18 The conspiracy (1/2)
Nick realized it was time for one adventure that fully met his plans.
It was a tricky move. Nick decided to start separating the group so he could then move on to capturing power. Now Dan was in total isolation! Nick didn't understand the other players. Even John admitted that only invisibility could protect against this monster.
Almost all the clan fighters saw Dan exercise with the sword. It was beyond understanding. The living sword began to affect their friend. Those who hadn't seen the Inquisitor's performances heard from eyewitnesses an exciting and terrifying description of his behavior.
Dan found himself in total isolation! He had not yet calmed down from the reaction of the locals to the phenomenon of a player of the inquisitor class. But now the closest people he could understand had turned their backs on him.
Nick realized that this moment must not be missed!
He needs to talk to Dan. And he needs to talk to him in secret. No one needs witnesses.
Fools and cowardly bastards, they even banished the guy from the common living area. That's great, now it's easy to find the Inquisitor. He's sitting alone now. Nick smiled. Dan's working! He's being ignored by the whole clan, and the guy's working for the clan. Hardly write a guide and update history and bestiary.
Nick walked into the castle, and he listened. There was no one nearby. He used to equip his cloak with equipment and activate the Camouflage. It's going to be a long way, but rushing into a situation like this is risky and stupid.
When the Scout snuck up to the massive library door, he quietly scraped the door surface with his nail.
It was quiet behind the door. So the footsteps were heard and the door opened.
Dan was without his creepy mask.
Nick almost laughed at the expression of confusion on the Inquisitor's face.
It was a freaky sight. The gray hair, the scars on his face, the pale eyes inspired respect for this serious man, but everyone was spoiling his lips. Dan's mouth opened up in a silent question. The Inquisitor turned his head one way, then the other and mumbled something.
Nick didn't want to make a bad impression on this important and cute guy.
Scout snapped his fingers and whispered:
\”I'm sorry, Dan. I'm sorry about the surprise visit. Sir Inquisitor will accept a humble Scout for an important secret conversation?\”
\”Nick! You'll scare the dead with your tricks. Come in.\”
Nick quickly squeezed into the library.
Dan closed the door and went back to the table with clean paper, paper with pictures and schemes on it. Nick looked closely and didn't understand anything about these strange symbols and hieroglyphs.
\”Dan, have you really become very understanding in these secret languages of this world?\”
\”I don't understand much. To the matter, Nick. You sneak in and you want to talk about secret business.\”
Dan sat down in the chair and pointed his hand at the guest in the other chair. Nick sat down next to him and started his confession:
\”Dan, I ask you to support our conspiracy.\”
And Nick told the Inquisitor his story. About his strong and reliable alliance with Assassin. He recalled the beginning of the story with the pets. And he ended with his disgust at the cowardly and treacherous behavior of the entire clan towards the changed Dan.
Dan listened and didn't show any emotion. His face froze and turned into the likeness of his mask.
When Nick finished his introduction to the conversation, the Inquisitor nodded his head:
\”I understood your point of view. I respect your point of view. But I don't think you've thought about elementary benefit. Nick, you chose the path of dexterity. You need a fighter, a tank, a defender, meat for the monster so you can fight. If we leave the clan, we'll slow down our development. And about the other people's opinions... I don't care. You have no idea how much the Spirit helps carry the weight of loneliness. No friends, so I won't get used to friendship. No sympathy, so I'll get used to indifference and negativity. But no one will betray me. And now you're suggesting betrayal.\”
\”You don't have to lie and play with words. You know who I was. You and I have made no vows or promises or signed any documents. Our loyalty to the clan is a fiction. We're just comfortable together to develop skills and survive. But you've seen a lot of very conflicting situations. I repeat I will not accept Michael as my leader anyway.\”
\”Will you accept me as your leader?\”
Nick smiled:
\”Union, Dan. Union of equals. As an inquisitor, you have no equal. You're my absolute leader. But, I'm glad you didn't throw your sword at me. I'm glad to continue, and I want to tell you about my plan. You'll see for yourself that I think about \”the welfare of men and common safety\” more than Michael.\”
Dan leaned his head a little to the shoulder. It's like he listened to an invisible little creature that sat on his shoulder and gave him important advice.
