“Yes, it’s my turn now,” -Alex dragged the sword with both hands and struck the door. The door faltered, but didn’t open.
“What skill did you take at Level Ten?” Trix asked.
“Wait a second,” Alex concentrated and realized that he didn’t choose. “What are the options?” Alex asked mentally and got an answer immediately.
“There are three possible options,” a voice in his head said. “Increase the stock of energy, adding vampirism effect to the blow and strengthening the existing attacking skill.”
“Strengthening the existing attacking skill,” Alex decided.
“The skill is upgraded. The energy needed for it is also increased.” The voice confirmed.
“Now I’ll try to hit with a skill,” Alex mentally cursed himself that he didn’t think of it right away. “Ohh!” Alex breathed out and struck the door using the skill that he had just upgraded. The door shook, cracked, but survived. Then the cracks disappeared and the door looked as if he didn’t even touch it.
“Should I try?” Rina suggested.
“Alex has the strongest blow among us.” Trix shook her head.
“But somebody broke this door before,” Alex hunkered down and took some blue crystals.
“Maybe he was stronger,” Rina began.
“No way,” Alex shook his head. ”I am a warrior with the most expensive sword. What is there is no warrior in the group? Quests are usually designed for any squad…” Alex came up with an idea. “Exactly! We are a team!”
“What do you mean?” Trix didn’t understand.
“We have to strike together simultaneously,” Alex explained.
“Should I shoot an arrow at the door?” Trix was still surprised.
“That's right,” Alex nodded. “You shoot the arrow, Rina - the fireball, and I will hit with the skill. On the count of three…”
“I'm ready,” Rina lit a small glowing ball in front of her.
“Command,” Trix pulled out an arrow and looked at Alex.
“One, two, THREE!” Alex shouted and hit the door again. On the left, a fireball hit the door. On the right, Trix shot an arrow. The door disintegrated. “Let’s run,” Alex shouted and rushed into the hole.
Trix jumped right behind Alex, and Rina hesitated a little, but still managed to jump into a small doorway, when the door began to recover.
“Now it’s not really difficult,” Alex looked back and asked anxiously. “Rina, how are you?”
“Alright,” she answered shortly.
“Agility,” Trix said.
“Yeah, we needed it in this quest,” Alex nodded.
“No, it’s written here. Agility,” Trix explained and pointed at a sign above a small door at the opposite end of the room.
“Do we need to open it quickly? Alex mumbled, coming up to the door. He saw a small handle and easily opened the door. “What the fuck?”
“What is there?” The girls asked almost simultaneously.
“Look,” Alex opened the door wider and moved away, showing a narrow corridor. Two pendulums were swinging, sharpened spikes moved a little further out of the floor and walls. Then there was barbed wire.
“We need to go thought this obstacle zone,” Alex frowned at the mechanisms. “I think we need a hint…”
“Hint!” the heard the voice. “If one player will be able to pass the line of five obstacles, then he will find a lever that disables the mechanisms at the end of the corridor.”
“Well, everything seems simple here,” Alex hid his sword and pushed the girls away from the door. “The main thing is to understand the movement system,” he looked at the swinging pendulums and spikes for a few minutes. “Everything is clear, I need to start running, when the first pendulum crossed the corridor, and the second is close to it. Then there will be no spikes for some seconds,” he winked at the girls and ran into the corridor. He ran near the first pendulum, but the second one changed the trajectory immediately and hit Alex. He fell and fainted.
“What?” Alex saw Trix standing over him with a healing pot in her hand.
“I barely managed to save you.” Trix gave him a hand, helping him to stand up.
“I'll try again,” Alex rubbed his injured side. “I guess I misunderstood the movement of the mechanism.”
“You were unconscious for ten minutes. I was watching this mechanism all this time and I can say confidently that they is no sequence,” Trix shook her head. “There is no pattern.”
“What should we do then?” Alex asked gloomily.
“I can do it easily,” Trix said. “I’m fast and I react quickly.”
