Dan realized it's getting much darker. He tried to run faster. n.o.body improvement helped, he was breathing out the air with noise.

They flew three hundred yards to the high walls, but the castle gates didn't open in a hurry.

John was already climbing up the wall with a knotted rope thrown by someone. He overcame the high wall in twenty seconds and hid behind the high stone teeth. Nick rushed to the high wall and climbed up, too.

"They've got the parameters fully developed in strength and dexterity. There's a bit of life, the intellect is practically zero," Michael explained to Dan.

He noticed his terrified look when Dan looked at these acrobats. Michael pushed him in the back:

"You're next, come on, get up."

It took about forty seconds to get through the wall. Once upstairs, Dan respectfully whistled. The wall was over two steps wide.

Nick smiled at him, and then he nodded at the gate. There was a small stone staircase along the wall.

*

[Attention! Your strength has increased by one.

Try to move more and you'll get stronger]

*

That's great news! It means that you can raise the characteristics with physics exercises. Dan wonders how much he can increase strength and dexterity until the training makes no sense?

"When you go down to the yard, go straight to the chapel," Nick was already helping Leo up.

Dan went to the stairs.

It was a strange castle. It's just a flat square, walls a hundred yards long, only one tower.

The tower was three yards above the walls. And it was at a corner opposite the wall with a rope.

The s.p.a.ce of the yard was small, with the well in the middle, covered with some sort of sewing.

Then there was a huge triangular building. This building consisted of three towers, two round ones and one square one, in which big doors could be seen.

To the right of the gate, almost near the wall, there was a small elongated building with a small tower. It was probably a chapel.

To the left, along the walls, there were two long stone buildings closely adjoining the wall. I was curious to know what was in them.

Dan turned to the main gate and was surprised to see a huge iron grating that blocked the entrance in addition to the main gate.

It's solid construction. The bars were with his hand thick.

To the left of the wall there was a doorway. There was probably a hidden lift mechanism.

"Let's go to the chapel, see everything tomorrow."

Michael pointed his hand at a building with a small tower. He saw Dan's interest in the grid and said:

"The gate won't open, the mechanism is rusty. I ordered details from the village. The smith says it can be repaired."

Dan went to the chapel building. He was surprised to notice that the courtyard was laid out with a smooth stone, and everything was done very well as if tiled in our town.

"It's all clean and decent here now. You should have seen what was here when I got here," Michael hummed.

He said that in the beginning the castle met them with a lot of garbage and a skeleton squad. Now players clean the yard when they have nothing to do. The yard of the castle had a stable, a blacksmith and workshop, a small a.r.s.enal. People lived in the chapel. They haven't conquered the main building of the castle yet.

Dan immediately asks about the dangerous neighbors?

"Dead bodies?"

"Yes. The usual skeletons that roamed around the yard, we killed them quickly. But there were three warrior skeletons and a ghoul inside the building. They've all reached over 20 levels. At our deaths, the b.a.s.t.a.r.ds, they've all reached levels."

"What kind of ghoul?"

"It moves on all fours, but it's very fast. It has claws with the palm of a man of size. Leather armor cuts like paper. Its head looks like a deformed human skull with teeth so big that the shark can be jealous."

"Are the skeletons dangerous?"

"It's bad and dangerous there, too. Skeletons are wearing iron armor. It's in bad condition, but it's better protected by leather. They also have wooden round s.h.i.+elds upholstered in a circle of iron, bucklers, I think they're called. And swords. These skeletons seem slow, but as soon as you approach them in three steps, they begin to perform real wonders. You know. Dan, they actually fight like medieval warriors. I've only seen that in movies. We've only got one sword, two hunting knives and lots of short clubs for the whole group, now there's also a spear. We died a few times. There's no chance. In a fair fight, we can't beat them."

The thick wooden door of the chapel opened up inside. Nick came out of the chapel and quickly walked towards the well. Holding the door with his hand, Michael made an inviting gesture. Dan crossed the threshold and found himself in a long and large room.

In the middle, there was a long table with six people in leather jackets, which Dan already knew.

Along the walls stood tall chandeliers with thick candles. The two that were burning now gave enough light. Dan also immediately noticed thick wooden s.h.i.+elds under the bars on the walls,

they were windows. At the end of the room, appearing from the wall, there was a burning fireplace. There were two doors on the sides of it leading to the outbuildings.

"Here come the new people in our castle," shouted the young blond.

