Юрий Третьяков – Algoritm of oblivion (страница 10)

Quest “Choosing a Path” updated:

New class available:

Druid (hidden class) – a keeper of nature, able to transform into animals and use the power of nature to heal and attack. Druids can control the elements and summon natural forces.

Class skill: “Animal Fury”: The druid temporarily transforms into an animal – the totem of the tribe, gaining increased physical strength and armor. In this state, his attacks deal increased physical damage.

Patron deity: Terra (Mother Goddess) Goddess of Life, Fertility, Mother of Gods.

So if you open the hatch in the floor you get the druid class… Curious.

But Max was already looking up at the round opening on the ceiling of the temple, located directly above the hatch in the floor. Looking closely, he realized that the broken stained glass on the ceiling of the temple was a kind of sundial, and the glazing with symbols that allowed to determine the time by them was now missing because it had once been broken by a stone core launched by a siege machine. The stone core lay here among the fragments on the floor. “What if you don’t choose any of the classes currently available? Freedom is not choosing a class from a given list, but creating your own path,” he decided. – Technically, the broken stained glass in the center is also an exit.

Max smiled at his mischievous idea, jumping he grabbed the lower branch of the tree, pulled himself up climbed higher,

At that moment, his doppelgangers stepped out of the mirror portals all at once. “Get him!” – rang out the order of the commander. The warrior waved his sword, the mage released a ball of energy, the healer tried to paralyze him, and the assassin threw a dagger, but Maxim was fast enough. He ducked higher, climbed onto the next branch, and was soon under the very dome of the temple. Branches of the tree began to entwine around his legs. His hands didn’t reach the opening in the roof by almost a meter. “Stay” – a voice sounded in his head. He saw a face appearing on the bark of the tree, surprisingly similar to his own, if it opened its eyes it would be too late, too late. If he had been even a little taller, he probably could have reached the edges of the opening in the roof in a jump. But now it was impossible, his height was too small. He tried to climb a little higher, tearing his legs out of the branches that were entwining him. From this movement, under his weight, the upper branches of the tree creaked dangerously and went sharply down first, then returned up like a spring, momentarily lifting Max slightly higher than he was initially. “If you fall down and break all your bones, is there still a point in choosing the warrior class?” – a strange thought flashed through his head. The Ent was slowly coming to life.

Max jerked with all his might.

He pushed off with his feet at the highest point of the branch’s oscillation, and through a brief moment of flight, it seemed to him that he would never reach the edge of the broken stained-glass window, he instinctively squeezed his eyes shut, but his hands were still reaching forward, in this moment of weightlessness before the fall, his fingers gripped a ledge. He pulled himself up, grabbed a metal spire, which apparently once served as a clock hand in the sundial of the temple, and found himself on the roof.

Quest “Choosing a Path” Completed.

Class assigned:

Time Keeper (hidden class) – a mage capable of manipulating gravity, time, and space. Keepers can slow down or speed up events, use fast movements, and foresee the future.

Your divine patron is the One – God of gravity, time, and space, balance, and higher justice.

Reward: Class skill – Teleportation. With the help of ancient magic, you tear the fabric of space, instantly moving to the chosen point. Disappear from the sight of enemies and instantly move a short distance.

Use this skill to avoid danger or take a favorable position for attack.

Experience for completing the quest: +25

Experience for obtaining a unique class: +100

*You are the only player on the server to receive the Time Keeper class.

You have reached new level 11.

Experience to the next level: 1125 (+125) \1200

The movement inside the temple stopped, his digital doubles disappeared, and the tree became an ordinary plant again.

Max recoiled from the failure of the broken stained-glass window, stood up, and surveyed the surroundings. The temple, majestically towering in the middle of the city, shrouded in a poisonous fog that spread over the ground like a living creature. Only the roofs of individual buildings occasionally peered out of this fog, through which the dim light of the sunset broke through, painting the horizon in a bloody haze. The city, once prosperous, now looked like a shadow of itself, plunged into darkness and despair.