“That’s impossible,” Alex shouted. “Well, you will pass the pendulums and spikes. But what will you do with the barbed wire? And we don’t even see the last two obstacles. What is more, if you fall, we won’t be able to help you.”
“If we don’t go through this part of the task, we’ll just die because of hunger,” Rina said.
“Okay,” Alex waved a hand. “Do it!” He wanted to add something, but Trix ran quickly into the corridor. She dealt with pendulums and jumped to the strikes zone. She chose the right moment, when strikes were inside the wall and the floor. She drafted off the wall, do the same near another wall and landed on the floor. Then Trix stretched her hands and jumped into the wire.
“Hope she will…” Alex didn’t even say what he wanted, because all the mechanisms stopped.
“Let’s run!” Rina shouted immediately and dragged Alex.
"How did she manage to do it?" Alex mumbled looking at the mechanisms.
"It was so interesting!" Trix shouted as soon as she saw Alex and Rina. "I want to go back. You will turn on the lever, and I will do this again."
“I thinks it's a bad idea,” Alex glanced at the tunnel behind them cautiously.
“Then we’ll go there,” Trix said disappointedly and walked to the next door with the sign "Ability".
"We need a hint!" Alex demanded.
“You will need the ability to command your squad to complete this task,” a voice said.
“I still don't understand” Alex hemmed and opened the door, they entered the huge hall, where they saw some rocks.
“This is the last task,” they heard the faceless voice again. "You will have to fight with a group that completely copies your squad and equipment."
They saw a warrior, a magician and an archer, who were approaching them. They were all men of medium height and held the same weapons.
“May the best...” the voice began to talk again, but Alex shouted. "Shoot at the archer!" The girls reacted immediately and killed the first enemy. "Now at the magician!" Alex commanded and was pleased to see how a man fell to the floor, pierced with an arrow. The last warrior drew his sword and tried to reach the enemies, but he didn't have a chain mail, so the battle was over in five seconds.
“Congratulations! You won!” The voice said. "A reward is waiting for you near the exit."
"What's next?" Rina asked.
“We'll take the money, buy the armor, wait until Grock returns to the village and kill him,” Alex said confidently and smiled.
Chapter 14
“They attacked suddenly,” Grock began to tell his story, but was interrupted.
“Did you think that they should write you a letter about the attack in advance?” Skull asked ironically, bit off a piece of roast lamb's leg and began to chew it loudly.
“Well, they... ” Grock hesitated. He was trying to come up with a new explanation. He looked around the huge throne room and the table with a lot of meals and drinks on it. Although Grock hadn't eaten for about 24 hours, he didn't feel hungry, when he saw Skull.
"What?" Skull put the meat away, took a glass of red wine and began to drink. He didn’t even look at Grock.
“They injured me while I was sleeping, then they immediately killed my assistants,” Grock looked at the door, realized that he wouldn't have time to escape and decided to tell the truth. “It seems to me that there were three
of them,” he closed his eyes and lowered his head.
"Why did you get here for so long?" Skull put a glass and finally looked at the guest. "I understand that they attacked you at night and now it is the next day's evening."
“I was badly injured,” Grock decided not to say that he was so drunk that he just fell asleep with an arrow in his hand. His healing magician healed him later.
“That's very good that you told me the truth,” Skull took a napkin and began to wipe greasy lips, but he was still looking at Grock thoughtfully.
“Your Majesty, give me a couple of hours, I will complete the city quest, hire new assistants, come back and capture Grink,” Grock tried to speak confidently. "I won't let you down."
"Where is Grink's treasury?" Skull asked quickly.
"I left it in Grink,” Grock said sadly.
"What sum was there?" Skull clarified.
“About twenty thousand,” Grock answered honestly. "I don't think that the attackers will be able to complete the quest "Master of the village" quickly, so I intend to take money back..."