He slammed his palm loudly across the table:

"Michael, you've found a man again, we must remove you from the position of leader, and you have no idea how to recruit. "

"Meet Dan. This is Gandalf. My personal headache and the main ballast performer in our group," cried Michael. "I've told you a hundred times, Gandalf, if you want a woman, go out more often at night. Then, the Lamia will meet you, caress you, and love you."

"Barbarian," Gandalf snorted. "You go out and walk at night. Ah, we'd better find a couple of lovely elves."

"And what would you do with them?" asked a big short-cut young guy sitting next door. "Oh, right. Elven s.e.x. We'd hold hands and walk through the woods singing melodic and misunderstood songs."

There were laughs in the hall. There was a copy of him sitting across from the big guy. I couldn't believe my eyes. The real twins got into this game. One of the twins was called Tom, and his brother, Ron, was sitting across from him.

Jim was sitting next to Ron. He was a strong, muscular man in his 40s with a lush black and a sagging hair. Jim must have had a good character. He immediately raised his hand in greeting.

Jim was the only player in the group who immediately learned the craft skill. He could already improve a simple leather jacket and add protection to it.

Alexander, a short, feeble man of uncertain age with a bald head saluted me with two fingers.

Michael introduced me to all the players:

"The official part. Meet the new member of our group. This is Dan. He showed up five hours ago, level six."

"Sharp," whistled one twin. "Quest?"

"Better," said the leader. "He killed our blood enemy."

Players in the room made an approving noise. The door opened, and Nick walked into the chapel. Around the table, he turned into a side entrance to the right of the fireplace.

Dan sat down at the table. Next to him, Michael sat down and continued on with the story of the Castle and other details of the game:

"The doors by the fireplace lead into two small attachments. We have adapted one for the kitchen, and in the other, there is different stuff. Wait!"

He jumped up from his seat and picked up a long bar in the corner to the right of the door. Michael threw it on the steel braces in the wall at the edges of the door; the bar firmly locked the front door.

Michael returned to his seat and waved his hand at Dan:

"Today we have meat, dead guests from the donjon can come out for fun. They love the smell of blood. Ask me what you're most interested in."

"You were talking about Glory," said Dan, and elbow on the table.

And Michael told him.

There was no reference in this game. Players here have to get to everything themselves.

Now the situation is clear. When Michael took the lead, he had an extra window where he could collect Glory from the group. There were few descriptions of the meaning of 'Glory', but everyone understood that if you collect a certain amount of glory per group, some event must happen.

Michael had twenty glory points. He got ten points for activating the point of rebirth, as he was the first player to find a rebirth point and activate it, and Michael got ten points for leading the group.

Jim also had twenty Glory points. Ten points for two handicraft skills he had mastered. He could fix stuff and work with leather armor.

The twins are now trying hard to learn blacksmith skills, but they're not doing very well. The blacksmith in the village refuses to take his disciples flatly.

Perhaps tomorrow, when Michael gives him the quest, the situation will change.

On the Leader's menu, there's a counter like on inventory and experience. The group now has a '0/50' in the Glory counter. With Dan Glory points, the group can gain the required amount.

The problem is that the 'Glory' owner in the village has a good discount and can lose this discount. What if all the Glory acc.u.mulated is gone!

Players will have to overpay for food again.

Dan understands what this Glory means and how important it is. But he has a new question:

"Wait, Michael, wait. What about the money here?"

Michael immediately told the details.

It turns out that the game is played with silver and copper in half with silver in an alloy. There's hardly any gold in circulation.

The silver coin is called 'Rial'. 1 rial is equal to 10 copper coins, called local 'copper'. 100 rials is 1 gold coin, called the 'Crown'.

For five copper coins you can live in the village for 24 hours, its food and bed.

Weapons and armor are very expensive. An iron dagger costs about ten rials. A player's leather armor costs seven rials per item.

Then, they gave Dan his first trophies. Four stacks of coins and three small bars appeared on the table from the air.

"I'm not putting a werewolf head on the table," joked John.

Dan took one coin in hand and read the description.

*

[The Silver Rial

Ingredients: Purified silver

Attention! This metal can be used in handicrafts.

Attention! This metal becomes a good weapon against the undead when sanctified]

*

On one side, the face of an unknown beast was knocked out. On the other side of the coin, a sword and staff were knocked out. The world of sword and magic. Funny.