Sinister dark figures, resembling zombies, wandered through the streets with a swaying, uneven gait. Their movements were slow and unnatural, as if they were puppets in the hands of an invisible puppeteer. Max felt a chill run down his spine as one of these figures raised its head, and he saw empty, lifeless eyes looking in his direction.

The background music, previously quiet and unobtrusive, became gloomy, with booming drum beats that sounded like a harbinger of trouble. Each beat echoed in his heart, urging him to action.

“Damn… Where am I? -Max thought, – and where to go next?”

The heavy fog and monsters did not cause any desire to go down and explore the area.

“Faster Darriel, take him down!” – someone’s rough voice pierced the fog.

Max’s body worked faster than his brain and he collapsed down, pressed against the roof. The string of the crossbow snapped and a dark figure at the end of the street fell down with an arrow in its head.

“It could have been a screamer… we won’t be able to withstand the second aggro. Be on the lookout woman!” – warned the voice.

“Don’t whine Red. We’ll rest when we get to the temple. According to the location that Max sent you, he should be somewhere here. Monsters can’t go to holy ground.” – another voice replied.

The speakers finally appeared in the area of visibility, which was severely limited by the gray fog. They were a broad-shouldered shorty, a little shorter even than Max himself in a horned helmet, with a mace in his hands and a huge shield – a typical fantasy dwarf, and a honed, flexible female figure with a crossbow dressed in dark, form-fitting leather armor. Pointed ears and light hair made her look like an elf, but eyes shining with red lights and ash-gray skin did not allow to understand exactly what fantasy race she belongs to. The girl squatted over the monster lying on the pavement and pulled her arrow out of it.

“We should have arrived already, maybe we should go back a little?” – asked the dwarf.

The girl took out a piece of parchment from her bag and leaned over it.

“Where are we going, bearded one?” Darriel asked, as if continuing a dispute that had begun long before this. “We’ve already passed the leatherworker’s shop, so that means…”

A dark figure dangerously approached the adventurers from around the corner of the building, which they could not see…

The monster was not like the others. His size was impressive, and his movements were swift and clumsy, which only increased the sense of anxiety. Huge muscles under the black-haired body tensed with his every attempt to take a step, and his eyes flashed with a wild gleam. This jerky and uncoordinated gait inspired an inexplicable animal horror, as if nature itself had created him to sow fear.

Suddenly, the monster stopped, sensing the presence of adventurers. He sniffed the air, his breath was heavy and intermittent. Then, he let out a piercing roar that stunned everything around, like an alarm bell calling for action. The sounds spread throughout the city, causing the stones to tremble, and the birds to soar into the sky.

Reacting to his scream, all the black figures within the block, as if enraged and suddenly gaining unprecedented strength and speed, ran out of the fog and rushed towards the adventurers from all sides. More and more monsters appeared from the surrounding houses, foggy streets and dark alleys, one of them even jumped down from the second floor of the building opposite. The sound of breaking glass was replaced by a smacking sound after it landed on the pavement. The monster could not get up, but he crawled forward on his hands with a muffled growl.

The travelers were forced to retreat back into a narrow dead-end alley, trying to avoid being surrounded.

Quest received: “Allies\Enemies”

Description: In the cursed city you met a group of adventurers, unite with them or destroy them.

Type: Random event.

Reward: Variable.

Penalty for failure: No.

The crossbowwoman brought down two monsters with accurate shots, and first of all the “Screamer” that signaled the attack to the others, before the dark figures from all sides huddled the dwarf covering her with a shield. The dwarf, skillfully wielding his mace, laid down three, and deftly dropped several zombies that clung to the shield, but when creatures of another type began to appear in the crowd of attackers, even faster and larger, more like animals than former people, the green health bar that appeared above his head quickly crept down. Probably, when it reaches zero, the dwarf will simply fall on the stone pavement of the pavement and it will be torn to pieces.