Nick got scared. Suddenly the cursed sword is whispering something to the Inquisitor? Suddenly the opinion of the ancient artifact will not support the conspirator's plans? It's a sword! It's a weapon of fair combat. On the other hand... a cursed sword, it's ready for all sorts of evil and tricks.
They've been silent for a while. Everyone was thinking of their own. Nick resumed the conversation in a quiet but confident voice:
\”A secure life and the possibility of development nearby. One day's distance from us.
I remind you of the city! We talked and forgot. We put the question on hold for some time. Dan, a week ago, I wouldn't risk being with John for a run to Dor. Think about it, appreciate our strength, today our group will safely reach the city. The city is a civilization. It's a very big opportunity for people who have knowledge of another civilization. Look at us. There are always weak people. You shouldn't blame them. We have to find a safe place for them. I don't want to talk much about Valerie. But I don't want a woman killing herself about this horror next to me. Our castle is an outpost against monsters. But you don't have to live in war.\”
\”This is an unexpected suggestion. I wasn't thinking about the city. You're right. There is something about it.\”
\”The ancient Romans taught how to fight trouble.' Divide and conquer'. In my proposal hides the breakdown of the clan. We will surely divide. Tom and Ron, Leo and Alan, Valerie and Stefan, Jim and Gandalf will definitely stay in town. Michael will not leave the majority without his leadership. He's a businessman. Even John and I have great perspectives in the city. I can learn a lot from village hunters. But John needs a place in the killer guild. Alexander worries me, Stefan didn't say much about the opportunities for a warrior in the city. But remember, there's a sewer in town with rats! What's a game without rats in a sewer? There are a lot of creatures in the dungeons. The city guards don't eat their bread for nothing.\”
\”We have plenty of time to quietly complete the big required quest to keep the region in the clear. But the problem with a possible cursed artifact, which is stored in the lair of a dead werewolf, must be solved first!\”
\”I'm not going to raise the question of visiting Dora tomorrow. The clan can wait and go with the caravan. It'll be safer. I came to you with a problem important to me and John. It's going to escalate. I want to deal with it carefully and without scandals. I need Preceptorium. I need you. You need a calm place and a company of people who are calm about your surprises. And the rest of us can live in peace and enjoy the joys of the middle Ages.
Dan, think about how players need to take the lead in city quests. They'll have no competition, they'll be able to accumulate power and influence.\”
\”I think about my perspectives. In the city I can find a solution to some of my unexpected problems,\” the Inquisitor smiled.
\”I hope we understand each other. You know, this may seem naive to you, but the credo of our union doesn't speak of safety and welfare, it just sounds, \”Shoulder to Shoulder.\” Don't get upset, think about my proposal.\”
Nick got up and put on a cloak.
\”Open the door for me, I'll walk away invisible. And you can be sure. Nobody overheard us, I'm pretty good at feeling someone else's presence.\”
Dan got up and went to the door. He unlocked and let his invisible visitor out.
The scout surprised him. Dan started thinking about the perspectives and weaknesses of the new union.
*
The next day, Nick walked up to Dan and excited him with important news:
\”Scouts aren't asleep, we found the lair of that werewolf. The lair was in the ravine. That bastard left a lot of tracks. The local hunters found him quickly. We now have the skill of a 'Pathfinder'. If we confess, we didn't even look, we were able to shake the information out of our mentors. Are you ready to do your part of the job?\”
\”Of course I'm in. Has Michael been notified?\”
\”He knows, he offered to take one of the fighters with us, but I refused. We'll do it quickly. We'll come, clean up the place and go. They've got plenty of fun of their own. We found one burial ground for the newcomers' development, there are several levels 4 skeletons, let them develop the newcomers.\”
They ran quickly on their way to the village. Nick was telling the news on the move:
\”We're doing all right. Pathfinder's skill allows us to follow the tracks and find traces. We've already tracked down werewolves. The main benefit is that we can now use 'Mark' skills! That's a great thing. We've marked these werewolves and now we can see them on the map. They can't sneak up on us without being seen.\”
\”I only have the location of a quest opponent illuminated, and it's constantly moving,\” Dan exhaled.