There were ten coins in the stacks. Dan put the coin back and pushed it towards Michael. There were two pound-weight copper bars and an iron bar that could be used in the craft. The status of the material was normal.

"How can I give you my 'Glory'?"

"Are you sure?"

"We're on the same team."

*

[A proposal from the player Michael to give him your 'Glory' points. Accept? Yes/No]

''Yes''.

[Attention! The hidden quest 'Common Case' has been completed.

Received 4000 experience points.

Congratulations! You have received a new level]

*

"You've got a level," Michael hummed. "For what?"

"Throw 'Glory' points into the general pool and you'll know."

"Well done! I've had eight thousand experiences. Jim, pa.s.s it on."

Jim nodded and the band status change flashed again.

*

[Attention! Your level of Glory is 50 points. Your group gets the general status of 'You're being Rumored'.

Attention! Quest received. The quest is 'Renaissance of the Order'. The quest status: Unique

Mission: You have three days to cleanse the ancient Preceptorium of the Order of the Hunters from the undead that settled in it [71:59]. Reward: Variative. Penalty for not completing the quest: You will lose two levels]

*

"A quest that cannot be abandoned! With a penalty of 2 levels! d.a.m.n it. I want to kill the creators of the game for such quests," scolded Michael.

Players in the hall were quiet when they heard the leader's words.

"We are finished. We're all going to die. Again," said Gandalf sadly. "We've tried to throw these dead men in a crowd five times, and it's no good."

"We shouldn't have sat idly by five days in a row," Michael screamed. "Tomorrow with Nick and John, you go into the woods and don't come back from there until you've hit a few levels."

"Why the h.e.l.l are you screaming at me?" Gandalf snapped at him. "Whose idea was it to throw Glory into the general pot?"

"Calm down. There's no point in fighting now."

John and Nick entered the room.

"Gandalf, you're coming with us tomorrow without talking. G.o.d bless you with zero. Gandalf, you've got two levels! You're in danger of zero levels! What if it means death? The rest of us will think about how to defeat the undead."

"John's right, Gandalf," Leo supported him. "We need to work out, this world just doesn't give us a chance."

"d.a.m.n you!"

Gandalf jumped up and pushed John away and quickly fled to the outbuilding.

"He had a very difficult test. It ended very badly for him," Ron explained to Dan.

Dan learned Gandalf's story. He woke up in the Dolmen Valley. There's a location to the south, about 20 miles (32.19 km) from the castle. Stonehenge reminds. That's where the guy hit the witch. She spellbound him with charms and freshened him up professionally for hours on end. His chest is all cut up now. It's the scariest look on Dan's face. A witch made fun of the guy and left him for dead. The player's lucky. He's not dead. And Jim showed up next to him. Jim found him when the stone under the guy was all red with blood, and he drank the potion. Now Gandalf is afraid to leave the castle. And the level was done for keeping him under torture for a long time.

Dan listened with interest to the story of the terrible start of the game for this Gandalf.

He hopes that his true feelings were not reflected in the face. Now Dan decided to treat the guy like ballast. Nothing. Weak. He's bound to betray everyone. For him, his own well-being is the most important thing. He's a very dangerous man! Dan will keep an eye on him. He also carefully a.s.sessed the Leader's behavior. Michael said something to Dan about freedom of choice, which Dan is free to act. He lied to Dan!

This Gandalf is a common parasite. But even this coward and parasite have been driven into the forest, into a dangerous animal zone! This guy only has level 2!

On the other hand, Michael has recognized the purpose of this group: All for the prosperity and survival of the group. Excellent! Dan didn't believe him right away.

The world around him has changed. Perhaps the local knights and aristocrats can keep their word. They are under the power of the System, so they do what they are programmed to do.

But people don't change anywhere. Everyone thinks only of their own prosperity. Everyone has their own snot of salt.

And Dan smiled. There are problems, let's face them. He not in Heaven! We'll play in h.e.l.l by the rules of h.e.l.l...

*

"By the way, guys, where do potions come from," he asked.

"You shouldn't be hoping," Michael grinned grimly.

"The potion is given for being able to kill your monster in the initial test. And you didn't let your opponent hurt you. And only one vial. We asked in the village. But we haven't heard anything about it. Maybe they're for sale in the city. But the nearest town is far from here. We can't get there in one day. We didn't take any risks."

"This is very unpleasant news. Is there a priest in the village?"

"No. No one here has even heard of the G.o.ds."

"Hmm. Who sanctifies the silver?"