“Shut up,” Skull interrupted him sharply and then continued in a softer voice. “Having heard your story, I realized that you aren't guilty of this situation, you have served me for a long time and deserves a reward, so take it,” Skull drew a small bag from his pocket and threw it to Grock.
"What is it?" Grock looked at the bag blankly.
“There are twenty thousand gold coins in stones,” Skull explained.
"I will hire the best assistants and capture Grink today." Grock picked up the bag.
“Take your time,” Skull frowned, but then immediately made a kind face and continued. “You’re probably tired from the road, have fun and rest, you deserve it, and Grink won't run away from you.” Grock wanted to say something, but Skull's offer was so unexpected that he lost his tongue.
“I could do with it,” Grock looked at Skull timidly.
“That's great,” Skull smiled. "You will rest today and you will make a team and force Grink tomorrow."
"I won't let you down!" Grock louted. "Can I go?"
“Of course,” Skull waved his hand at the door, waited until Grock came out and then looked at the his alchemist. "Well, what do you think about his story? This idiot got drunk as usual."
“Why didn't you kill him?” The girl looked at Skull blankly. "And if you decided to leave him alive, then why didn't you send him back to Grink right away?"
“You are very narrow-minded,” Skull hemmed. "I think it's time to change something. We will give the attackers time to complete some quests. They can even take money from treasury."
"But why do you need this?" She was still confused.
“I haven’t killed anyone apart from assistants for about a year.” Skull smiled bloodthirstily. "As it turned out, Grock's control has no advantages. People are hiding in the woods, and it's almost impossible to find them. It there is no chief, they will come there, complete quests, buy equipment. They will think that they are strong enough to come here and fight with me."
"You gave Grock a lot of money, he can now hire assistants, buy them expensive equipment and force Grink easily."
“You don't know Grock well,” Skull smiled slyly and took a gulp of wine. "First of all he will get drunk, then he will visit a brothel, lose the rest of the money in the gaming house. And when he wakes up the next evening, it will be great if there is ten percent of the sum I've given. Our friends, who have attacked the village, will have enough time to prepare."
“What if he kills them? Or if they run away?" The girl asked.
“Then I will come to Grink and kill Grock,” Skull scratched his head. "I will get what I want anyway."
"Damn it!" Grock cursed and put a bottle of cold water to his head. "I shouldn't..." He looked around and stopped talking. Three assistants were following him. Healing mahician at Level Fifteen and two new assistants, an archer and a battle magician. They weren't at high levels.
Having received a lot of money and praises, Grock left Skull's room nervously, so he decided immediately that he should get a drink. Grock liked dark beer, so coming to the puvlic house, he ordered some jugs of beer and fried ribs to still hunger. Then he ordered three more beer jugs, drank them and decided to visit prostitutes. There he hired the two most expensive girls, a slim blonde and a curvaceous mulatto. Grock paid for the whole night at once, thinking that he had enough money and strength, but after twenty minutes he was lying on the bed exhausted and talking about how lucky he was. “If I’m so lucky today, it would be stupid not to use it,” he looked at the naked girls lying next to him impassively and came up with a new "successful" idea. “I should visit gaming house,” Grock decided. Having dressed hurriedly, he ran out of a brothel. He wanted to take advantage of his luck. Grock chose the most simple game, dices, in the gaming house.
The rules of the game are simple, the player gets three dices, the casino always has the number Twelve, while the player needs to throw a number equal to twelve or more to win. There was also a bonus payout if the player got three 6. Grock decided to start with the minimum bets and he threw three 6.
"I'm lucky!" Grock shouted cheerfully and bought more beer, he continued the game, having previously raised the bets. He woke up drunk and without money. Grock managed to lose the whole sum and then fell asleep under the doors of the gaming house. Having woken up he realized what he had done and began to think how to solve the problem. He took the Night City Quest to find the city bandits. He caught all the thugs and received two thousand coins, hired two tenth-level assistants and bought them cheap weapons.
On the third day he left the town with his small squad and went to Grink. He was near the game by the end of the day.
