32 Master of Runes (2/2)

Dan said good night to her and went to take his notes. He took notes on the clan history, added to the bestiary and the Hyde of the player. Then he sat down by the fireplace and read the books that Nick had bought in town. Dan learned the history of this world, its characteristics and made important conclusions.

*

When Alexander and John returned to the castle, they told the latest city news. The main news was the news about the Phoenix clan. Michael and a group of top players went to the sewers to complete a very important quest. There were some dangerous places in town. In the depths of the sewers some places led to the dungeons with very dangerous monsters. Michael decided to test his new skills, tested and took the quest to destroy the monster, which was an old terrible fairy tale in the city. In the end, the whole group died a few tens of times, until the players realized that they were not strong enough to defeat the dungeon boss. Unfortunately, the city quests clan had a time limit. The Phoenix clan had lost its reputation. John said the clan wasn't feeling well. Most players were dissatisfied with the actions of the battle group. There were 32 people in the Phoenix clan and everyone was able to face the danger of peace when passing the survival test. Players came to town in different ways and found that for a comfortable life is not necessary to play in the heroes of the sword and magic. It is enough to perform quests of the locals and gain a reputation to get new quests. Most players did not spend points of Glory on their development.

When Michael asked the players to restore the reputation of the clan and share their personal points of Glory, his words caused indignation among the peaceful players. Everyone knew that the players were special people to the locals and were treated with respect. No one wanted to share their reputation and suffer for others' mistakes.

\”Gandalf is a student of the Guild of Mages, but he develops the magic of fire. It's a powerful, but not the best weapon in the dungeon. It's dangerous to play with fire in an enclosed space. Ron has refused to participate in the quest. He said Michael needed to hire an experienced priest's man to act as a healer for the players. The clan hired a priest. The priest is dead. That was the clan's biggest problem. They must pay in gold for the death of a priest, bring a donation to the temple. Tom flatly refused to participate in such operations in the future. He works with the Warrior Guild and has his own company of trusted partners. He is the leader of a small group of local warriors. Valerie and Alan are busy developing in the city. Michael's in sadness, Leo smiles and goes to the sewers alone, extracts trophies and saves gold. He took the clan's debt for the death of a priest,\” said Alexander.

\”This handsome cheater! He's not a paladin, he's the favorite of all the beauties in town. A silent knight with a mysterious and tender smile with pockets full of gold, he has many fans,\” said John outraged loudly.

Everyone saw that Assassin was joking. But the stories about the city clan didn't look funny.

When everyone had lunch, the players gathered for a meeting on an important issue in the Council Chamber.

Nick sat in the main chair and said it was time to listen to a report from their librarian and a big fan of surprises and unexpected discoveries. Ranger nodded at Dan and sat down. Dan got up and started the story.

He told the story of how he killed the witch. He talked about meeting a strange warlock. He talked about finding a cemetery of ancient hunters. Eventually, he confessed that he had become the Master of Runes and was ready to work for the clan.

\”You are ready to make a magical runes oath for the members of the clan,\” said Alexander.

\”Yes, I can do that. We must write the text of the oath with care and attention. Each player takes the oath individually, I testify and fix it in front of the whole world,\” said Dan.

\”And a violation can be punished as the killing of players? There are good penalties,\” smiled John.

\”Scarier, Johnny boy, we'll give a scarier penalty! I don't care about the other players, I'm willing to kill if I have to protect your lives. But I will not forgive your betrayal. There's no point in an immortal life if there are no loyal friends around,\” said Alexander.

\”Dan, do you think we can do this? I'm afraid it'll interfere with the game process. And the punishment for such acts will come from the administration,\” asked Nick.

The sinner smiled and said quietly:

\”We don't do anything wrong. An oath of loyalty is a solid and worthy cause. As a last resort, the game will blame the whole responsibility on me. I'm already a violator of the game rules we don't understand, I'll take an oath, all this work will not work without me.\”

\”You have a strange point of view. Are you sure you won't get a surprise achievement and the right to be our 'Warden'? A lot of responsibility comes with a lot of power,\” said Alexander.

