Nick, John, and Dan were sitting by the fire talking about strange things. Dan decided to tell them some of his secrets and a.s.sumptions. John didn't understand his friends' common worries.

"I don't care about sudden death. I agree that we're all involved in some kind of experiment, and we could all get killed at any moment. But that doesn't change anything, brother! Everybody anywhere can suddenly die. Why worry and think about such things? You have to live and enjoy what you have. And make your life even better."

"John, you're absolutely right. But I'm thinking about how to avoid sudden death. We're immortal! Ancient hunters are dead. I don't want us all to die suddenly," said Dan.

"You don't want to die, somebody wants to die, it's too crazy wishes," laughed a.s.sa.s.sin.

"I'm not ready to discuss the reasons for possible sudden death. I'm ready to be a part of Dan's plan. That makes a magical point. My game is turning into a regular job. I used to go on duty and catch criminals, now I wake up in the morning, kiss my wife, and go kill monsters. Dan offers an interesting case," said Nick.

"Dan, I agree to deal with your d.a.m.n artifact. I agree that you need to reach level 80. But I don't want to get involved with any of the local G.o.ds! I'm fine with my faith," said a.s.sa.s.sin quietly. "And everyone else is not going to like this turn of events. Anna and Dan have become level 80! Many will be jealous. That's not good."

"No problem for the clan, John. The clan has Kate. The clan doesn't need me, I'll go away and kill the dead in peace and get my level 80," responded Dan.

"You have to kill level 30 skeletons to get to level 80," laughed Nick.

"Three dead cities like Nazgor will be enough. I've roughly calculated the progress of our levels and the amount of experience. 70.000 monsters on level 30," answered Dan with a serious voice.

"You fight like a girl! You've got the smallest damage among fighters, brother," laughed a.s.sa.s.sin.

"6000 is good average damage. One month of continuous slaughter and I'll take my 80th level," replied Dan.

"There's no such thing as a continuous ma.s.sacre. You can't find that many skeletons in one place," objected Nick.

"I hope the clan doesn't mind if I start working against the dead of the West. I hope we find places with lots of dead people," told Dan.

"And then your book will help you meet one of the local G.o.ds? The one who supports the army of the dead. You have strange desires, brother," said John.

"His desires are unusual and full of mysteries and riddles, just like his game. Let's go to bed. Tomorrow will be a busy day," suggested the ranger.

"Dan, have you calculated how much it takes to kill monsters to get to level 100," asked John in a quiet voice.

"From level 44 to level 80, it's a month of slaughter. There's still a month of slaughter to level 88. There are tens of billions of experiences going on, I'm not interested in them," replied Dan.

*

In the morning, the scouts did not move far from the river but approached the border of the thick forest. The river flowed eastwards. The scouts decided that the sinner and the a.s.sa.s.sin would walk along the river to the west. But the ranger will use of all his skills and will survey a large area of the forest at high speed. The pets have once again proved to be useful. Each player received on his map details of the place where his pet has been. Dan proved to be the most uncomfortable companion for clever scouts. His ability to move through the forest was at its lowest level. In the game, each partic.i.p.ant was engaged in some kind of business and received an offer to master their activities as a specialty. The player could three times give up an unnecessary specialty and forever remained a regular novice in the rejected type of activity. Dan was a disgusting forest traveler. He was making noise, he was moving slowly, he was holding up scouts. His weakest characteristic was dexterity! Only 39 points in dexterity couldn't help their clumsy character.

By noon, the players had realized that the forest was becoming dangerous. No animals posed a threat to them. But Nick found an unpleasant opponent.

Dangerous insects lived in the forest. Ranger saw a strange creature that was level 30 and looked like a mixture of a bee and a mantis. Nick was able to see the creature's level and incomplete information. Ranger immediately ran away from the dangerous creature and went back to the river. They needed Dan's advice. Players began slowly approaching the monster. Soon they could hear the loud sound of the insect's wings as it flew.

Players sat behind the bush and watched the incredible creature. The honey mantis looked like a threatening and dangerous monster. On its triangular head with large red eyes stood out powerful jaws with sharpened teeth. The monster was the size of a man. Its body was covered with yellow wool, with brown spots scattered on it. The front legs of the mantis had powerful thorns on their s.h.i.+ns. The wings were transparent when the mantis sat down, they were immediately folded on his back. Dan looked at this dangerous creature and immediately turned around to stealthily get away from him.

The scouts moved to a safe distance, and the sinner gave them an exact reference to the new enemy.