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"The description of the coin said that when blessed, silver can be used as a weapon against the undead."

"There's nothing like that in the description."

Michael picked up the coin and started spinning it in his hands. Then, he threw it on the table and quietly said:

"Normal, Purified Silver. And that's it!"

Dan took one coin in his hand and opened the description again.

*

[The Silver Rial.

Ingredients: Purified silver

Attention! This metal can be used in handicrafts.

Attention! This metal becomes a good weapon against the undead when sanctified]

*

"But I have. I have a more extended description," he said. "I see that the coin can be used in the craft. And I see very well that at sanctification it becomes a good weapon against the undead."

"Michael, the craft is written about me too," suddenly said, Jim. "I don't see a word about the undead."

"It's interesting. Jim, why the h.e.l.l didn't you say you had a different description?" Michael scratched his head thoughtfully.

"So no one asked!"

Jim took an outrageous look at the whole company. Then he added a quieter tone:

"That's ridiculous, too. Why do you bother with the money for a craft? What, are you offering me leather armor coins? What's the point? The blacksmith shop doesn't work anyway."

Dan looked at this big kid with a smile and said quietly:

"War is an engine for progress. Spending money on a craft is very good for development. Spending money on strengthening military advantage is just great for development. Jim, we need to think about this. We need to find a way to use silver against the undead. The game isn't just swords and clubs."

Then, Dan decided on one pretty hard thing to do. He wanted to see the status of the leader. Dan wanted to see his characteristics. But he immediately thought it was indecent, there's a violation of the right of the personality. But it was also a serious question. He said it himself: Everything for the survival of the group.

The system showed Michael's status to Dan.

*

Name: Michael.

Race: Human

Level: 11

Experience points: 63440/87700

Strength 43

Intellect 7 [MP 70]

Dexterity 30

Spirit 10

Endurance 50 [HP 5000]

Concentration 3 [Pa.s.sive]

Psycho protection 2 [Pa.s.sive]

Self-Control 5 [Pa.s.sive]

*

It's a funny sight. It's just the Reincarnation of Conan the Barbarian.

Dan didn't hide what he did from Michael.

"Michael, do you have any spare points?"

"Do I have, why do you ask?"

"Donate three points to your intellect."

"Do you think?"

He's not even angry at Dan's curiosity. He actually understood the idea that for normal development in the game, every character has to be developed to a minimum level.

"You need 10 points at least to get an adequate grasp of the basics of this world," said Dan.

"Ha, Dan, you're doing great! I can see the inscription on the craft now. That's interesting. We should check it out!"

On the table in front of him there was a club known to be painfully familiar. A few minutes later, he smiled and threw it at Dan.

"Please read out loud about the properties you see."

Dan looked at the club and read it:

*

[The Robber's club

Rank: a close combat weapon

Type: Normal

Damage: 30-40 [Critical damage: 90-120]

Attention! If you put all your strength into a blow, you can stun and shock the enemy for a few minutes

Durability: 97

Weight: 1 pound (0.45 kilogram)]

*

Dan finished the description of the weapon and saw a nice picture of the eye.

The guys were very surprised.

Dan had to urgently eliminate the threat of a rebellion on the s.h.i.+p.

So he said with a smile:

"This is an interesting picture, guys. It's not that simple with these characteristics. Now I can see why the werewolf didn't kill me immediately and quickly. At the very beginning of the battle, I was able to hit him in the face with a club once, but with all my might. I struck a lucky blow and used the curse of stun and knock."

"d.a.m.n it all!"

Michael was amazed and upset.

"You guys, the village head lied to us!"

"What do you mean?" Nick asked.

"We were selling him trophies for copper! But we didn't know the full description of the product! Do you all remember how that b.a.s.t.a.r.d's eyes were s.h.i.+ning? After trading with us, he was always happy."

"Cruel, cruel world, must I go on? Cruel, cruel world, I'm moving on. I've been living too fast

and I've been living too wrong. Cruel, cruel world, I'm gone."

Everyone froze and listened to Leo's nice voice. He finished the words of an old song and laughed:

"Hard to beat and fast to run. And if there are no spells, no magic, no need to rise intelligence, right, Michael? Oh, Mother, birth me back."

In a moment, wild laughter shook the walls of the chapel.

John and Gandalf came out of the annex baffled by the behavior of the others. But Jim kindly explained the reason for their sudden fun, and soon they joined to all the company.

