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– Latiel, give me this staff with the Malebis rune!
– A good choice! I will teach you the most important spell. First, you must see the magic. To do this, tell HEIMO. It means «elven vision»
Latiel’s pupils suddenly changed and became slits, like a cat’s.
– HEIMO! – I said, and suddenly the whole world changed, filled with colors. More additional items and colors have appeared. My rune shone brightly orange, and the staff was also a little orangeish. Lathiel’s staff was completely filled with blue healing runes. I immediately added the new spell to the quick access panel.
– Your first magic spell is MALLEBAR, which means «magic» in Elvish.
A description appeared in front of me:
Deals tactical lightning damage with a maximum force of 100 over 3 sec. Energy 5 units per second. Not bad at all!
– Now you must learn defense. Spell NAYEN, which means «No»
Parry a blow, up to 95% damage. Energy -50.
Yes, you could just constantly parry the blows of your opponents. But I only have 150 energy now! What -50!
– And also – treatment. Spell HILLUS – «Get well»
Morale +25, energy -20.
– And now I want to check how you mastered your first lesson! Defend yourself! MALEBAR-ESSA!
A column of sparks burst out from Latiel’s staff, and the trajectory of their movement turned orange. The entire witch’s staff glowed a bright orange color.
– NAYEN! – I said. A red circle appeared in the air with the center of the circle in the place where the staff, glowing red, was pointing. – MALEBAR! – it’s my turn to attack, and I sent orange lightning at the enemy. It should be noted that the spell that Latiel just said immediately appeared on my panel. This means you can remember the enemy’s spells!
– NAYEN! – I must say that Latieli’s manna did not even sag after this phrase, which cannot be said about mine. Of course, I compared her 3000 energy to my hundred!
– DONE! – here I didn’t even have time to understand anything – a yellow shock wave appeared from her staff, which pressed me to the wall. Aches and unbearable pain appeared throughout my body. The morale sank to the limit.
– HILLUS! – I said, and the blue vine enveloped the sore limbs, sucking the pain from them. Oh, these elves with their active language! Experience is never given for nothing. So a new spell that appeared on my panel almost killed me.
– DONE! – this time Latiel did not have time to say a word, so the blast wave from my staff carried her to the other corner of the room.
– You learn quickly, Eleon. You won this battle with the honor of a warrior and the courage of a knight. Now is the time for you to meet the head of the Freed order, Gerber.
The inscription appeared:
New task. Talk to Gerber in his chambers. Accept?
Of course. Do I have a choice?
***
The sun was falling below the horizon. The wind carried the smell of freshly cut hay. Oh, I completely forgot to say that the game even had smells! I don’t even know where the developers got the different exotic smells from. I don’t even know if this same hay smells like that.
I approached the city where I was supposed to meet the king.
– Where are you going, guy? – the guard at the entrance asked me rudely.
– I need to see King Gerber.
– Everyone to King Gerber. What have you forgotten in our area? We lived well without you. Why are you stuck?
– I have an important task for him.
«Which you will not fulfill,» said the guard.
– And why is that? – I was surprised.
– I won’t let you in – how then do you plan to complete the assignment?
What a nit! It’s not written in writing, but it behaves like some kind of king or duke.
«Although, if you do me a favor, then the city will be open for you,» the guard smiled. – My brother lives in the village of Zarri. Say hi to him from me! Then I’ll let you in.
A new task appeared before me. Accept.
– That is great. I’m waiting to hear from him.
This is why I simply «love» quests. You come to one place, from which you are sent to another, then to a third, and all to do the first task. Bureaucracy here is just like in the real world. Well, not everything is best to transfer into the world of games! Here, at least the non-scripts are indicated by circles, it’s immediately clear who you need to approach. In reality, everything is not so simple. I had to go through all the circles of hell when I got in line to start a family.
As I approached the village, wolves began to attack me. A classic of the genre – a village surrounded by mobs.
«Gran went to study the strange things that happen at the burial ground,» said the elder. – Why do you need him?
