Chapter 86: 84
How much does it take to "kill" a dead man before your hand stops shaking or missing? How long will it take? For an ordinary sapient - a lot, but for a metamorph? What if we add to this problems with low emotionality? This question sounds more complicated, right?
It took me two days to practice the correct strike. A blow from the back, from the front to the chest, from different angles, from different positions... From morning to night, for ten hours, I did this monotonous work. The number of dead people exceeded five hundred; there was no end to them. In general, I could have finished this on the first day, after literally two hours of "massacre". Being a metamorph, which gives complete control over the body, prevents the "shaking" of the hands. And the horror of death has long gone away for me. Moreover, I can "create" reflex memory myself.
The reaction of my companions to my actions was not clear. If at the beginning they thought that I was pretending and hiding my true emotions behind a mask of aloofness, then by the end of the first day most of them changed their minds. And if there was interest in the eyes of Crystal, Og, and Flitwick, then the rest showed misunderstanding.
And they can be understood. When before your eyes a teenager who is not even thirteen years old, with a blank face, cuts up the dead, while not experiencing anything, you involuntarily ask the question: are you strange or does this teenager still stand out from the rest?
Be that as it may, by the end of the second day, the decision was made to finish my "training" and move on to the second part of the "children's" camp - reconnaissance.
"Calder," the professor turned to me after our squad returned to camp. Now most of them were at their favorite fire, with the exception of Sol and Lis. They were in a tent. The fire sorceress still won't leave. "As I said earlier, there is no longer any need for further genocide of the dead," this half-goblin grinned slightly mockingly. Well, yes, genocide. He said it as if I myself ran after them and purposefully slaughtered their livestock. "Starting tomorrow, you will be at Al's disposal," the designated person nodded. Well, yes, who better than a werewolf to reveal about intelligence. "You will spend the whole of tomorrow, as well as a few after it, in his company." Learn everything you can and try not to disappoint him.
My silent nod was his answer. Let's see what exactly they have prepared for me. The first step will pass, now you need to take the second.
The rest of the day was not full of anything interesting for me. The usual gatherings around the fire, dinner, and after that an evening workout and sleep. Well, let's see what the coming day has in store for us.
*****
"Get up, it's already morning," the werewolf's light bass, followed by blows on my bed, brought me out of the depths of sleep. The darkness opens its embrace, allowing you to once again find yourself in the real world.
Having looked at Al's eyes, which shone with amber fire in the darkness of the tent, he nodded to him, as if proving that I had woken up.
Having looked at me and chuckled, my companion today headed out. When crossing the "threshold" of the tent, he threw over his shoulder:
"We're leaving in twenty minutes." I hope you have time to have breakfast.
After lying in bed for another twenty seconds, I finally decided to get up. Washing, brushing teeth, and morning exercise took about fifteen minutes. Eating even less. Having swallowed the porridge, hardly chewing, I was ready to perform. I don't have to worry about heaviness in my stomach.
Most of the squad was already on their feet. Only the snoring continued to be heard from Oga's tent. There would be no need to cast a spell of silence. The gnome will sleep for another hour and a half, unless, of course, no one wakes him up first. Having greeted the awake part of the camp, he directed his steps towards Al.
"Hmm, I made it," the werewolf chuckled at the sight of me ready. "Follow me," he turned and began to walk away from the camp. I followed him.
The sun rises from the horizon, beginning to blind our eyes. Because of this, I had to squint and it didn't help much. The eyes continued to water. The snow underfoot made a slight crunch, which did not contribute to our camouflage, if you can call it that.
The werewolf figure walked forward confidently. The snow also crunched under his feet. Hmm, how does he deal with this? No way? Or. At the moment he doesn't see the need for it.
"Al," after ten minutes of silence, he finally decided to speak. Perhaps you will be able to learn something new, if not in terms of development, then maybe about the squad itself.
"I thought you would be silent the whole way," he turned to me, smiling. "Come on, ask your question," the werewolf said with slight impatience and emotion.