" I will put all my new characteristics in intelligence. I'll be a magician, and we'll see," said Gandalf

All this time Michael was sitting in a darker cloud on his face.

"It's all right, I'll pay for it tomorrow," he said. "I'll give that village bloodsucker early re-election. Oh, what a b.a.s.t.a.r.d. Okay. We need to do an identification of all the trophies. Dan, you have a mission. You need to identify everything. Jim, we're going to the village with you tomorrow. But the only question left, why isn't the sanctification information showing me? We have the same intelligence now."

"Michael, I don't know. Perhaps the Spirit should be raised to a minimum?" shrugged Dan with his shoulders.

"What is the connection between spirit and intelligence?"

"I don't know guys. We don't have a detailed game manual. And you can guess forever. We have to find a balance in development. Otherwise, you're making life harder for yourself.

You play like a very strong and enduring character, but you're stupid.

And this Spirit, that's a very strange characteristic. There's no skill with its application.

How and where do you get Character Cla.s.s? We don't know."

Michael punched the table with his fist:

"Character cla.s.s is a good question. Tomorrow, we're going to shake up the village information pretty well. Our Glory is not lost! 'The Glory' is now 50, so our reputation has risen. I really hope this village b.a.s.t.a.r.ds will be more cooperative. Let's not rush in spirit. Dan, you wander around the castle tomorrow, takes a good look around. Maybe you'll see something interesting."

"Okay," said Dan. "What's that smell? My saliva ran out."

He wanted to eat so badly, his stomach reacted instantly, and played a bubbling sound.

John had a mysterious smile:

"Now you're going to see everything. Gandalf, come and help."

Dan knew they were about to have a delicious dinner.

There was another important matter that remained to be resolved. Dan asked Michael:

"By the way, what are your pa.s.sive skills?"

Mikhail, disturbed by the question, woke up from his thoughts. He told about pa.s.sive skills.

Concentration, it's pa.s.sive to increase damage or to increase the chance of successful Craft. Jim has one, too. Michael had it developed by three points. He could have hit 15% harder.

Psychic defense makes life harder for creatures that specialize in mental attacks. Michael's harder to hit.

Dan realized that if an enemy has a curse against him, he has a chance to throw it down.

Self-control reduces pain. For one point, 5% less pain. It's believed that pa.s.sive skills only sway up to 50%. Otherwise, the prospects are too bright. Ideally, by pumping Self-control you can reduce pain by half.

The recipe for obtaining this pa.s.sive skill is very simple. You have to get a serious wound and be patient. The more patient you are, the better. You can cut yourself with a knife if your inclinations allow.

Michael has filled his five Self-control points for twelve monster deaths. He had five points, Gandalf had two, and Alexander had four in Self-control. Everybody else's self-control was one.

Dan listened carefully to new information.

It became clear to him that there was only one step left for complete happiness.

He has to die. Now he has the opportunity to be reborn.

He is just a lab rat at the game developer's? He was reborn after death in a world with game conventions? It doesn't matter.

What matters is that Dan was alive. Dan started life by fighting a monster, and won. He remembers how scary and painful and creepy it was. He cried like a baby.

Dan has to taste death. But he'll do this important experiment tomorrow.

John and Gandalf entered the room. They were carrying heavily loaded platters.

Gandalf had a mountain of boiled potatoes on his tray, surrounded by vegetables like green onions and carrots.

But the most important thing was the tray that John had brought.

The baked pieces of pork had a pretty smelly scent on their brains.

Jim laughed and leaned under the table, and pulled out a hollow clay pitcher.

Alexander smiled and instantly pulled out wooden cups from the air.

Here it is the power of the equipment.

Michael watched their manipulations with condemnation.

"Come on, Mikhail, we have a reason to drink. There's an addition to our group. The guy survived. The guy's already been a great help to us."

"A very clever addition," said Gandalf.

He was looking at Michael with a smile. Gandalf was the first to move his cup on the spill.

"Oh, you'll have an intensive morning workout tomorrow," Michael threw his finger at him.

John smiled at Dan:

"In the morning, we rise and will do ten laps around the fortress. Then there will be complex with jumps and other exercises. A little strength and dexterity with endurance can be taken from exercise."

"You take physical exercise seriously. It's smart and important," agreed Dan.

"You're thinking right about the right things. Characteristics are the most important thing for us right now."

"Okay, guys. Will lives!"

And the hands of the people sitting at the table stretched out in circles to the center.