«Yes, my brother says hi,» I said.
– Well, then go west. Just be careful – people tell different things about this place. Rumor has it that those who have no place in our world woke up there! Better yet, don’t risk your life at all and don’t go anywhere. Help our village cope with the wolves. Kill at least 10 of them.
New task. Refuse.
At this rate, I will never get to the king if I take every task that comes along that is offered.
«It’s a pity, of course,» said the old man. – Okay, good luck on your journey. But think a hundred times before you go there.
A dog howled in the distance.
– What is this?
– These are barghests. Ghosts in the form of dogs. Harbingers of imminent death. Oh, this is not good!
***
It’s a creepy place, after all, these Elsky Burial Grounds. Some kind of inexplicable fear, I would even say panic. Part of the green life scale turned red. I must say, not in vain.
A hand suddenly appeared from under the ground, grabbed me just above the knee and began to pull me down. A couple of orange lightning bolts, and the living dead died again, this time completely. But I had no idea what to do with this cheerful group that had gathered in a group not far from me, and were looking at me not very kindly with empty eye sockets. Manna was low, and morale was not at its best. A couple of treatments did not fundamentally change the situation. Meanwhile, the zombies were coming straight at me! But then a guy appeared from somewhere behind them and hit them with a pair of yellow shock waves, and the skeletons immediately crumbled.
– My name is Gran! – said the guy.
– And I’m Eleon. I wanted to say hello to you from my brother. What should I say to him in response?
– Eh, my brother will soon go crazy in the service. Every week he sends me greetings from a hundred or two people. He’s busy with all sorts of nonsense, but he doesn’t want to notice the trouble that’s going on here. I’m a researcher, I’m looking at what’s here and how. If you want, come with me to study the causes of the epidemic.
New task. Reject.
– No, thank you. I want to see Gerber quickly.
– And you too. You’re always in a hurry to get somewhere. But you don’t think about solving the real problem! Okay, give my brother my brooch so that he remembers me more often.
The inscription flashed like fire in front of me: «Congratulations on reaching the second level!»
***
– Eh, alive and well – and glory to Yagbel the Creator. – said the guard as I handed him the brooch. – Well, come on in.
The guard moved away and the door opened in front of me. Which I entered a few moments later.
The floor is covered with a red carpet. Reddish torches burned on the walls. Do they add strontium to change the color of the flame? It smelled of roses and urine. It seems that the developers have relied on realism. I must say, they succeeded! From behind the slightly open oak door, you can hear the music that the minstrels played on their lutes.
***
Gerber’s chambers were truly luxuriously decorated! A huge library, chandeliers with candles inlaid with gold, silver cutlery sets on the tables, floors covered with velvet… In general, cool!
– Hello, warrior! What is your name? – the gray-haired old king asked me. Where did I see this face? Who did the developers redraw this grandfather from? I don’t remember. Old age is no joy! Where are my fifteen years? In this situation, my mother would ask what would happen to me at forty years old. I wish I could live to be forty. Nowadays, at thirty you are already an old man. And those who are older are subject to euthanasia in order to give life to a new generation. Like my grandfather Sanya. One injection and sleep.
«I am Eleon,» I said. – Latiel sent me to you.
«I haven’t seen her for two summers,» Gerber said.
– She taught me the basics of the Elvish word. And sent it to you for further training.
– Then listen to my lesson and use it only for good. The SEMPT spell is the greatest elven shield. It will protect you not only from the enemy’s sword, but will also feed you with energy. And one more spell that I do not advise my students to use at all. But you must be prepared in case of enemy attack. It’s a KISHI spell! – means «death»
A green snake burst out of Gerber’s staff, which was now protected by a blue dome, and pierced a mouse running past.
Instantly reduces morale to zero, with a 95% chance.
