World of Karik: A Game of Villains 26 Power in my Hands

On the way to the cave I faced Olga. However, talking with her was not a simple task. Dasha chuckled somehow contemptuously when I muttered something into my chin and went to my place in the cave. They were acting strange. I will figure out what's going on once I increase all my stats to 50.

Unfortunately, I didn't manage to get enough sleep. I woke up in the middle of the night with a strange desire to get out and get some fresh air. I even made a couple of steps to the exit before I realized that those thoughts were not mine. However, it was clear who was trying to call me; perhaps it would be better to pretend that I hadn't noticed anything.

I leisurely went upstairs and slowed down a little right before the very exit. Voices could be heard from the outside. Alex and Ronald, if I wasn't mistaken. They had no doubt that I would crawl out of there like a sleepwalker, unaware of my own actions and thoughts. Absolute faith in their own strength made them relax a bit too much.

"Father, I'm sure that he's lying to us. He can't be David's apprentice. There's no way that he is! The guy's always walking with full strength and dexterity." They were Americans and were speaking in their native language with each other. It's a pity that I was once made to learn German so I could get a half of what they were saying at most.

I didn't hear Alex's answer at all. Well, since there was no more use of me hiding there, it was time to get out. I didn't need them to be any more suspicious of me. Once out, I threw my head back and looked at the stars; they didn't give me any more commands, so I would wait. The view was really fascinating. The stars didn't hang in the sky, as if frozen, as they did back on "Earth", but moved slowly, as if twisting in a mysterious dance. Who knew that stars could do that? Why hadn't I noticed it before? Actually, I couldn't remember seeing anything like that. Maybe clouds had covered everything during the other nights. Or...

"Admiring the sky, too?" Alex quietly came up to me. Yeah, like, we totally met by accident. "Atmospheric fairies are fascinating."

"Fairies?" I was taken aback, this was definitely unexpected.

"What did you think they were—stars?" Alex laughed and slapped my shoulder. "They're moving. At first we thought that they were satellites in orbit and even tried to figure out how to get there. We built a telescope and found out that they were fairytale characters. It's good that we haven't met someone from a horror movie first. By the way, they are very useful as they feel danger. If they are circling over you like that, you can be sure that there are no monsters nearby."

The "stars" accelerated and dispersed.

And if they're leaving, then... I didn't have time to continue my thought.

"Then it means that your test is ready," Alex's dreamy smile was gone. "You didn't think that we would take your word for it? The right to be supported by the family, even as a vassal, must be earned."

I had no intention of becoming anyone's vassal, but who could have known that the title of a follower implied something like that? However, now was not the time for explanations. I should try to get out of this. The main rule of any bluff was to go see it to the very end, no matter what happens.

"What am I supposed to do?" I was also just curious. What did they expect from Baldy's follower? Did they think that I couldn't cope with not being one of his?

"It's simple: go into the forest," Alex waved toward the nearest edge, "and bring me a Zombie's head. We have just prepared and released one."

"That's it?" It sounded easy.

"I think that fighting with the local skeletons made you seriously underestimate the real combat undead creatures. Zombies are one of them. Flesh on their bones is not just fat and meat—it's materialized magic. It's not easy to break through it, but if you're David's follower, you can do it. You can consider this my parting words." Already leaving, he reminded me once again, "Don't forget, you have time until morning, we leave tomorrow at dawn. I don't want to have to ruin the going away party by having to punish of a liar."

He couldn't help but add some threats. I even felt worried about what this Zombie thing was if Alex, knowing that I had been raising my attributes, believed that I couldn't cope with such a creature.

I went rather far into the forest and stopped for a moment. Trying to figure out where I was, I looked for my opponent. It didn't take me long to find him; a wild roar shook the trees and someone, or rather, something, rushed at me. How much strength did this undead creature have?! And speed?! Slow zombies from movies and books were indeed fiction! The green figure that burst out of the forest behind me was as fast as I was!

Infected Zombie, Vadim

Level 7

Enchanted

Vadim? Did they infect our fatty for this test? I'll figure that out later. Despite his low level, my opponent has incredible strength and dexterity. Well, I'll get you anyway, I thought. I only had to move closer to the already familiar swamp. This way I could get rid of any unnecessary witnesses and take advantage of my unique method of killing strong opponents.

I was naive. We got to the empty swamp. After a couple of extra circles around the place I was ready to vouch that no one was there. But the local Insects did no harm to the Zombie. As Alex had said, the creature's skin was well protected from magical attacks. Let's test that in close combat. I cast Stone Spikes and...

The monster almost slapped me with its giant hand. My spell wasn't powerful enough to stop such an opponent. Just like the mosquitoes, it couldn't even get through its skin. Things were getting dangerous. Okay, let's try something else.

Cure Light Wounds

Weakness

Regeneration has been replaced by Poison.

Level of the Poison is too low; the effect has been absorbed by the enchanted enemy and replaced with an opposite blessing.

The Curse that was supposed to take health was restoring it. Within a minute I tried to replace regeneration with other Curses. But none of them helped me. The Zombie, on the other hand, got a boost, acceleration and Light Protection. None of my attempts bore fruit. If I had been saved by the fact that I was constantly moving before, not giving him a chance to get to me, now I suddenly felt waves of fatigue. No wonder. How long have I been fighting and pushing my limits? It seemed that I had no other way out but to try close combat. I could only hope that my armor and strength were greater than the Zombie's.

I turned sharply and cast more Stone Spikes. This time I was not aiming at the legs, but right in front of them, and it worked. The Zombie stepped right into the spikes. It smashed them into pieces, of course, but backed off. Now's my chance! A blow, a combo, and another blow, but thirty percent stronger.

Damage: 47 (weapon: 25; strength: 22); damage blocked; damage dealt: 0

Damage: 62 (weapon: 25; strength: 22; combo modifier: 15); damage blocked; damage dealt: 0

Chapter end