19 YOUR CHOICE

With Stone Skin and my high endurance, only a special lance attack could prove to be dangerous. I could deal with the rebels even without my magical skills if I wanted to. But what good would that do me? I had neither the desire nor the time to become the leader of a new squad, especially if I had to kill someone for good. I didn't see any other way to protect myself from Petrovich's team. Andrei, Suren and Alexander were dead, as far as I could understand. What really confused me was Vadim, the newbie, who posed absolutely no threat and whose tombstone had been destroyed for nothing. If that really was true, then there was no arguing with the rebels. I had no choice.

"You shouldn't have done that. If you had let me do the talking, I would have calmed him down," Dmitri's quiet voice rang out. He was too calm for a person who was forced to murder. So he's in the team, too, I thought. Just behind the redhead, Vadim's immense outline appeared. He was dragging Suren's body by the leg. He threw the corpse to Andrei with all the strength he had left and fell to the ground. Okay, so, the new rule didn't kill the newbies. Fair enough, who would they rule over otherwise?

Andrei, Suren, Alexander, you all helped me survive my first days in this world. You lit the fire and didn't leave me at the crossroads of shadows. Revenge… I guess I have no choice… But not now. Now I need to get stronger.

"Hello everyone," rising to my full height, I stepped forward. "The last few minutes were very informative."

"Playin' tough, huh?" the Major got excited at once. The guy was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. It was surprising that he was able to keep himself together and stop, seeing Petrovich's raised hand.

"My teacher left, and I'm here to continue training. If you don't interfere with me, I will not get the way..." I had to exhale, my throat became practically numb, "…of the spontaneous elections and I'll even perform some tasks. But my terms will have to be accepted: one, don't interfere with my training; two, don't ask too many questions; and three... I'll be taking my tombstone."

"Hah!" to my surprise, Petrovich almost laughed. "So Igor really isn't dead, he's just gone." Well, that's exactly what I want you to think, old man, I thought. Still, being a presumptuous beginner was one thing, and being a follower of the incomprehensible and terrible Baldy was quite another. "He said almost the same thing when Andrei and Suren were done with Max."

Deception: +2,000

You have reached Deception, level 3.

"I don't mind," Dmitri suddenly put an end to the conversation. The demure blacksmith was the last person I expected to do something like that. I wondered what role he played in all of this.

"I even support it," Petrovich smiled, and then suddenly became serious. "We aren't interested in anyone else's opinion."

Was this some kind of an educational maneuver? To take the Major and the cop down a peg or two?

"Dasha," I turned to the girl still sitting in the bushes. "You can try to escape now, they probably won't find you. But you will resurrect here if you die, and it will be harder to agree on your place in the new society."

Well, I did my best to warn her. I didn't think she would be in danger anytime soon. Petrovich planned to stay a leader for a long time, and he was unlikely to hurry making decisions. Maybe I'm just lying to soothe myself… But what about Olga… There she was, emerging from the cave and into the sunlight, looking quite normal. She had probably been here from the start.

Silently passing everyone I got to the cemetery. All around me were freshly made stone fragments. The only ones untouched were mine, Vadim's, Olga's and that of the mysterious Olesya's, who had vanished more than a month ago. Where did our rebels put their stones, I wonder… I got an answer to that very soon — four large steel cages stood behind the next door, where all the junk used to be. In the center of each lay a tombstone, and at its base was a set of armor and weapons.

Clever. They probably decided not to hide their swords and spears in their inventory. So they must've kept the keys in there. It made sense. In case of death they would simply rise, put on new armor, unlock the door and get out. They wouldn't have to wait for someone to open the door for them; nobody else would be able to get to their tombstones. That was really important, given the recent events. It was all pretty reasonable but I didn't know if I could trust the redhead, who had, apparently, forged these cells. I wouldn't be surprised if he provided a way to get to any of his current allies. I was also wondering when they had time to pull this all off.

Having attached the tombstone to my back, I passed by everyone once again. They all fell silent upon seeing me. They were sitting in a circle, attentively listening to Petrovich. It was a little offensive that they got used to everything so quickly.

After making sure that no one had followed me, some twenty minutes later, I got off the path and headed toward the swamp. Yes, I had a portable tombstone hidden there, but the swamp was big, and I was yet to find a safer place. Mosquitoes would defend me from any beginner, and if someone more experienced wanders in here… What were the chances that they would accidentally stumble upon my portable tombstone? Finally finding a secluded place, I buried the stone and only then did I take a breath. Did I really manage to wriggle out of such a scrape? Without losses, too. My good luck won't last forever, though… I have to raise my stats as quick as possible. If I don't… No matter how many tombstones I have, sooner or later I will share the same fate as Baldy, Andrei, Suren and Alexander.

Petrovich spent the next two days bringing the camp in order; he even wrote a rulebook and a memo for the future newcomers. I looked through it — there was little information, but everything was sensibly and clearly organized. Dmitri was constantly at the forge, as usual. The Major and Semyon took turns helping Vadim level-up or make food. Girls were released from those duties. However, they were rather gloomy. But they would survive. I was sure that they wouldn't have passed their test without such an ability. As for me, I spent the whole day in the swamp and had only six hours of sleep. I would go to the base only to have breakfast and dinner and then I would go back to the swamp. It was worth it, though. As it turned out, striking improved my strength and dodging my dexterity. I was yet to come up with a plan on how to improve my intelligence, though.

