a madman. But this girl at one time calmly took advantage of me and threw me. However, I already got even with her, and recently we even helped each other: I saved her from death, and she helped me pass through the gorge. If it were not for the help of the girl, then nothing happened and most likely now I would already be feeding the worms.- Hi. Why so early?- I have the same question for you. I saw news here about an explosion in one of the Altai-2 mega-complexes, sort of.I grinned.- Well, yes, it exploded for me. Yuji's guys found it pretty quickly, but they were not lucky, but I was the opposite. In general, as you can see, I am whole and again in the rift. Still, it's kind of ni
The ground under the boot sank, a disgusting squelch, the foot plunged into the muddy slurry to the ankle. I thought that there was dense earth, but it turned out to be a swamp. This is how you enter the next island and fall through to the waist.I stopped for a moment and looked around. His gaze caught on a small horn. After a couple of minutes, breaking off the extra branches, I got a small stick. And why didn't I think of it right away? Anyway, better late than never.He moved on, poking his stick in front of him. It turned out that he did it in time, because after a few steps he poked at another seemingly safe island of land. Suddenly, the stick sank halfway into the muddy goo. That would now be waist-deep and failed. And so the boots squelch.The first flower was discovered after only half an hour of searching. Tall as a sunflower, only with large red petals, it emitted a simply terrifying smell, but at the same time dozens of fly-like insects hovered around it. In the depths of
- Yeah thanks. So which book will you take? Auster asked politely.- Advanced Potions.- Excellent. Here.He laid a heavy volume on the table.The task "Bring 20 Sturii to Oster" has been completed.Received: 5000 experience, +10 reputation in Astarte. Advanced Potions book.I wanted to open it right away, but decided to postpone it until later, when I settled in the tavern.So many events have happened today that my head began to buzz a little, fatigue piled up in a heavy lump. I looked at the clothes, quite torn, soiled and with holes. I need to change, otherwise I look like a bum.Approaching one of the residents who continued to strengthen the houses before night, he asked about shops where I could buy clothes.- You got it too late. All specialized shops are already closed. But if it's just clothes, then there is Mortis' shop. There is the most common junk.It is a pity that it will not be possible to buy suitable clothes for the magician, but I think that this is even better. No
A scarf soaked in chaos.The mist, white as milk, bulges and slowly floats around. It gives off a coolness and a rotten smell, as if I were again in a swamp. In height, it rises to the waist. So dense that under it you can’t see the earth or what is hidden in it.The feeling of danger like a sticky, slimy lump enveloped the frantically beating heart and squeezes it every time any faint rustle touches the hearing. Covered in a cold sweat, peering into the white haze in the hope of at least seeing something and expecting some kind of reptile to jump out of there, I moved forward. Fear constrains movement and only by an effort of will can one force oneself to go. After all, to remain in place means to die. The counter in the corner under the hit points and mana is counting down.The pale moon pours light around the area, somehow dispersing the darkness. All the windows are closed with massive iron shutters, and the light penetrates only through small, barely noticeable cracks. Moans and
- And if you just give the crossbow? Yura murmured.- On the one hand, the possession of this crossbow is really a big hemorrhoids, - Genghis Khan nodded, - and on the other hand, incredible luck and a chance to get out of this world twenty years earlier. But in order to take advantage of this chance, you don’t have to “wait for the weather by the sea”, but take “hands in feet” and go, as these boobies say - swing.“But it doesn’t seem so bad here,” Zhenya said thoughtfully. “At least as long as the said Guardians are pleased with you.Genghis Khan shook his head.- You know, I envy you a little: the first ten years in this world are in many ways a happy time, albeit full of severe trials. But man is a complex creature, not only pain and suffering move us forward. With every year spent in this place, indescribable nostalgia, longing, longing for the place lying there ahead will grow stronger in you. I don't want to say that every day will eventually turn into something bad, no. But th
- Zheka, Chechens in the city! Gather brother!True, what does the philosopher have to do with it and where to take the mentioned lads, the gopnik did not specify.Genghis Khan sighed, snapped a cunning crossbow from his belt, put the weapon on the bed next to Tuen, and he himself took a free chair, of which there were several in the room, put it next to the bed, sat down and, raising his hand, waved to everyone:- Hi.Kolya, meanwhile, was blushing like cancer, realizing that he was slightly frostbitten.- Valuable advice "on the track", - Genghis Khan continued, - if the Guardians offer something, it is better to agree. But do not rush to do what is proposed according to their scenario: these guys will definitely try to drag you into the very ass. Try to work with your head and go to your goal in your own way. Which, of course, will not always succeed.What are martial skills? - Zhenya immediately clarified the information on the reward for the quest.Genghis Khan, without getting u
Your mother's time in this world is coming to an end.Guardians offer you a task:Reach Ozatorga in the company of the lost ones who will leave the city in the near future, and we, the Guardians, will ensure your meeting with your mother.The consequence accompanying the acceptance of the task is the acquisition of a special status, the temporary inclusion of lost souls in the system.1) Accept the task.2) Reject the job.**Of course, she should have consulted with her father, but Erita immediately realized that all this was superfluous, since she made her choice at the moment when she read the text to the end. Having experimented a little, she chose the desired menu item:**1) Accept the task.**In vain did the girl think that her misadventures were over, the event that happened a moment later divided her whole life into before and after. And although the Guardians made every effort available to them to facilitate the process of transformation, the lousy experience was far beyond