\”I have interfered twice in the game process and the clan has not been punished for the mistakes of the offender. A blacksmith can create weapons, but he does not create his own responsibility for the possible deaths of innocents at the hands of a swordsman. We are all equal leaders in the clan. Any change like leadership is a matter of clan politics. I have only become an expert in the special craft of this world,\” replied Dan.

Everybody agreed to put together the text of the vows and hold a ceremony of swearing an oath to the clan. Everyone was ready to take personal responsibility for this action.

But this meeting didn't end there. Dan asked everyone to listen to him carefully. His words revealed unpleasant things to the players and made them think about life.

\”Nick, you have to, you owe an important operation in town. I studied the history of this Order of Monster Fighters. I'm sure we need to restore the full Order. We have 12 different classes of specialists. I met the mention of the Hunter's Circle. The general sense is clear to me. Our clan is not taking full advantage of its position. We must restore the Hunter's Circle. Now we have Warrior, Assassin, Scout and Magician. I'm afraid I can no longer be considered the Inquisitor. Nick, get us eight new players in town! They must be players of special character. I'd hate to shackle others with our oath of loyalty to the clan.\”

All listened with interest to the important message of the sinner. Nick sat frowning and tapping on the table with his fingers. Then he began his report:

\”I have three good candidates for the clan. You will laugh, but we may have a good Thief. There's a rather interesting man there, I helped him join the Killer Guild. He works for us and is ready to join the clan. There's an honest guy who's just in no hurry to make a choice. He's quietly accumulating points of glory and can get in the Soldier's way. He's got great potential. But he doesn't like Michael as a boss. He goes to the sewers alone. He can't fit into Michael's group. His name is Richard. There's this one girl, Emma's very good, an archer. Anna, you know her. What do you think?\”

\”She's kind. And by the way, she can help with the clan recruitment. She's no good as a Scientist, but she could be a clan Craftsman. She's a dressmaker, she promised to sew me the mantle of a magician when I became a Master. She owes me one. And I remember Richard. He's strong but proud, he never asked for my help. But he thanked me honestly for my support. He shared his trophies with me, I always enhanced his protection.\”

\”It's a pity Jim went off on a free quest, I thought he was a reliable and intelligent man,\” said John.

Nick began to make conclusions:

\”We can now do a good job in that direction. We can take advantage of the problems in the Phoenix clan. But I don't like the general mood of the players. We really need Leo. He's a nice guy and a great knight. Michael is a special case and even though he's a soldier, I'm not ready to have this man close to our secrets so quickly. Samantha, our common acquaintance wants to be a scientist, but she's in another league.\”

\”She's in a different sport at all,\” laughed John.

\”The hardest part for us is finding three loyal players who will follow the path of the Spirit. Who can turn a blind eye to the presence of Sinner Dan in our clan,\” summed up Nick.

Alexander made an unexpected offer:

\”Finding players on the path of the Spirit is the most difficult moment. But we can lure all newcomers to the rapid rise in levels. Dan, we can visit the dead in this cemetery of hunters, right? You're saying there are a few thousand monsters. Our Anna is stronger, and there are left scrolls with a powerful spell. We can go down carefully on the ropes to the area where she can see many skeletons and everyone will be happy!\”

Dan frowned and objected:

\”I wouldn't recommend doing that. The fact is, an army of dead men guards this cemetery. I saw a lot of bones under my feet and it was the vampire's bones. Jaws with distorted fangs, I knew right away. There were several battles between skeletons and vampires. It's hard for me to admit it. But I have a strange sympathy for these skeletons. They're mostly upraised hunters of monsters. I've seen a terrible fight. Once, a few level 20 skeletons caught my attention. They got together in a group and started knocking their weapons on their bones. Then two skeletons came out into the empty space in the center and started fighting among themselves. I came closer and looked at the fight. Good masters, they worked with swords as well as Stefan. It was a creepy and beautiful sight. The most amazing thing happened at the end of the fight. When the winner cut off the skull of the loser, the skeleton of the winner flashed in a flash of green light and changed its level! They had a duel and as a result the winner gained experience for his victory. He took two levels and became the skeleton of level 22. After the battle, a group of dead parted, as usual, wandering around the cemetery. I saw the loser's sword on the ground. It's time to pick up trophies! I came up, and at that moment magic began. The bones of the deceased skeleton moved and began to gather in the skeleton. And then the skull rolled to the body and joined the body and this loser stood up. But he was no longer 20, but 16 levels! They're developing in this cemetery, they're getting ready to do some duty. I'm not sure what's important! I thought about the operation involving Anna myself. This is a chance to raise the levels! But I'm telling you my honest opinion. Don't touch those skeletons! They guard a very important place.\”

\”How could the immortal antique hunters even die? That's the most confusing thing,\” shouted John.