«This spell was invented by our sworn enemies, but we must resist them. Therefore, use this spell only in the most urgent cases, or better yet, do not use it at all. After all, death has never brought much benefit to anyone. I will teach you another important lesson today. Words from the magical Elvish language can be collected into phrases and entire sentences and you can come up with your own spells that will be more powerful than the words individually. Of course, in a real battle you won’t have time to finish a long spell. But if you have time to prepare before the battle, you can create runes that you can then simply use in battle. Here, for example: MALEBAR-SEMPT’DUALIS ROTATUS! (two moving magic balls)
Orange lightning immediately appeared from the magician’s staff, which were surrounded by a blue shell. The entire structure turned into ball lightning in a couple of seconds.
«With the help of charms you can create whatever you want,» said Gerber.
– For example, revive the dead from the mound, as someone did in the Elsky Burial Grounds.
– What! And no one has reported this to me yet! Not far from the royal city, an unknown conquest awakens the wights! We need to check if Dirk is under reliable guard. Eleon, tomorrow you will go to the country of technicians and check if the head of the enemy clan is okay. If it breaks out, the world will be in danger again.
New task. Accept.
– Now go to the master of crafts. He will help you choose the craft that will suit you best. After all, the life of a Freed is not only about hot battles, but you also need to earn a living from something.
***
I went down into the dungeon, where Freak, a man with a brown beard, in rumpled work clothes, and kind eyes, was already waiting for me. Looks like a gnome.
– Which profession do you like best? Choose, don’t be lazy. You can, of course, do a little of all professions, but one of them will work best. Make it the main one.
Inscriptions flashed in the air, replacing each other.
«Gunsmith.» Makes the most powerful staves»
«Tailor. Will prepare your wardrobe for an extraordinary war»
«Jeweler. Not only scars adorn a man»
«Scientist. Studying ancient manuscripts allows us to weave the most powerful spells, hide them in runes and create healing potions.»
«Cook. Prepares the most delicious stews. Now during the battle no one will say that you didn’t eat enough porridge!»
«Resource miner. Well, where would we be without him? Wood and metal are needed everywhere and always!»
In principle, you can download all the pros in parallel. I will choose the main one, after all, a scientist. I can make runes with one-time combat spells. When I have a little more free time, I’ll immediately start leveling up.
– A good choice! – said Frick. He handed me my first working tool. I put it in my inventory when I have free time, I’ll definitely figure it out.
***
– Ilya, get up urgently! I’ll wake you up, as promised! – Svetka’s voice buzzed in my head. Well, it’s time to return to the gray world of everyday life.
– Light! But I asked you to wake up in six hours!
– And you slept for thirteen. I’ve been trying to wake you up for a long time.
The dream world is too good. And not everyone can stop in time and say to themselves: «Enough!» Since the advent of virtuality, many have gone crazy. Some did not come out into reality for days and died from exhaustion. There were also those who forgot how to distinguish between reality and play. I decided to take a couple of pills that make it easier to get into reality. They say they also reduce addiction to games. In general, doctors do not always tell the truth. While the robots were carrying another nutritional mixture, I passed out on the chair. It seemed like I didn’t really strain myself, but I didn’t have any strength left. It was as if I had been carrying bags for half a day. Ha! Another joke. What bags? Why bother physically if there are robots to do the work?
My head was pounding as if I had been banging it against the white walls of the room all day. I looked in the mirror: my eyes were red, there were bruises under them. My back is stiff. Not a man – Frankenstein.
Okay, morning is wiser than evening, tomorrow I’ll figure out what to do with all this and how to continue to live.
Level 2. City of technicians.
Room with white walls. Disappearing bed. The smell of sterilizers. Gray slurry of nutritional mixture. Or is it just me, or do I need to change something in this life? But there is only one way out of the House: to become a member of the Government. But the resistance will not achieve its goal soon. Although, why am I moping? Even if you were eaten, there are at least two ways out, and if you got an electric shock, then this is not only a minus, but also a plus.
The second solution for most of us was extended reality. You insert a modulator chip the size of your little finger into an implant at the back of your head – and now you are a real god. The belly turns into abs. Romance.
