Striving for Perfection

I looked down on the soldiers who were in the garrison and tried to make out the soldiers patrolling the city. Since I was sitting on the window of the tower with my legs dangling, it was a very simple task for me. A few days have passed since the attempt to attack failed and, having calmed down, I was able to benefit from the unpleasant experience and change tactics. Now I solved all the few cases that appeared at a fast pace on my own. And I also found that the pulsation rate of the crystal on the key depends on the location. For example, if the crystal pulsed once every few seconds in the castle, then in the city the time increases to once every thirty seconds. Most likely, the pulsation works like a compass.

Now all that's left is to find a loophole in time and go look for what unlocks this key. He has to discover something useful, right?

With a nod to myself, I looked down again, waiting for Rising to leave the barracks to give him command of the garrison. I gave him a few days of complete rest before appointing him in charge again. For a second, the sunset stole my attention. So bright, beautiful and even soothing. Just sitting and watching is so nice. Maybe postpone the search until tomorrow?

One more thought like that, crybaby, and you will definitely end up at the bottom.

With a sigh escaping from my mouth, I turned my gaze down again. The door of the barracks slowly opened, which made me lean forward, grabbing the windowsill with my hands. But unfortunately, Flying came out of the barracks, which I did not expect. I thought he was walking around the city somewhere in order to find alcohol. When I was about to look at the sky again, he suddenly looked straight into my eyes, taking me by surprise. Some part of me wanted to look away insistently. As if to me . . . ashamed?

Don't be silly and behave as usual.

Taking a breath, I stared at him and began to drill with my gaze despite the distance. After a few seconds, he lowered his head and went to no one knows where. With an exhalation, I closed my eyes for a few minutes and then began to look down at the barracks again. After a few minutes of waiting, when I already wanted to be distracted by the sky again, the door of the barracks opened again and Rising came out of it, who looked as if he had woken up very early. Although I woke up even earlier.

I whistled and waved my hand loudly and said, "Rising, come here! Or fly. Your choice."

He jumped when he heard me and slowly raised his head up. Seeing that I was sitting on the window and only the grip on the window sill kept me from falling, Rising abruptly flapped his wings to get to me. After a few seconds, he matched my height and looked at me with concern.

Grinning a little, I said, continuing to rock back and forth: "Thank you for your quick response. You see, I have some things to do, so you need to take care of the garrison again. I hope you've had a good rest these few days. "

Rising was silent for a few seconds with a worried face and then cautiously asked, continuing to stay in the air flaps of wings: " If it's not a secret, what kind of business? And if it's not hard for you, you can please get off the window. "

I reluctantly leaned back and went back inside the tower. Getting to my feet, I pointed my finger at the key that was lying on the bed and said: " Do you see the red crystal on this huge key? It pulsates for an unknown reason and the frequency of this process depends on the location. I guess he's discovered something interesting and using the ripple frequency I want to find out what."

Rising flew into the room and looked at the key as if he didn't believe it, but struggled to believe it. After a few seconds, he opened his mouth to say something, but when he saw the pulsation of the crystal, he froze in shock. Grinning, I put my hand on his back and asked: "So are you ready to be in charge for a while?"

In response, he swallowed and said with a nod, "Yes, Mr. Sir Boss."

I grinned and going to the bag to put the key in it, I said: "You know, this phrase Mr. Sir Boss is very funny to me. The main thing is not to use it too often, otherwise it will start to bother."

Rising nodded again and smiled a little. I quickly threw the key into the bag, hung it over my shoulder and was about to go to the stairs, but before I could take a step, I was interrupted by the voice of Rising: "Can you stay here a little please?"

I stopped where I was and turned my head to him, raising an eyebrow. Seeing my willingness to listen, Rising got confused and began awkwardly scraping the floor with his hoof. After a while, he asked quietly but suddenly focused on my finger: "What . . . O Holy Luna, what's wrong with your finger?"

When I heard Rising's remark, I looked at my right thumb. There was a very deep bite on it, from which the blood had already stopped oozing. Looks like I left a really deep wound. Sighing, I looked at Rising again and replied calmly: "I was nervous."

"Because of what?" Rising asked in a polite voice after a short silence.

The scheme is the same as before. It's a shameful fact, but it's impossible to hide it. It's just that sooner or later it will have to be destroyed. Completely.

Taking a deep breath, I answered loudly and clearly: "I'm terrified of sweets and a few days ago I had to visit a pastry shop. And I have a habit of biting my thumb when I'm nervous. Here's the result for you. "

Rising looked at me for a few seconds as if he couldn't believe it. After a while, he nodded and asked politely: " Do you want to talk about it?"