*

Honey Mantis

Type: normal

Level: 31

Life: 33000

Damage 2000-3500

Description: Dangerous creation of evil forces. The honey mantis is dangerous with its variety of attacks. This predator can do different types of damage. The monster can fly and track its prey. The Mantis can make a fast throw and stab its spikes into the body of the victim.

Attention! The attack of the Mantis' spikes inflicts venomous damage. The Mantis can also strike with its sting and paralyze the victim for a few seconds.

Do not try to sneak up on the Mantis from behind, the monster can turn his head and look behind his back. Never pursue a wounded mantis. The predator will lead you to his nest, where all of its inhabitants will meet you.

*

The presence of a poisonous monster in the forest, which is capable of immobilizing the enemy, was an unpleasant discovery.

"I do not like the news of the nests of the mantis! I don't know how normal mantis lives, but bees live in hives. There are a lot of them," said a.s.sa.s.sin.

"Tame bees live in hives. But wild bees live in swarms. Bees are somehow organized, they're like ants, they're very smart," explained Dan.

"A clever flying predator that can't be separated from peacefully. An unpleasant opponent. I wonder what the honey of these mantis tastes like. Let's kill one. I want honey," said Nick.

"I like honey, too, brother. Dan, let's go. You're going to lure that 'woolly eyes' out. We'll kill him fast," proposed John.

They didn't doubt their victory and decided to go back to where the insect was spotted.

The Mantis was sitting in the same place. He did not move and waited for his sacrifice. Dan took no chances and activated 'Autodafe' as soon as he could see the enemy. The Mantis made a long jump in his direction and came across an unexpected obstacle. John jumped invisibly on him and dealt a strong blow with daggers. Nick fired two arrows and finally killed the enemy. John immediately began drinking the antidote and the potion. The attack of the Mantis caused him 1500 damage and 3000 damage from poison. The angry a.s.sa.s.sin wouldn't stop groaning:

"Nick, I could have handled myself! You've destroyed all our prey with your arrows, now we won't get honey! Dan, go get his honey fast, you're the luckiest."

Dan ran up to the insect body and collected the trophies. Then, the ranger started collecting the rest of the booty. John wasn't worried at all. Honey was in the trophies! The guys got three pounds of honey, 30 rials, and lots of good trophies. Honey was the most valuable product. One portion of honey restored 300 health points and well-enhanced the regeneration of health. Honey was a rare ingredient for alchemy and cooking. Nick said ones portion was worth 1 rial, and they could sell honey for 150 rials. That's a good catch. Hunting these dangerous monsters could have been very profitable.

The scouts even stopped and ate honey and bread. They were seriously considering finding a nest of honey mantis. There could be a lot of monsters in it. And there could be a lot of honey!

John said they should focus all their attention on finding a swarm of a mantis. The castle was only a day and a half away, it's a great challenge for the future battle mission of the clan. Nick supported a.s.sa.s.sin's plan. Dan agreed with them, finding a nest of mantis is a great target. But he decided not to be a hindrance to the dexterous specialists.

"I will move slowly along the river. I remember the river monsters and I'll be careful. The Mantis has pleasantly surprised me with his level. I'd like to check the level of the local dead."

The guys easily agreed with the sinner's suggestion. He had Invincibility, he didn't risk anything. If he dies, he'll shorten his way home. The sinner was a big hindrance to exploring the forest area.

Dan was moving swiftly through the edge of the forest. His cat was next to him, and he wasn't afraid of predators. p.u.s.s.y kept running away and killing animals. She'd already reached level 41 and the owner upset her by not intensifying her attack. She agreed to take one defense upgrade. But on level 50, she'll get an increased attack again! That's what they agreed to do.

Dan didn't see a lot of dead people. He noticed a lot more honey mantis that came to the river to get drunk. He and p.u.s.s.y hunted once, and the sinner didn't like the result. He spent the antidote on a cat. They were able to kill the insect quickly, but Dan had already noticed that the watering mantises were often flown in pairs. It wasn't life-threatening to meet two mantises, but it was unpleasant. Dan noticed that insects don't touch dead people! It was strange, but the behavior of the mantis could be understood. Why would they waste their energy on the dead? Bones aren't the best food. Bones may be interesting as a building material, but Dan was pleased that the mantises aren't being attacked. He crossed a dangerous line a long time ago and was always in the state of a living dead man. He had a strange relations.h.i.+p with Kate. They conducted several intimate experiments and both were happy with the results. Kate was very pleased with the results. Dan was saddened to realize that he had lost a lot in the pleasure of s.e.x. But it was a tolerable disappointment.