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As a result, my stats were as follows:

Strength: 22

Dexterity: 28

Endurance: 32

Intelligence: 25

I got the Combinator achievement for raising my dexterity up to 25 so I could create my own combos now. Sadly, I had no special abilities, so I could only use my ordinary attacks. But even so, the second one was 30% stronger than the first. I immediately remembered that time when Baldy used a four hit combo. How much had he improved his attributes? I also tried to chain my spells together but that didn't work either. Gaining 25 endurance points, too, gave an achievement — Toughness. I could now withstand blows with up to 100 damage without being knocked over. But, most importantly, with my Stone Skin and the armor, my defense reached 72 points. Realizing that even a machine gun couldn't harm me now gave me the creeps. Even returning to the base didn't seem so dangerous now. Realizing that you aren't in danger did wonders for a good night's rest.

I spent the last few hours focused on improving my strength, as I wanted to know what I would get when I get 25 points of it. However, it seemed that that would have to wait until tomorrow. It was too dark now. I could still see some ten steps or so ahead but that was it. I wasn't yet ready to go and check who, and what, roams the swamp at night.

I came back in a good mood. There was a surprise waiting for me next to the base — eight large wooden carts placed a circle, within which was a campfire. I was so confused that I didn't even try to hide and was quickly noticed.

"Cat," Petrovich's happy voice came directly from the illuminated circle. "Come here, it's okay. These are the usual merchants."

Those he called "the usual merchants" turned out to be a family consisting of the owner and his three sons accompanied by two dozen guards, all varying from level 70 to 90. To be honest, at first I didn't believe that we could offer such people anything interesting, something that couldn't be taken by force, but I was wrong. It turned out that there were a lot of merchants and that each of them monitored about a dozen settlements, circling them every other month, bringing weapons, amulets, potions and exchanging them for attributes. As Dmitri had said, getting out of the nearest cart with a set of some vises, you could exchange, or even gain, attributes with the help of a special amulet. As, of course, there was a limit to how much a person could gain up this way, no more than 50 points to each attribute. The only problem was the price — it was very, very high. After all, anyone who decides to sell a couple of points will eventually lose what might help them survive in the future, and those who have already reached the 100th level and whose settlements were, as they say, already closer to the exit... They were ready to kill each other for the opportunity to become a little bit stronger.

"These points might seem like a trifle to us right now, but everything will change later. But firstly you need to get there," with those words the redhead went to check the goods at the next cart, leaving me alone.

"Aren't you afraid that someone holding a grudge could buy weapons and fight back?" I approached Petrovich, trying to spoil his mood a little, but he hadn't stopped smiling.

"Alex, the merchant, is a clever man.", said the lancer. I couldn't see his name because of the level gap. I should try to talk to him later. "Why would he bring us something expensive if he can get what he wants in an exchange for some common swords? Moreover, if you sell a weapon for revenge, there will be less of those willing to sell their stats the next time."

"Did you sell anything?" I was actually curious.

"Of course." His answer honestly surprised me. For some reason, I was sure that a person like him wouldn't risk his future for the sake of momentary benefit. "Although Alex doesn't carry legendary things, he has a lot that can be found only behind the Distant Forest, something without which you can't get there. The stats I sold to him just now... If all goes according to plan, I'll get them back."

Just like the redhead, he said that you couldn't go further without the merchant's goods. This all looked like high-quality brainwashing. I could be paranoid, but brainwashing is still a possible option. I should take a closer look regardless.

It was strange that everyone had gathered here, except for the girls. Why were they constantly sitting in the cave? Olga, for one, didn't seem all that timid to me.

"Ronald Jones," came a hoarse bass from one of the caravan master's sons. He immediately waved his hand, pointing at his relatives in turn. He spoke with a strong accent. "This is Alex, my father, and these are my brothers, Sylvester and David Senior."

David Senior, so there's the Junior, a thought flashed through my head. Baldy's real name was David Jones. Little Davey. All of a sudden, all the oddities that had been unconsciously confusing me all this time and for which I could not find an explanation, finally made sense. That's why they are so tense, despite the difference in levels, that's why they keep looking around. I hope this won't lead to trouble.

"We were told that one of your squad members has gone somewhere and that we can learn the details from his follower, from you." The caravanner approached us. His accent was less noticeable. I had a feeling that my head was being squeezed in a vise. The first thing I wanted to ask was why they were so interested in unknown newbie, but the thought disappeared at once. Instead, I had a suspicion that the Jones family would be overseeing only nine starting bases, and not ten, if I say something wrong.

"You mean your son?" I had to raise the stakes.

"Hmm," Alex thought, and the pressure on my head intensified. "Perhaps you have some proof of you being his follower?"

Yeah, of course, a diploma and a certificate.

Damn, my nose was bleeding. Petrovich was holding himself well. He didn't start panicking and tried to learn about what was going on with his subordinate. He got a fat chance, though. They stopped him and gently led him aside.

"A personal weapon." If I was right and if it really was Baldy who had provided me with the scythe, they would recognize it.

I summoned the scythe and showed it. The pressure disappeared immediately.

Deception: +4,000

You have reached Deception, level 4.