I blinked several times, not expecting such an offer. Why talk about it? What's the point? Why would he suggest it? Why was that nod? Why is he speaking so politely? What does he want from me? He must have a goal if he's offering it, right?

Sure. Therefore, it is better to put it in its place.

"No. Do you have anything else to do with me or not?" I asked, looking down at Rising. He seemed a little saddened by my harsh attitude, but quickly gathered himself and nodded respectfully. I grunted with satisfaction and walked slowly towards the stairs. The boards creaked under my feet and the things in the bag quietly collided with each other.

When my foot stepped on the stairs Rising said again: "Just want you to know, sir. I'm on your side. Whatever happens."

Are you waiting for my advice, crybaby? That's not going to happen. All this emotional stuff is your specialty.

I looked at Rising out of the corner of my eye, not knowing what to answer, but before continuing down the stairs, I was able to squeeze out an awkward: "Okay."

That was the end of the conversation, and I was able to calmly descend the stairs. When I got to the first floor, I pulled the card out of my pocket and put it on the table so that Rising could use it. Although I still don't know exactly where I'm going. Maybe it's just a little hiding place in the middle of the forest, and I'll be back before I have to make up a new shift. And maybe not so.

It would be nice if it was written on the key that it opens. Although a pulsating crystal will do, too.

Nodding to myself, I turned away from the table and headed out of the tower. Opening the door, I was greeted by the familiar cold air and snow. I sighed and took a step outside and slammed the door behind me. While walking along the usual route to the forest, I scrolled through the plan of action in my head.

In fact, the whole so-called plan is to enter the forest, away from prying eyes and use the key as a compass. I don't want to tell a story about this key to everyone I meet, do you want to? The question is rhetorical.

During the time of reflection, I managed to pass through the market and the pastry shop holding my breath. After a few dozen steps from the pastry shop, I let out a sigh and shook my head and went on. During the journey, I came across rare single ponies that were most likely going home. Considering the sunset, it is quite logical.

Approaching the town hall, I was about to turn to the forest, but a woman's voice called out to me: "Wait, Captain."

I stopped and turned my head to the one who had disturbed me. It was an Earth pony with glasses with a gray mane and coffee-milk fur. After a brief inspection of the one in front of me, I asked: "What do you need?"

She seemed a little taken aback by the quick transition to business, but gathered her strength and said: "I just wanted to thank you and your soldiers on behalf of the city for the good work. I especially want to note how diligently you personally have been doing things for the last few days."

I was a little embarrassed and asked the question in an insistent tone: "And tell me, who are you to speak on behalf of the whole city?"

For a second she looked gloomy, but almost instantly she smiled politely and replied: "My name is Mayor Mare and I am the mayor of Ponyville. Nice to meet you."

What a stupid name. She probably got the idea from birth that she should be the mayor. No matter. Step aside, crybaby. Let me do this.

"Oh, I apologize for being rude. I just woke up early today and haven't had breakfast yet, so you know. You're not the nicest person either when you haven't had enough sleep and haven't eaten, are you?" I asked, forcing out friendliness and interest.

"Yes, you're right." The mayor replied with a small laugh. After a laugh, I saw the mayor thinking about something but did not dare to ask a question.

There was silence for a moment after that, but I quickly interrupted him: "Since you are now on the street, I assume that your shift is over for today, did I guess?"

"Yes, you guessed it. Why do you ask?" The mayor asked, it seemed purely out of politeness.

"Do I need a reason? I can't just talk to a beautiful girl about anything when there's such a beautiful sunset outside?" I asked, pretending to be offended.

"Oh, you flatter me!" The mayor said with a little giggle.

"Maybe just a little bit. " I said, clicking my tongues, which caused only a big giggle from the mayor. After a few seconds, she stopped giggling and just looked at me with a little smirk as if I had entertained her well.

Now see how to put a quick and simple checkmate from this position

"Can I ask you something, Mayor? If you don't mind." I asked, feigning uncertainty and doubt. I even hunched my back a little and lowered my head.

"Yes, of course. What happened?" The mayor asked with a worried look.

"What do you think of Celestia as a ruler?" I asked, feigning even more uncertainty. It's a pity that I don't know how to imitate a trembling voice.

The mayor seemed to be caught off guard by such a question and did not answer for several seconds. Then she asked with curiosity and caution in her voice: "If it's not a secret, why are you asking?"