“I shouldn't drink so much” Grock mumbled again. “It looks like there are no attackers.” He turned to his squad just in time to see the fireball, which hit the magician, and the arrow, which hit the archer. Both died immediately, because Grock didn't buy them armor. Healer raised the staff and set up a magic shield. A couple of huge fireballs hit the water shield and it disappeared. Then they shot some arrows at the healing magician. Within five seconds, Grock lost the whole team. He managed only to take his sword.
"Hello, Grock!" Alex said loudly to the giant in a strong armor.
"Fight fairly!" Grock shouted angrily. "Straight!"
"Do you think I'm not at high level?" Alex smiled. "I will disappoint you, we found Grink's treasury, and I also know about the Coach. I hardly slept for these two days, but I can boast that I'm at Level Fourteen."
“It will be a fair and beautiful battle,” Grock nodded.
“Your armor is much more expensive than mine, and your level is still higher.” Alex began thinking aloud. "You are more experienced, so it seems to me that the battle won't be fair."
“I can just run away,” Grock put the sword in one hand, and the other hand slowly crawled towards the military belt.
“You're at gunpoint of the archer and the magician,” Alex warned.
“Your assistants can only scratch my armor,” Grock said sarcastically. “I’ll come back with Skull, and you will get into trouble."
“I think Skull won't be happy to hear about your second defeat,” Alex sneered ironically.
“Why did you start talking to me then?” Grock shouted irritably. "Why didn't you attack immediately?"
“I wanted to make sure you didn't look like any beast,” Alex explained.
"Well, you are a fool, you should have attacked immediately!" Grock yelled happily and quickly pulled a small bottle with violet liquid from his belt. It was a special alchemical potion, which he bought and saved up for future. The liquid increased the combat characteristics. Grock deftly opened it, raised the bottle to his mouth, but didn't manage to drink it. An arrow from the bushes broke a small bottle and all the liquid spilled onto the road. "You will die anyway!" Grock roared furiously, and ran to Alex.
“Not today,” Alex answered calmly, waved his hand, giving a sig
n to the girls. An arrow and a fireball hit Grock's leg almost simultaneously. The armor easily reflected the blow, but they didn't extinguish the kinetic energy from the blow, and Grock lost the balance and rolled down the road. Alex didn’t waste time talking, jumped to the enemy and hit him into the eye.
"Do you like my shot?" Trix asked, coming out of the bushes.
“I definitely didn't waste money on your training,” Alex smiled.
“Having got Level Fourteen, I could use lightning, but I decided to upgrade fireballs,” Rina said quickly, following Trix.
“We should take his armor and throw his body into bushes,” Alex looked at blue metal. “Mary will come back soon and I don’t think she want to see this naked dead body.”
“Do you still want to catch her interest?” Trix asked.
“Yeah,” Alex sighed sadly.
“Upgrade your level,” Rina advised. “She will realize that you can protect her and will be with you all the time.”
“That’s not what I really need,” Alex winced.
“Do you want to play that game with her, where you need to get off clothes and…” Trix started talking.
“Stop!” Alex shouted nervously. “I’ve asked you not to talk about it.”
“I’m just trying to understand,” Trix stumbled. “Understand your…” She could choose the right word.
“Feelings?” He clarified.
“Yes!” Trix nodded. “If we understand it, we will feel the same and you won’t say that we’re unreal.”
“I don’t think it’s possible.” Alex shook his head.
“Everything is possible! I think we will manage with it,” Trix yelled confidently and looked at Rina. She nodded quickly.
Chapter 15
“She didn’t see our future.” Alex winced and threw the stone into the small brook. “I’m stupid and cold-hearted.”
“Mary didn’t say it,” Trix came closer to Alex and sit next to him. “Could we complete the quest?”
“What for?” Alex took another stone, threw it into the water and sighed. “My love didn’t love me…” He looked at Mary and her assistants, who were going to the forest.
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