Trying not to pay attention to the rustling and howls in the depths of the forest, I moved closer to the head of the procession and caught up with Alexander. It seemed like he was the only sane man in this group.

''What's up?'' He finally got fed up with me just silently shuffling around near him. Heh. If your interlocutor was the one who started the conversation, no matter how they did it — it was much easier to keep it going. This was quite a significant advantage when you wanted to get some answers.

"I was wondering why you didn't ask us about our Gods." It was obvious that it was valuable information, and it seemed that I asked about it in the right way since I wasn't being told to piss off.

''Well, Andrei only recently became the leader of our group, but he honors the code. Any information about the Gods is really dangerous. It's not wise to share it even with those who are close to you. Well, to be honest, especially with them.'' He pointed upward. ''Not everything is all right up there. There's always some conflict going on; however, while only their echoes reach us, they still don't go unnoticed. So, if you destroy the tombstone of another person who was brought here by the rival of your patron, you can get big bonuses. I heard about some groups where they kill all the newcomers as soon as they get here. They don't care that those newcomers will die the final death.''

It seemed like there was some sort of code in this world, something like an unwritten set of rules. Another important revelation was the fact that we were not alone here. Just as I had previously thought, the information that I had about my God of Deception was something I better keep to myself.

''Alex, I thought that maybe you could tell me how the combat system works here, I don't really understand,'' I asked one more vital question from my list. After all, as I had noted a long time ago, if you kept talking about only one subject, people would get annoyed. But if you were pleased with a small amount of information and ready to move on to something else, they'd be ready to talk to you almost without end.

''Given the fact that someone will have to explain it to you at the base, it doesn't make much sense. However, it's relatively safe until we reach the swamp, so listen.'' He sighed heavily again and continued, ''Strength determines your possibility to pierce the skin of your opponent; if the sum of your strength and the power of your weapon is less than the enemy's armor, you have no chance in such a fight. Of course, you can try to hit the joints, eyes, mouth, throat, and so on, but not everything is that simple. If the opponent has high endurance, higher than the combination of your strength and the power of your weapon, you won't be able to pierce even their naked skin. That is one of the reasons why we can't get to the exit. Old Chrom from the detachment that was based nearby once told me that he had taken part in one such campaign. They had gotten only a quarter of the way there when they met level fifty monsters. Even all of them together couldn't do anything to the local creatures that were such a high level, and they had to retreat. Those who ventured to take their tombstones with them on that trip remained there forever…''

It turned out that if I wanted to get out, I would need to become much stronger. However, there were people who had been here for a long time, and no one had reached the exit yet. It seemed like everything wasn't as simple as I had been told.

''What about dexterity?'' I remembered another attribute.

''Hm, with its help, one can make combo attacks, chaining hits together. The longer the combo, the higher the damage. Ask Baldy, he's a specialist in doing that.'' It turned out that I had guessed the man's nickname correctly. ''Well, anyway, the swamp is close now, so it would be better if we stayed silent.''

As I was preparing to ask why he was so afraid of this swamp, Andrei decided to explain everything himself. It was surprising that so much humanity had remained in this man, in spite of everything.

''We'll be going past the swamp now. It's really important not to leave the path no matter what. If you run off the track with your tombstone attached to you, even just a couple of yards, no one will be able to help you anymore.'' He cleared his throat and was silent for a while. Apparently, he didn't have to speak often. ''Since you're all beginners, I'll explain the situation to you. Mosquitoes are everywhere in this place, and while their attacks are weak, there is no end to those damned creatures, and for some strange reason, their damage is magical. At our levels, until we find at least some rings or necklaces with magic protection, it's certain death to go out there. If you had looked at the description of your stats, you'd have known that armor and endurance are ignored if you're attacked by magic.''

It turned out that most players didn't have protection from magic at all — a thin smile appeared in my subconscious as I heard this. Having ''looked inside myself'', I explored my stats once again. After reading about strength, dexterity, and endurance, I checked that everything was as Alexander had just told me. And I also had something else.

Intelligence

Determines the power of your spells and your resistance to magical attacks.

While I was standing around and pondering these things, another piece of information appeared in front of me.

Physical defense: 10 (10 from endurance, 0 from armor)

Magical resistance: 3 (3 from intelligence, 0 from jewelry)

It turned out that physical damage we dealt was determined by two attributes, and magical damage by a single one, and I was the only person among all my acquaintances who possessed any magic resistance whatsoever.

"Why have you stopped?" Fox hit me with her fist.

I didn't have time to answer her as the howling, which had been menacingly echoing through the forest, sounded out with new, panicked notes and then abruptly died down.

''Someone just finished off a wolf pack,'' Suren quickly whispered in Andrei's ear. ''Do you know who it is?''

''Everyone run!'' Our commander ordered at once. I'd never seen him like this before. ''Don't turn around!''

The order was pointless as we all immediately looked back. Crushing the trees in its path, a huge carcass rushed out of the forest some 100 yards behind us. The giant cadaver, whose body was made up of dozens of drowned people, was spreading a green cloud in all directions, and all living beings caught in it were slowly dying.

''You wouldn't dare!'' For some reason, Valentin Petrovich turned to Baldy with an angry yell. However, he didn't have time to do anything as he received a blow to the head with the hilt of a greatsword.

''Run! You were told to run!'' Baldy barked at us angrily. ''And don't look at him, in five minutes, he'll resurrect at the base. Hah… maybe he'll have to come back here for his things. But that's none of your business, keep in mind that if you end up in the stomach of this creature, you'll die forever.''

With these words, he threw Petrovich's stunned body toward the monster and once again waved his hand, indicating the direction we were supposed to run in. This time, we woke from our stupor. Fox and Olga rushed forward first, and all the others hurried after them. Baldy brought up the rear with a predatory smile on his face. He was clearly enjoying what was happening.