World of Karik: A Game of Villains 25 The Exi

"You probably understand," the merchant added, "that it'd be better not to fool me. David chose you as his follower, so I'll be open with you. Do you know where he is?"

Again that unpleasant pressure... But now I felt panic, too. I just wanted to jump up and run screaming into the forest, but an unknown force had me pinned to the ground. After thirty years and with such power he only managed to reach level 90? Fox reached level 40 in one evening.

No, man, you were obviously holding back. Baldy could hide his name… You must be able to do something similar. And this pressure… I bet I'm managing to stay on my feet only because of my intelligence and magical resistance.

"The last time I saw him was when we ran into the Reaper," I said in a trembling voice. Is that what they wanted me to do? How disgusting I must look. "He disappeared after that. The Reaper said he killed him, but…"

"But you didn't believe him, and that was the right thing to do," Alex finished my sentence for me.

The panic disappeared as suddenly as it had appeared and pressure returned to normal.

"It's not the first time he got out of trouble," the merchant said with satisfaction. "He wasn't with us at the gas station that day. Sally, Ronald, David Sr. and I moved here. Sylvester was born here. And David Jr., my nephew, stayed in that world."

"But he somehow found a way to get in here …" I blurted out without thinking.

"He did," the merchant agreed. "And now you have to help me find him."

"Me?" I asked, raising my eyebrows.

"Yes, you," Jones said. "Are you his follower or what?"

He said the last words with undisguised sarcasm. I didn't like that. He was either doubting that I had been following Baldy, or he simply considered me unworthy of it. I wished it was the latter.

"Let's go back," Alex proposed complacently. "And do not say a word about this conversation."

I was feeling rather cold by now, so I took the merchant's offer with enthusiasm. It was much warmer near the base. Judging by the smoke, they had already lit a fire near the cave and were preparing a late dinner. To be honest, it was no longer fun being alone with our guest from the eighties.

Replaying various banalities in my thoughts I managed to get rid of the excitement and worries about my future: I was a simple guy, I trusted the good and the wise old man, a relative of the teacher who had taught me how to live. Little by little, I managed to suppress my fears, and my companion, who was somehow scanning my condition, stopped looking at me with suspicion.

"By the way," Jones suddenly said. "You asked whether or not it was possible to get out of here."

I nodded. The merchant had already given me an answer…in a way. If he himself had been here for several decades, and if one of the sons had been born here, it was simply impossible to get to the exit point. Truth be told, that depressed me. Could a person born in this world get into ours? He hadn't appeared here because of a test and, therefore, at least theoretically, the entry rules didn't apply to him. Or did they?

"I grew old here, lad," the merchant said firmly. "And I haven't seen anyone reach the exit point. Face the facts."

Having concluded our conversation, he confidently walked over to the carts and our base. Ronald, who had been waiting for us nearby, joined his father and the two started discussing something in private. I thought I'd best leave them alone.

It's interesting, I thought along the way. Judging by what I know now, people started coming to this world in the last century. And no one, according to Jones, had ever gotten out of here. Many had simply accepted the fact that there was no way out, and even created some kind of a civilization. Why not? At least this world is appealing because it's very difficult to die here.

On the other hand, who was doing this and why? Was someone experimenting on people? Simply having fun? So many questions and almost no answers. My old friend Igor/David had given me a riddle… He had somehow managed to get here and meet his family. The most improbable assumptions came to my mind; the most reasonable ones were that Alex Jones' mentor found the adult Baldy and forced him to participate in the trial, promising him that he'll meet his uncle, aunt and cousins. However, I knew too little about the so-called "gods", so this assumption was no better than the rest.

So, lost in thought, I went to the campfire and sat down next to the fat man who was devouring a bowl of steaming soup. He smiled nervously when he saw me and then looked away. He's afraid, the poor thing. I couldn't blame him. He had just survived a deadly trial and immediately got involved in a bloody and merciless revolution. Compared to him, I was lucky.

Judging by the conversations happening around us, Jones and his guards would be staying near our base until morning. As the leader, Petrovich had a couple of important conversations with Alex, and the Major stood in a circle with the brothers and was talking to them about something. The topics were obviously not happy ones, judging by the expressions on their faces.

Some of the guards had already fallen asleep near the carts, while the rest of them were wandering around the base. No one objected.

"Hey, guys," one of the guards addressed Vadim and me. "Are there any women here?"

"No free gals here!" the Redhead suddenly appeared and sharply ended the conversation. "None for you."

"Okay," the guard moaned in disappointment and stepped aside.

Perhaps Olga and Dasha really shouldn't come out of the cave now. Jones' guards were clearly not gentlemen. I even mentally applauded Petrovich. Who knew what would have happened if the girls were with us.

After warming up, I felt sleepy. Patting the fat man on the shoulder, and making him shudder with surprise, I got up and went into the cave. Almost no one looked at me. Nobody except Alex Jones.

Chapter end