I haven’t earned a crisp font yet, Alex guessed. With a sinking heart, he opened the book and beheld a brand and characteristics framed with floral designs:
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Magic Brand, Dark Mallorn (Dark Mallorn cluster)
Scalable. Indestructible.
Cursed wound: ‘Warrior mankurt’ (spell, weapon, potion) randomly
Dark call: ‘Arise and kill’ (trees, bushes, herbs) randomly
Dark word: ‘Germinate’ (alive, inanimate) randomly
Traitor to his kind: ‘Renegade’ randomly
* Additionally:
Full spells are available exclusively to Dark Druid (the condition is a brand on the body)
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Alex didn’t hesitate to put a brand on his chest next to the two previous ones. He watched as four spells imprinted in the book simultaneously. However, he found himself unable to try new opportunities. Slowness was punishable in the new reborn world, so he had to act quickly.
Flash's alarmed voice sounded inside his head. Chief, get ready, something bad is about to happen. I feel much hatred directed toward us, but I cannot yet detect the enemy. They are many, and they are watching.
Tataki, Gres, and Sofia, still close by, tensed up. These empaths feel everything, he thought.
The Druidess candidates had already accomplished the task and were just enjoying their presence next to the magical Mallorns. This pleased Alex.
“What’s happening?” Gres asked.
Alex smiled broadly, relaying Flash’s warning. “Ladies, we are being watched. I don’t know who yet, but there are many of them.” Alex glanced at the main detachment of his clan members. “We must alert everyone else.”
Sofia volunteered, “What should I tell them, commander?”
‘We’ll build our defenses at the Mallorns. Prepare the squad for a quick redeployment and battle. Don’t spare the ammo.”
“Got it, commander.”
Sophia, using her feminine wiles to the full, sashayed towards the squad, wiggling her hips as if she were on a fashion runway. Everyone seemed to stare at her, including the bronze statue of the emperor and his horse.
Jokeiro, supply each warrior in the squad with a dozen cartridges for the Khort assault rifle! Alex ordered.
Yes, player Phoenix, his mentor replied.
Alex contacted Fash and authorized his withdrawal, then warned the crew of the danger, giving the order not to engage in combat. For several minutes, his squad had been standing on full alert in the incessant rain.
“What if we were wrong?” Anna said. “I don’t feel anything. Yes, there is hatred and an all-encompassing thirst. But on the surface, at least within a ten-mile radius, I sense nothing dangerous. Is the enemy in the water?”
Alex was about to reply when he heard the voice of the tree. “Alex Phoenix, they came for us. They need the blood and flesh of the living, but most of all, they need the power of magic. They want to kill us to quench their thirst.”
Wow, Alex thought. Who does not need the power of magic? Hardly anyone would refuse such a treasure of their own free will.
“Who are they, Shardy?” he asked. “We don’t see them.”
“Undead… Many undead! Beware, for your magic of Cold and Ice will not affect them. Leave before it’s too late. We are still too weak to protect you. Soon it will be dangerous… dangerous… dangerous…” the tree kept repeating.
Alex gritted his teeth. “We won’t flee! We will fight beside you, noble Dark Mallorns!” To his people, he said, “Our opponent is the undead. Shoot them in their heads, and don’t spare the ammunition.”
“Run! Run! Run!” the trees demanded in many voices, until their call gradually faded away.
Then came a different sound — an eerie polyphonic uterine rumble from the west.
“How many are there?!” someone cried, voicing a common question that must have arisen in many minds.
“Form two lines! Front line, kneel!” Alex ordered.
Finally, they appeared. The enemy army resembled a wave of mud, rushing towards them with manic inevitability.
“Fire!” Alex shouted.
The first rows of undead drowned in a stream of plasma. Thick smoke obscured everything, assailing the crew’s nostrils with the stench of roasted death. The crackle of burning corpses issued over the burst of weapons.
Several dozen undead managed to overcome the fire barrier. They burst, flaming, towards their goal, finished within a stone’s throw of the Mallorns.
“Commander Phoenix, they’re retreating!” AK-47 shouted gleefully. Indeed, the heart-rending squeal of the scorched undead subsided. Minutes later, it died away in the distance.
Alex stared into this wall of fire…and beyond it. He found himself among the horde of the undead that swarmed, twitched, shambled, and hissed at each other. Soon this multitude of the undead, as if created from Alfred Hitchcock’s nightmares, became agitated and froze, like statues. One zombie with a shining skull and a bundle of sparse long hair climbed onto the shoulders of several others and screamed like a banshee.
The picture of the apocalypse became frighteningly real.
Obeying their apparent leader, the undead army broke into groups and rushed forward again, clearly aiming to surround the crew.
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Attention, player Phoenix!
Supreme Druid ability obtained
Dark Druid’s True Sight (Dark Mallorn Cluster)
Seeing what is hidden (randomly)
Epiphany (randomly)
Painful lie (randomly)
* Group transfer of ability with blessing is possible (loss, randomly)
Source: Mallorn Shardy’s Farewell Blessing
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Farewell blessing? What is that? the head of the Ice Vigor clan thought.
“Attention!” Alex rumbled. “This is not a time to celebrate. Round one to us, but the battle is far from over. The undead are attempting to flank us. We have five minutes, maximum, so everyone needs to recharge. Cluster together – I will try to pass you an important ability. Go!”
The squad made the most of their time