\”I know I was. These locals turned out to be pretty well organized! You know this village is on the local border, don't you? The villagers quietly hunt monsters, get valuable ingredients and sell them to merchants from the city. The trick is that the village itself is under the influence of two local forest bosses. Stump and the Lord of the Forest are watching their territory. They clean the forest themselves, grow in levels. Smart creatures like werewolves or witches may appear here, but they are smart enough to stay away from the local bosses. And the locals themselves are careful not to mess with the giants, too.\”
\”Well settled.\”
\”Fools don't live here. Careful, Dan. Let's go through the woods now, watch your step. Try not to make any noise,\” said Nick.
Dan didn't like being in the woods. He already understood. It wasn't his comfort zone. The mood spoiled the dusky atmosphere.
The sun rarely broke through the clouds and it was dusky deep in the forest. It was annoying. It seemed to the Inquisitor that the enemy could attack from either side. He saw the calm face of the scouts and understood that everything was under control. But it wasn't enough. It was restless and disturbing. He did not know what nasty things awaited him in the lair.
The cursed artifacts were already tired of him! There were too many for one inquisitor. They prevented him from playing normally, surprises and unexpectedness are not always pleasant.
Soon they came to the ravine, and the scout nodded to the inquisitor at the entrance to the lair. The entrance is ink on the background of the ravine slope. There was no path to see.
Dan's depressed mood was finally ruined:
\”And how do I get there? Did that werewolf know how to fly?\”
\”With a kind word and a strong rope, brother. Hard rope will always come in handy,\” said John.
Dan thought these guys were catching their special pleasure in the game. They're excited to develop their classes, they want to get experience and fight monsters. But it's like they're playing an adventure. They're all fun and smart. But at the same time, gently and carefully. Interesting classes.
The rope was lowered above the entrance to the werewolf's lair, and Dan carefully started going down the ravine.
He saw traces of blood on the ground, the entrance smelled like a dog. Added to that smell was the stench of rotten meat. Dan had already seen a piece of the human body and several bones lying at the entrance to a large hole.
\”Did he eat corpse meat and admires the stars?\”
Dan was throwing up, he saw more and more terrible details. There were scraps of clothing on the ground, they were in the brown spots of dried blood.
The Inquisitor took just a few steps from the entrance and stopped. He took a torch out of his inventory and lit it.
He took a few more steps down the narrow aisle and ended up in the lair.
It was a small room, but it could stand in full height. Dan took a look around and bent down from the vomit attack. The painting was creepy. The werewolf killed a few victims and dragged the remains into the lair. He was gradually eating them.
Dan trembled when the system suggested he collect the trophies.
He agreed and sighed with relief. Creepy pieces of bodies were disappearing in front of his eyes.
Dan would never touch a trophy like that, but he couldn't miss a single object!
There were branches on the ground in one corner, it was a place to sleep.
Dan came up and carefully threw the branches into the other corner. He was squeamishly wrinkled when he caught the big bones. This thing was lying here and eating meat.
Shone a piece of something metal.
*
[Attention! You found a cursed object.
Attention!!! A cursed object can have a devastating effect on your character. Under the influence of an object, you may lose your class and become a monster.]
*
His level of Cognition of Evil already allowed for the identification of the subject. He took a closer look:
*
A chip of the Dagorean Key
Type: Cursed.
Effects: Hidden
Weight: Hidden
Strength: Hidden
Description: Hidden
[Link to the subject? Yes/No]