Dietrich, having analyzed his part of the work, was frankly depressed. Since Paul and Genghis Khan got formidable, but, in fact, single targets, and his opponents "spread" over a very large area. Fortunately, this square was constantly squeezed by the city guard, but they also added new hemorrhoids - as if not to knock down someone outside and not to spoil valuable property.Without hindrance, passing the place of deployment of the defenders of the city, the German hurriedly walked out to the port facilities. Stopping in the middle of a dark port street, he assessed the situation. At the moment, the "front line" between the pirates and the defenders of the city passed in a place where hangars and warehouses tightly adjacent to each other ended and residential buildings began. The port was a semi-closed territory, into which several wide streets led, but at the same time, various small streets and lanes were completely absent. At night, guards were stationed at the exits of the port, w
Genghis Khan was rapidly approaching the western coast. Having parted with his comrades, he did not want to go down to the ground and was now moving towards his goal using exclusively the city roofs. In practice, jumping on tiles had two subtleties: first, it was necessary not to ruin the roof during repulsion, and second, it was necessary not to ruin it when landing. The one mentioned was bad. And the man consoled himself with the hope that for the sake of a great cause, a mountain of broken tiles would be forgiven him. Having shortened the path in this way and at the same time assessed the situation in the city, he very soon found himself on the coast.Here, standing by the embankment, Genghis Khan pulled back his sleeve from his wrist, revealing to the night an elegant silver bracelet covered with dense rows of reddish runes. Giving the artifact a mental command, he began to patiently peer into the darkness of the sea. Finally, the pirate ship snapped back with another salvo, revea
Fizruk disappeared. In his place, another, already middle-aged actor from a film about a sophisticated cannibal appeared, who ate other actors and especially loved gelatinous brains. And Yura was afraid of this actor.- Why not? The task of the Final Set is to help you get through the path to the end, to give strength that is inaccessible at the current level of development. Our meeting was not without fate, but if she drags you, then she only gives me strong advice, so don’t be arrogant. There was a place and commonality: it's funny - you and I are similar in a certain set of emanations, as a lion and a kitten are similar. And the last of the weighty ones - for some reason I wanted to play on the nerves of Vega and Zegero. Vega is the bearded man who gave the green light to your possession of the Fourth Treasure of Darkness. He and Zegero run the show here. Vega is nothing less than a galaxy, but not the one you think of. Zegero is the largest black hole in observable space. And a ra
- Good question, bad answer. Your shattered head will provoke her into attacking the blackbeard. She will snatch out a cunning stiletto that is hidden in her belt and try to drive twenty centimeters of death under the shoulder blade of the leader of the pirates. But, alas, the weight categories are too different: a short blow, and after the third bullet today. Trite, sad, but true.- Can I do something?!The "actor" thoughtfully touched his chin with his hand, and then issued:- And why, maybe it's better to go home, at the computer ...- How is it, home? Yura didn't understand.- Yes, it's very simple. Here you are, and here you are at home, celebrating your luck from the bow knocked out of the boss, lazily brushing off offers to sell it, or join a new community of players more worthy of you. What is it called, “flock” it seems, but no, in another way - “clan”. Well, what a mess in your Sharapov head, - and Kukuruz looked at the hitman with a look, as if he was going to sew a shirt f
Pondering the plan of action, Yura became despondent. The reason for despondency, as is often the case, lay in the details. First, the current fence turned out to be quite high, about the height of a man, and metal spiers stuck out on top of this fence, not very sharp, but a piece of hoodie can easily be left. Secondly, the road between the residence and the territory of the garden, in which the “guerrilla-scout” sat down, was very well lit. And now, carefully parting the branches of the bush, the young man clearly saw the bustle of armed men in the courtyard of the building he needed.“What did I get here at all! Although no, it’s clear what’s useful: it’s likely that Erita really has problems. The question is, how can I, a fool, solve these problems ... ”the hit man groaned to himself and began to think about how, if not to solve the problems, then at least not to produce new ones.Alas, the thinker did not generate anything worthwhile. The mind, going through the ways of painful an
In a pant, another kilometer and a half flew by, during which it became clear that there was not so much left of the former Yura in him, at least bodily. He couldn’t run more than a kilometer before, and “run” is not quite the right word, “puff” was more suitable. However, the current Yura was far from the condition of a super hero, which is why he was incredibly out of breath.Suddenly, "the scenery changed" and the young man ended up in the area of posh mansions of wealthy citizens. The mansions were located in even rows, which were separated from the road by low bars. The road itself was illuminated by frequent, but not very bright gas lamps. A sort of holiday village of extra-class. And now, only two hundred meters separated from the beginning of the nobility district to the residence of the lord of the hitman. Just run a little forward, turn left and go out to the large ornate gates of the monastery of the local ruler. What Yura immediately decided to do. And he almost fell i