\”I'm not telling you anything,\” said Dan. \”I've already realized that sometimes with my stories, I'm a hindrance to your development. Nick, confirm what I'm saying.\”

\”Guys, I remind you of the importance of being a librarian. Dan is writing the history of our clan. He gets bonuses for it! But don't think he's the only one who can get bonuses from it. I repeat, find the time and read his notes! It's a great exercise for developing intelligence and spirit.\”

\”I know about it, and I'm reading Dan's notes, I'm curious about all the tricky news he's got,\” said John.

\”For reading the description of this news on your own, you get a plus to the characteristics. And words don't give you anything,\” said Anna.

\”Words are cheap, whiskey costs money,\” added Alexander. \”Anna, beautiful, can you make whiskey in the lab?\”

\”This is for Velida, she has a recipe for a strong dwarf drink,\” laughed the sorceress.

Everyone smiled. Velida abruptly refused to make the gnome drink for the players. No persuasion helped. She said that the gnome drink acts almost like poison on people.

The meeting ended in an unexpected event for the warrior and the assassin. Nick got up and invited everyone to the wedding ceremony.

John and Alexander couldn't believe it.

\”It was worth leaving you for one day. And you've done so many things here,\” resented John.

\”Dan, you're the one who's going to perform the ceremony with the groom and bride's vows based on your runes magic, aren't you? It's a great test of your abilities,\” laughed Alexander.

Players and a family of dwarves have gathered on the roof of the main tower. The day was already climbing towards the evening, but it was bright enough. The weather was not pleasant, as always it rained quietly, and the sun was hidden behind the clouds. Turin shone with joy and said that his relative could make rings for the partners. The dwarf himself did not work with precious metals.

There were enough places on the roof. Nick and Anna stood under the clan's flag and prepared to take their vows. Dan took a blank piece of paper and an ink pen out of the inventory. The players were interested to see how the Master of Runes worked.

It looked simple and clear.

Nick was the first one to say the words of the oath out loud:

\”I, Nick, take you, Anna, to be my wife, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do us part. In this world, in the presence of the Gods of this world, I make this vow.\”

Anna swore after Nick, changing the words a little to make them sound on the bride's side.

Dan would write down their words on paper. Nobody saw what he was writing there, but everyone knew he was probably making a recording with mysterious magical runes.

Dan finished writing and handed out a page of vows to the players. Nick and Anna stretched out their hands, and the leaf was held with three hands for a moment. And then it flashed! He just disappeared in a flash of light and there was nothing left of the vowed leaf. Nobody noticed how the two rays of light slipped to the hands of the couple.

Only the participants in the ceremony received a message from the game. Dan smiled and shook his head, then admitted he got +1 to the spirit.

Anna and Nick's reaction was more vivid. Anna squealed with delight and hugged her husband. Nick was pleased and happy, too. He showed his hand to John and reported funny:

\”A Ring of Love! + 1 to all the characteristics and + 1 to Luck! And 12 more points of Glory as the first bride among the players.\”

Anna added her portion to the rings' description:

\”Teleport to Nick! The Ring of Love allows you to move to your beloved. Once in 24 hours.\”

\”Instant teleport to the beloved,\” whispered John. \”Guys, this is awesome.\”

Alexander shook Nick's hand and kissed Anna's hand. He turned to Dan and said in a hard voice:

\”You'll have the text of your vows to our Clan, Dan. Now we're going to have a celebration, but tomorrow morning we're all going to do a good job.\”

\”And somebody's got to do a good job all night. Don't let the recon down, brother,\” laughed John.

Dan warned the joker with one phrase:

\”The magic of fire is a terrible power, brother. Don't joke with Anna, remember about The magic of fire.\”