When evening came, Dan stepped away from the river and set up a place to sleep. p.u.s.s.y got the team to guard, not hunt any sighted animals or insects. The night pa.s.sed quietly and the sinner moved on from early in the morning. Next to the river it was uncomfortable to walk, the fog made it difficult to see the ground under his feet. Dan walked slowly along the edge of the forest and was angry at the local climate. Samantha could already admire the rays of the sun for several hours a day. In Galatea, magical protection from monsters awakened, which could affect the sky above the city. Dan hadn't been to the new city yet and didn't want to visit. Dead cities attracted him a lot more. Level 80 beckoned the sinner. Kate told him the secret of Bella. Their priestess gave up the path of the Temple woman and went to break the curses. Bella didn't care much for the welfare of the sinner, but she was sure that one day she would be able to lift the curse from him. That possibility made Dan a little excited. He'd be happy to develop as an inquisitor. Kate's example inspired respect. But he couldn't get rid of the interaction with the cursed object. Dan immediately told Kate that the ancient priests were excellent specialists. They hid the cursed artifacts, knowing perfectly for sure their value as cursed objects.

On the third day of the trip, Dan got some bad news. Nick's unexpected message made the sinner laughs.

"We got caught. We've been killed. Go back to the castle. We're planning an operation."

Dan was glad to see more and more dead people. Somewhere around here could be a place of undead acc.u.mulation. Now he had to come back. The sinner sat down and started thinking.

It takes a long walk along the river, and there's no guarantee he'll find the right place. Dead people don't need to water! They will not refuse the meat of men and reasonable monsters, but the dead are not interested in water. The camp of the dead could be deep in the forest. Dan could have walked past it. Unfortunately, he didn't meet any reasonably dead people. The skeletons were the dumbest and didn't understand the dead's language at all. Banshee and zombies didn't meet him. If he'd met the Draugr, he'd have been able to use his skills to get the information he needed. Dan realized he had to go deep into the woods. If he ran into dangerous opponents, he would fight to the death. Then, he'll rise in the castle and everything will be fine. He wasn't exactly going back to the castle on foot.

The sinner decided to spend one day on unpleasant scouting. He wrote a message to Nick and received a reply from Kate, who was dissatisfied with his behavior and promised that he would be punished. Dan sighed, the bad mood was finally ruined.

In the woods, he moved slowly and carefully. Even p.u.s.s.y's guards wouldn't help if they were suddenly attacked by five mantises. Dan can handle it if he activates 'Nemesis'. But this trick only works once.

This time, his luck didn't smile. He didn't meet a banshee or a zombie. He was attacked by the mantis. p.u.s.s.y warned him about an enemy that was lurking in an ambush. She even managed to smell two mantises that smelled like delicious honey. But when the fight started, Dan realized they couldn't handle it. This big mantis could jump far and fast like gra.s.shoppers. He activated the 'Hammer of Witches', the additional 2290 points of damage per second was excellent support. But right after the cat's death, Dan had to activate 'Nemesis' and got 229 seconds of invulnerability. He didn't pay attention to strikes on the armor, the first thing he did was drink an antidote and a recovery potion. Then, he started killing insects. The sinner used all of his skills and killed the mantis in a few strokes. It was hard to understand how many monsters attacked him. One mantis constantly circled over his head and struck from above. First, Dan killed every insect on earth. Every time the mantis was in poor health, the b.a.s.t.a.r.d tried to escape! But the former Inquisitor immediately remembered this quality of the enemy. He applied the 'Autodafe' skill to every opponent. 5 mantises ambushed the player and his cat. He was quickly finished with them.

Dan collected the trophies. He wasn't happy about any honey. Without invincibility, he's finished. p.u.s.s.y had 12300 HP. He had more protection, but the poison didn't pay any attention to protection, and those mantises punctured the armor. A few poison attacks would quickly kill a 10650 HP sinner.

Dan clenched his fists and went deep into the forest. He was in a bit of a hurry to think that he missed the quiet and cold-blooded dead.

A few minutes later he met two mantises and managed to kill one and quickly pick up the trophies.

There's no such thing as extra honey! Then the poison finished him off.

*

Dan woke up in a room he knew and told his friend and Nick he was coming back. The mood was disgusting. Dan went into the dining room for a delicious meal. He didn't want to think about the future operation and the opportunity to gain much experience.