World of Karik: A Game of Villains 38 Thirteen

"Don't push me." Whatever it was, I wasn't going to let anyone order me around. We were living in such a world… You were done for once you give in. "Have you ever captured another base? Do you know how to find them? Are you sure that they have no strong players that will try to revenge them?"

"I don't know, none of us know." Now it was his turn to keep silent. "For some reason I thought that Igor taught you that; he knew how to do it, that's for sure."

Was he trying to play chicken with me? Talking with Semyon and Mikhail yielded some results after all. I used to think this schemer worked more delicately. I remained silent and only rose an eyebrow.

"Can you catch and bring me at least four newcomers?" Petrovich changed his approach again, getting closer to what he actually needed me to do. "You don't have to get their tombstones. I only need them here, unable to do something stupid. I'll take it from there."

I could do that. I knew how to cut off arms; I just had to make sure that the blow was two times stronger as my opponent's endurance. Such a blow would not only hurt a person, but also cut their flesh and bone. I was to find the newbies that were busy leveling-up and bring them to us. It sounded cruel, but that mattered little in this world. But how would Petrovich pay for such a service? This was not a hunt or a bloody dawn campaign.

"What's in it for me?" Such a short sentence, but so full of meaning.

"I will not bother you with requests and you can do whatever you want with Olga and Dasha," I hoped that he was not being serious. Why would I bother trying to get something that I already had? "Well, I didn't want to do this, but I guess that there's no other way. If you bring in at least four newbies by morning, I'll give you this skillbook."

Petrovich took out a small book bound in heavy leather and immediately put it back into his inventory. Unfortunately, I couldn't kill him to get the book. The man made sure that he wouldn't drop loot upon death. But, most importantly, I had an opportunity to get a close combat skill — something that I lacked so much right now. Whoever you are, you poor rookies, I'll find you.

"I need one man," I agreed. No point in denying any of this.

It was a pity that Petrovich wouldn't properly show me the book. He didn't want to risk it, as there were no guarantees that I would manage to pull this off. However, once I'm done, the Lancer won't be able to argue, lest his authority be put into question.

"So take one of your girls," Petrovich grinned, "Combine the useful with the pleasant."

"No way, they are specialized in long-range combat, and I need someone who isn't afraid to get close and personal and to spill blood." Not to mention that the archers were too vulnerable when the enemy was near them. If everything goes according to plan, we won't avoid it.

"Then I'll send Mikhail with you, he will show you the place," Petrovich, satisfied with my consent, didn't go into detail, as he wanted to send the two of us to work as soon as possible.

He was clearly in a hurry, but did I really need to know why? I would have done so in a different situation, but his offer was too good. Anyway, it wouldn't be a big deal until tomorrow.

When the Major and I went away, and the base was almost out of our sight, I noticed that the blacksmith and Semyon had left the cave in full gear. Where were they going?

The Major didn't try to start a conversation. He focused on the road, so I took the opportunity to analyze the situation. Why did Petrovich need four more newcomers, why today, and why did he not want our two teams to see each other? I wasn't sure about the last part, but I was certain that that was his intention. Maybe Petrovich wanted to be left alone with the girls? No, that was stupid. Was it the number of people at the base? There were seven of us now, if I brought four newbies, there would be eleven of us. Still no. There were eleven of us before the uprising. Nothing had happened, there were no oddities. What could I have missed? I suddenly remembered the morning conversation and Petrovich complaining that the bloody dawn would not happen for another week, as well as my skepticism and received deception points. What if the dawn did happen but no one saw it because of the clouds in the sky? Except for Petrovich, who tried to hide this information, and I accidentally exposed. Had he noticed it and was trying to lure me out of the camp? Was that it? It could have been, but that didn't explain what was wrong with there being more of us. I had too little information to deduce anything.

The Major began to slow down at this point. Still silent, we turned toward the forest, made a small circle and quietly came to the next glade. People were really training there. Six newbies and two level 18 guys that were monitoring the surroundings.

"What are we going to do?" the Major broke the silence. He didn't expect that we would face so many strangers at once, so he got a little confused.

I tried to assess the situation before answering. Their armor and weapons were all very similar to ours, so there were no surprises there. Judging by their names, the people in front of us were Russians, so, if anything, we could at least understand each other. The only question was what skills they had. We better not rush.

"Wait, we need to find out what they can do," I ordered him. The Major froze and began to attentively observe everything that was happening in front of us.

Chapter end