"I noticed that there is an unspoken division into roles in the squad. In the example, Croco is a melee mage, Sol is a sort of offensive setup, Fox and Og are mostly support, I'm trying to convey my thoughts to him. —This is who you are for the detachment: a scout or a fighting force?
After walking a little in silence, the werewolf finally answered:
- Both this one and that one. I have equal ability in both reconnaissance and combat. Of course, in pure intelligence I am inferior to Ed," he decided to explain his words to me. "And in a battle I will lose to Croco, but that does not mean that I am weak." No, it's just that my friends are much stronger in the chosen schools - hmm, a kind of hybrid of two professions. But it turns out that Ed is not that strong, by the standards of the squad, despite his speed, which can only be envied.
— Can I have one more question? - a nod from the werewolf. - What's on the agenda? I mean, aren't we just going to wander around? Every action must have a purpose. What is it like for us?
Again he is silent and walks away. Is it his quirk to remain silent before answering? Or is he thinking about how not to blurt out too much?
"The first part of the day is a test of your concealment abilities." Not the ones you demonstrated during the hunt back then, no. You will need to go into the enemy's camp, inspect the territory, and then come back and report everything that you heard, I—the werewolf began to explain in a calm, well-trained voice. - Let's do a few test walks. If everything goes well, then the next step will be to head deep into the territory, right up to the limit of the Lich's sensitivity.
Silenced, Al continued on his way. I wonder if this is standard practice for them? Testing on "live" material with a gradual increase in level?
Walking briskly, we covered kilometer after kilometer. The sun shone brightly on us, the sky was transparent blue, without a single layer. A couple of times we were able to see ice wyverns flying about their business. A gigantic body, about twenty meters long, white. Two bulky hind legs, the front ones were part of the wings, forming one "body" with them. Ice crystals of Grebnev ran along the body, which were much harder than metal. The slightly angular head was crowned with a crown of thorns. Blue eyes, with barely a second slit pupil, looked around the world with the superiority of the "strongest" predator.
This is exactly what ice wyverns, efficient descendants of dragons, looked like. It was Norbert who was the wyvern, and not the dragon, as I mistakenly assumed. The wyvern genes were already heavy on my body, let alone dragons. I feel that if I try to not only externally turn into them, but also internally (meaning magical features, etc.), then I might be torn apart on the spot.
Finally, after an hour, we approached the first draugr. Standard draugr, of which there are a dime a dozen here, only this one, unlike the others, did not have a helmet. A bald head with shriveled grayish skin "glittered" in the sun.
"Okay," Al said, stopping. - This is your first goal. Go to him, check the situation nearby, and then come back and report," the werewolf gave the command. And then, as if remembering something, he began rummaging in his pockets. Finally finding what he was looking for, he took out a methodical bracelet, copper-colored, covered with runes. Another artifact. - Put it on. If something happens, put mana into the bracelet. You will immediately be teleported to the camp, where the second part of the artifact is located - the receiver. Remember," Al added, watching me fasten the bracelet. — The artifact is disposable, so consider it your last chance. Ready? - nod. - Forward.
Having finished, Al himself began to transform. It happened incredibly quickly, but with my vision as well as my memory, it was not difficult to remember everything down to the smallest detail.
First, the mouth began to stretch out, followed by the crunch of changing limbs. The back arched, the ridge began to increase. Gradually, the figure of the werewolf began to grow. Unable to hold on, Al fell onto all fours, beginning to grow fur. After about a second and a half it was all over. In front of me stood a familiar giant wolf, staring at me with unnaturally intelligent yellow eyes. Every now and then the "glow" of torches could be seen in them, adding a certain sovereign horror to his gaze.
- "Have you seen enough?" — a slightly growling, mocking voice sounded in my head. "In this form, it's much more difficult for the dead to detect me," Al answered the unasked question. Apparently he doesn't plan to explain further yet, but I hope in the near future I will learn about this detail in more detail.
Nodding to his words, I decided to start acting in the same way. Closing my eyes, I entered Inviz again. The usual cold enveloped my being. I wonder what it feels like at the third stage? And on the fourth? What about when using space mana?
