27 The Enemy of Unclean Power (1/2)
The appearance of a new person at the castle made an impression. Nick was worried about nothing. Everyone liked Anna. To be more precise, everyone recognized the need to have their own alchemist and magician. And it wasn't clear what was important to the clan.
First of all, the girl got to know everybody, she was delighted with the Class Choice Room. She came out of the old clan and joined the new clan. Then Anna chose a magician class and everyone sat down to discuss their plan to clean up the ruins of the old city.
\”Are you sure there's no chief monster in the city center?\” asked Anna.
\”There's no need to worry. In this case, we have a chief expert in destroying bosses. Dan's in Galatea now, working his specialty and studying ancient symbols.\”
\”Then we might be able to destroy a lot of undead in one blow. But you shouldn't be hoping for the almighty power of the scroll. I'm just beginning to develop the class of magician. I can do a little damage, but in a large area.\”
\”How big is the area? And how much damage are you talking about?\”
Anna was holding a sheet with a spell, she carefully read the features of that spell.
\”Damage is dealt with in all the visible areas. If there's an opportunity to rise higher, I can see a larger area and then I activate the scroll. It requires 80 initial intellect and 20 spirits. It's a mandatory minimum level for Master. I was able to obtain the rank of Master of the Earth. I have to grow up to the Expert Rank to 12 more levels. Now with this scroll, I can do 6400 damage. Will that be enough?\”
\”I bought four scrolls, you're going to get the best equipment for the Earth Magician,\” said Nick. \”I think it'll be enough to destroy even Draugr. If the game is cruel to us.\”
\”Draugr has protection against all kinds of damage. He has 60% protection against the Earth. We managed to defeat a monster with 40,000 lives.\”
\”This is unbelievable! How did you do it?\”
\”We burned it. Along with Dan, who kept Draugr from leaving the trap.\”
\”I hope to meet him soon. Nick, tell me, how will the castle be improved? I hope you've taken care of the magical protection?\”
Nick spoke about the trading results and described the contract with the Builders Guild. He contracted a project to enhance the magic defenses.
The amount didn't make any impression on the guys. Anna smiled and thought that the money had no meaning for them.
Then Alexander asked Anna to tell about the beginning of the magician's progress.
The girl told me that it is difficult to develop a magician. There are 4 ways of legal magic and some magic of Death, magic that is used by monsters. Legal magic is the ways of elements: Fire, Air, Water and Earth. The magician passes 5 development ranks: Novice, Adept, Master, Expert, and Magister. There is an extra rank of Archimage, which is achievable for Master of all four ways of magic. Rank development requires an improvement in intellect and spirit.
The main feature is that the combat skills of a magician require development in combat, or in support of allies. You cannot put points of Glory into the magic of fire and finish the rank of Novice to get the rank of Adept. Anna chose the magic of Earth. At the beginning of development, Anna had no attacking spells, only defense, and control of the enemy. Two initial spells allowed her to use them all the time. The Swamp and Shield spells didn't harm the allies. But she rarely went down in the sewers. She preferred to practice alchemy, exercise, and the quiet development of Earth's magic in the open air.
Anna calmed the boys down:
\”Don't worry, scrolls with strong spells are not superweapons in this game. The castle is not threatened by anyone at the moment. After a gift from the administration of the game may find players with an intellect of 80. But the damage from the scroll will be weak. Magicians are not the most dangerous players, in fact they are much more useful as a support.\”
Alexander didn't agree with her:
\”I hate to think that someone could destroy our castle. We chose a rather aggressive path of diplomacy. You do realize that Michael would be unpleasantly surprised by your joining our clan.\”
\”I don't care about Michael. But his friend is a funny case of a mixture of greed and ambition. Samantha won't leave you alone.\”
Nick stopped a new round of conversation and said they'd better get out the way of Galatea now. They'll be able to make their way downtown by tonight, try to find a suitable building, and Nick will move Anna over there. And she'll do her job. The Builders Guild workers have already received the money, they can arrive at the castle by tomorrow night. They'd better hurry up.
