I ran around the opponent and, when he turned and stood with his back to my allies, I pointed:
"Put it down there!"
The boss didn't know Russian (or whatever language we're speaking here) and didn't sense the threat. Lynch fulfilled the request, and, dodging another lunge with a stump, I dashed past the undead and picked up my sword from the grass.
Fire! All that's left is to somehow guess when there will be a crit, and at that very moment deliver a blow to the neck... Although a more realistic plan looks like: gradually shortening his arms, then legs. By nightfall, I might just manage it.
Indulging in "optimistic reasoning", I automatically noticed how the undead's leg flew up and with a familiar movement dodged and slashed from below at the knee.
[You've dealt a critical hit!]
Whoa, holy shit! Unlike last time, the hit turned out great. The distance, the amplitude, the invested strength... Perhaps it was my best sword strike in this world. And it was this one that critted.
The leg was sliced off at the knee so easily, as if a hot knife had passed through butter. Trying to develop the success, I jumped behind and started hacking at the undead's neck. I managed three times. A crit didn't happen, and I jumped away from the strike of the arm that was longer than the elbow.
Inside, a hard-to-control desire was growing to rush in and finish off the bastard. To show him, myself, and the observing allies who's the coolest here. I must admit, I restrained it with a terrible effort of will.
If I do everything right, victory won't escape... And he only needs one lucky hit with his stump to kill me... How many times have athletes lost too early, believing in their victory... And all villains in books and movies die exactly like this.
In general, I continued to act the same way as before. About ten minutes later, another crit passed, and the undead's second arm was shortened to the elbow.
Then I started on the leg. I waited for the moment when he was leaning on it and couldn't attack, and struck myself. The crit didn't come for a long time, but eventually, it happened.
Now I was facing a complete cripple, whom it was time to finish off. However, even here I observed caution, because even in this state, he could seriously injure me.
I caught the moment, jumped on his back, delivered several blows, and stepped back. Again, I made him turn over and crawl after me and repeated until finally...
[You've dealt a critical hit!]
...the undead's head rolled across the dried grass.
[You have killed a Dead Warrior of level 17.]
[The curse has left this place.]
[A reward awaits you!]
I don't understand! Where's the level⁈
Oh, right... I started fighting him right after taking the seventh, and everything here is slow – not enough.
"Well done!"
I was lifted into the arms and spun around. It was Lynch.
Rare applause sounded from the side.
"Worthy," Vizily said with a smile. "Not without luck, of course, but the fact that you restrained yourself and didn't rush to finish him off – that's really well done."
"There was something said about a reward."
"Ah, that's over there," the old man waved his hand towards the fortress. "Let's go. This place will be safe for a month."
Now that's just one of the questions we didn't manage to clarify yesterday.
"Why a month? And what are cursed places in general?" I said, climbing up the hill.
"They come in different types," Lynch began. "There are ones like this. They always appear in the same place."
"Static," Vizily commented.
"Yeah, those," the big guy nodded. "So, they appear at first level. Monsters are weak. The reward is crap. If no one clears it for a month or two, they rise to the second level. The monsters become stronger, and there are more of them. If again no one clears it, then..."
"I think he understands the principle," the old man interjected again.
"Yeah..."
After being interrupted, Lynch got lost and seemed to forget what he wanted to say.
"There are static ones. And there are..." I prompted him, with interest examining the half-collapsed ruins.
"Ah! There are dynamic ones..."
"Dynamic."
"Those! So, they can appear in any place, and even immediately at the fifth level. Whoever clears them first is the lucky one."
"What do you mean?" I didn't quite catch the thought and looked at the storyteller. "It was exactly the same here. We cleared it – we're the lucky ones."
"Uh, no!" Lynch laughed. "Don't forget where we are. It's several days of walking from the nearest city in good weather. No one will run after a cursed place until it grows to at least the fourth level. But for the static cursed places near cities, there's a queue. And places in these queues cost money or are passed among nobles by connections. That's where they level up their little darlings."
So that's how it is. The rich have access to the best leveling spots, because of this their families become stronger... Something in our realRPG smells of favoritism.
"There are also guild leveling spots," Lynch continued meanwhile. "Only those who have chosen the right development path can get there."
"And is the leveling good there?"
We had already reached the central square, but the big guy was telling such interesting things that I turned to him.
"Both the leveling and the loot are excellent!"
"Is there a big reward for clearing?"
My interlocutor looked at me in surprise, and then laughed.
"Sometimes they send you there on guild quests to find some ingredients. And with each level, it gets more dangerous there. Several times they gathered large armies for clearing. It ended badly..."
"It's too early for him to think about that," Vizily intervened. "Ilya, go get your reward."
We were standing on the edge of a square paved with cracked cobblestones. Right in the middle stood a huge wooden chest. That's where I headed.
The massive lid yielded surprisingly easily, and I didn't even have to climb inside.
[You receive a level 4 undead axe.]
[You receive a level 4 undead bow.]
[You receive 50 weakening arrows.]
[You receive a large mana potion.]
[You receive a large healing potion.]
[You receive a sleeping potion.]
[You receive a large unification stone.]
[You receive a large improvement stone.]
[You receive a fire lubricant.]
[You receive 34 gold coins.]
That's all.
Given that my inventory had been considerably cleaned out before the trip, all the rewards fit in.
After running my eyes over the list once more, I read it out to my companions.
"Except for the gold, it's all junk," Vizily commented. "By the way, hand it over here."
"The gold?"
"Everything."
"And how does an undead spear differ from, say, a hunter's spear?" I asked, handing the loot to the old man.
"By potential additional effects," Vizily replied. "If you find another one like this and combine them using the unification stone. If you're lucky, after the fifth level it will acquire some property. If you keep improving it, it might acquire another property, or the previous effect might be strengthened. Hunter's artifacts will have different properties from undead artifacts."
"And what's the difference between a healing potion and a healing ointment?"
"The first can be drunk no more than once every twelve hours, otherwise there will be severe poisoning. It increases regeneration, effective against wounds and real diseases. And the ointment is good for treating bruises, chafing, and the like."
"I see. And what are the improvement stone and lubricant?"
"The improvement stone is a fairly rare thing," the old man changed his initial statement about junk. "If there's an artifact with the desired effect, and good capital blacksmiths have them, then using this stone they can transfer the same effect to an artifact of a suitable class. It's hard to explain without examples. You'll see later."
He fell silent and froze. Apparently, he was arranging my loot on the shelves in his inventory.
"And the lubricant?" I reminded him.
"It applies the desired effect to the weapon. For example, the fire, which you, I mean I received, works well against monsters with the earth element and undead. With it, you could have easily chopped up that guy with your sword."
After the answers, I wanted to take the loot back.
"Are you hungry?"
Vizily suddenly lowered his head and looked at me. Is his conscience bothering him for the robbery?..
"I wouldn't refuse."
"Here!" He took out three eggs and a pie and, handing it all to me, whispered: "I checked the device. No reaction to you."
Ah, right! We didn't just come here to level up. There's also an artifact here that detects otherworlders. Or rather, doesn't detect. And that's great! I'd rather tell about this myself to those I want to, and when I want to.
"Viz!" Lynch called.
"Huh?"
"Seems we're done... Today is Svar's birthday. He invited us."
"Oh, you're with your..." Vizily suddenly froze, glanced at me and smiled. "Although indeed... Svar is a good guy. We should congratulate him. Let's go!"