Opening my eyes, I stared at the werewolf, who at the moment was trying to notice me somehow, but alas, nothing came of it. If he had reached the grandmaster, then he would have found me without any problems.
"I'm here," he mentally told the werewolf through the artifact, carefully touching him with his hand. Trembling slightly, apparently in surprise, Al nodded, and then waved his head towards the draugr. - "I understand, I'm already on my way."
Having fallen silent and slightly moving away, he headed towards the dead man. At first I did not hide my steps, but when approaching the dead man, I completely hid my sounds.
This time I moved much more confidently, taking into account previous mistakes. Inviz worked at two hundred percent, recouping the efforts spent on it. You will spend hundreds of hours on it in the future, but it will be worth it.
Slowly, at a walking pace, I move in circles around the dead man, gradually approaching him. Telekinesis helped not leave traces, and also reduced the noise emitted to a critically low level.
Normal hill, one draugr. No other dead people are visible within the detection radius. Perhaps underground? Using magical vision, he examined the surroundings.
It seems clean. Hmm, what is this? At a distance from me, next to the werewolf, there was someone underground. And no, it wasn't a draugr. The "shade" of the mana was different, and I've seen it like this before. This is how the dead raised by Crystal look like in magical vision.
It looks like they don't plan to leave us just like that, since they gave us escort. I wonder whose initiative this is. Susan, who is worried about her lover, or Flitwick, who is once again muddying the waters?
Having driven away unnecessary thoughts, I examined the territory again. It was also applied to the site of impact. To my delight and the draugr's frustration, his back was exposed. There was no part of the armor. The best thing is to kill with one hit.
After watching for another minute I went back. Approaching the werewolf, he froze about two meters away from him.
"I'm done," I said mentally and canceled the visa. In an instant the cold disappeared, no longer hiding me.
- "Well, is there anything interesting?" — the werewolf growled after he looked at my figure with a gaze.
"No," I shook my head. - One draugr. No strangers were found around the hill; I can't say anything about the presence of servers under the snow. "I have no way of finding out about this," he shrugged, saying, "It's not my fault." And in general I'm small.
- "Wait here. Now it's my turn," Al growled and ran towards the dead man.
And for what? From him there are still centuries of magic, as well as life. Draugr all the way at him. What was he up to?
I received the answer to my question much earlier than I expected. Gradually, the werewolf began to decrease in size, approaching the "growth" of ordinary wolves. The amount of mana that he released into the atmosphere became much less. Also, in his emotions, some kind of animal desires began to emanate from him. It feels as if he gave the reins to the inner beast, becoming like it.
Having run around the draugr, the wolf headed over the hill. The dead man himself did nothing, only turned towards the werewolf. Having seen him off, he again began to observe the emptiness.
Having run around the hill, the werewolf returned to the dead man and began to drip snow, separated from him. It seems that not only I, but also the draugr were freaked out by this picture. So what happens, draugrvs don't react to animals? Then why did the first lraugr attack me in the form of a bird? Or is it also affected by the creature's "intelligence"? But if so, then they should feel psi. Hmm, why do they do this? How interesting, I want to know the answers to all the questions.
Finally finished with his business, Al returned back. Yes, taking on human form for a second, the werewolf rose to his feet.
"You were right," he began, straightening his clothes. Where does it evaporate? - There is only one draugr, there are no others nearby. Under the snow, it seems, too," here he fell silent for a little. -Can you deal with him? — A minute later he asked me a question and looked at me expectantly.
Nodding at his words, you focused again and activated the invis. Heading towards the dead man, he took out a dagger from the sheath on his belt. Carefully, slowly, he walked around the draugr and began to move towards him. Finally approaching, I hit him in the back with a sharp blow.
The draugr did not feel anything until the end. His body began to fall to the ground, but did not reach him, crumbling first.
Having hidden the dagger back, I headed towards the werewolf who was waiting for me.
More dead people are waiting for us.
Weekly Power Status
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