Anna has received a full set of excellent equipment, costume jewelry to enhance intellect and magical staff to enhance the magic of the Earth.
John was constantly joking at the ranger, who himself had set up nets and fell into his own trap. Alexander wasn't joking about Nick's choice, he liked that girl.
But on the road, Anna showed herself to be a nasty partner. She was quickly tired. Strength 7 and dexterity 6 were not the characteristics that allowed a long run in the company of skilled hunters. She was not confused by her weakness and allowed Nick to carry her in his arms. Alexander calmed down when she said that she would bring her physical characteristics to 10 necessarily. She winked and added:
\”I will definitely find a recipe for fatigue recovery, Daddy. You'll be happy.\”
Next to the hunters, their pets were running. The little bear delighted Anna. That cheerful and furry clot of energy wasn't afraid of werewolves at all. There were fights between the pets all the time. But everyone saw that it wasn't a serious fight, but more of a joke contest between pets.
They approached the dead city before dark.
Dan met his clan in the suburbs of the town.
He was wearing a mask, but his sight didn't scare Anna. She grabbed on to him with her curiosity and made him show her his face. Then she admired for a long time that she had first met a real monster hunter.
\”We're all ordinary. Not interesting at all. Dan is like the incarnation of heroes from fantasy books. Moorcock! Moorcock had a hero with grey hair and a very dangerous sword. Dan looks like him. We're not interesting,\” said Anna.
Dan put on a mask and said that Anna was interesting enough. She doesn't know how interesting she is yet.
There was no time to talk. The hunters went to work. Nick warned Dan in advance that the clan was coming to the final part of the operation.
The sinner was given the job and left the trophies in the cellars and the ancient inscriptions on the walls alone. He was slowly clearing the street of dead people this morning. Dan walked to the square and chose a house that was comfortable as a platform. Almost all the ruins were the same, all had stone stairs to the second floor. There were no second floors, but the stairs were left in most cases. Dan only killed the nastiest enemies, banshees, skeletons of scouts and archers. The monsters couldn't escape the skill of Autodafe, he didn't have to follow them. Dan looked at two houses, picked a better option for their plans. Then he destroyed the monsters in the homes and went up to the second floor of one of the houses.
The painting made him happy. An idea came to mind. That the view reminded him of a stadium filled with unusual fans of entertainment and spectacle. A real sea of bones was moving in front of him. Different shades of grey were slowly moving around the square. The sinner did not know how many skeletons and other undead creatures there were. He saw banshees, zombies, and ghouls. But then he noticed a nasty opponent in the middle of the square. Dan texted the whole group right away:
\”Guys, Draugr's here.\”
\”And the girls! I'm happy to welcome you, my new brother in arms! This is Anna, I hope to see you soon.\”
\”Are you sure it's Draugr?\”
\”Alexander, I can read. Level 21. But he's kind of weak, only 20,000 life. All skills are normal, he has 50% protection against magic.\”
\”I've already thought about it. The monsters in the dungeons and our opponents on the quests have higher performance. These ruins have not given us any quest. It's just a place for free hunting. That's very bad, by the way.\”
\”Here and without a quest, everyone will have enough experience.\”
\”Dan, how many monsters are there around here?\”
\”Alexander, there's no way to count them. The creatures are moving.\”
\”Don't worry, brother, our new magician will burn them all.\”
\”Johnny, I'll bury them. The burning isn't for me.\”
\”What about our trophies!\”
\”I'm not sure about the trophies, this is the first time I can use a scroll like this.\”
\”We've had enough trophies, stop talking. Dan, be careful. But work on clearing the way to this square. It's going to be completely dark soon. We're on our way.\”
Dan looked around and began to destroy the most dangerous enemies.
Then he came back and met the group. In a calm situation in the suburbs of the city, he was able to summon his cat and Anna got a reason for another explosion of emotion. She grabbed the cat with both hands and stroked, and tickled and tormented the defenseless animal with her attention. Pussy was patient for a long time, but her patience ran out, the cat broke out and hid behind its master's back.
The good mood before the fight was wonderful. Dan immediately realized that having this girl in the group would be helpful, at least in supporting the good spirits.