I took a deep breath as if it was hard for me to talk about it and answered, trying to look as uncertain as possible: "You see, lately I have been doubting princesses and especially Celestia as a ruler. It seems to me that someone should replace them. But it feels so wrong. After all, I belong to the personal guard of one of them. I even took an oath. And I hoped that if I could get an opinion from a similar servant of the princesses, even from another sphere, I would be able to understand whether this is normal or not. It was probably a stupid idea. I'm sorry to bother you. "

I turned away as if I was going to leave, but fortunately the mayor replied: "No, I understand you. I, too, have been worried about this since the last Summer Sun Celebration. I have always believed that Princess Celestia is invincible, perfect and always does everything right. But after she disappeared at the most crucial moment and the fate of the whole Equestria hung in the balance, I strongly doubted the status of Celestia. I don't even know who to believe in and who to rely on. Of course, there are elements of harmony, but it's not exactly the same as the old Celestia. "

I shortened the distance in a few long steps and putting my hand on the mayor 's shoulder said: " Then I think we just need to believe in ourselves. Don't you think so?"

The mayor looked at me in surprise for a while before smiling and answering with a nod: "Yes, I think it's a good alternative."

I nodded in response and turned around to go but finally said: "Well, it was a good conversation, but I have things to do. Good luck to you, Mayor."

After that, my legs carried me further into the woods until my ears heard the mayor's unintelligible answer. Slowly but surely I began to pick up the pace in order to get to the forest as early as possible. Despite the headache growing from the increase in speed, I continued to accelerate. When I started running, I began to feel hellish pain and felt that all the soldiers on the hill were staring at me. Enduring all this, I ran into the forest and, going a little deeper into it, hit the nearest tree, splashing out all the emotions. My hand pierced through the tree, but did not bring it down. With a slow exhalation, I leaned my head against a tree and began to try to calm down. After this conversation, I feel disgusting. It's like I was fucked, turned inside out and then fucked again.

Don't whine, crybaby. Look at it from the objective side. The mayor of this town, which be located near the capital, hesitates. What does this mean for us? If you don't decide to arrange another day of defeats, then the mayor can play a role in the future. Imagine that you took out a trump card from the deck.

After taking a few deep breaths, I calmed down and pulled my hand out of the tree trunk. Waving my hand a little in the air, I managed to throw off most of the sawdust from it. Taking another breath in and out, I opened the bag and took out the key from it. I took it so that the crystal was as far away from me as possible and started pointing them in different directions to understand where I should go. When I pointed to the side, the key flickered a little faster, when I pointed to the sunset a little slower, and when I pointed to the sunrise, the crystal flickered much faster. I grinned slightly and started walking slowly to the east to keep track of all the changes in the flicker of the key.

As I walked, the sun slowly but surely set, leaving me less and less light. As I progressed, the crystal flickered more and more often, telling me that I was moving in the right direction. I noticed that gradually vegetation and snow are decreasing their numbers around me. My feet felt like the ground was getting warmer. By the time there were no trees or snow left around me, I saw how the steps leading to the door on which the red sun was depicted were hollowed out at the foot of the mountain. Under the sun was a dark green diamond in the center of which was a round hole. Seeing this, I went to the hole and compared its dimensions with the crystal of the key that was actively flashing and with the key itself. The hole is too big.

I think our goal is behind this door. You know what to do.

I put the key in the bag and then threw it on the ground next to the gate. After taking a breath, I went closer to the hole and putting my hands inside began to pull in different directions. Gradually, cracks began to pass along the rhombus from the effort I made, but with every second it became more difficult to move forward. When his hands began to ache from the effort, the diamond broke with a powerful crack and the gate opened slightly. I rubbed my hands and after a few seconds took the bag and went through the door.

Before my eyes appeared a kind of cave with torches illuminating the entrance. I started to walk on, but I felt something very close. The silhouette looks like a very large dog with three heads. Really? Slightly crouching down, I quietly put the bag on the floor and started walking pressed against the wall until I was near the corner. Looking around the corner, I saw confirmation of my assumption. Cerberus.

He slept on a small hill that was separated from the main road by a tiny chasm. Turning my head to the right, I saw a passage further turning into a bridge. Glancing at Cerberus again, I began to study him from a distance. He had three bulldog heads with spiked collars on each of them and a standard tail. In size, he was, counting on a flip, half the size of a dragon. Although who knows, maybe I fought with a very small dragon.

According to mythology, Cerberus can smell a person on the other side of the earth. I doubt that the fight will be avoided. Well, here's breakfast.

Crunching my neck, I slowly went to Cerberus, preparing an explosive rune in my left hand. Jumping over the abyss, I looked at Cerberus with a grin. The animal was still sleeping while I was only a couple of steps away from setting the bomb. Suddenly, he inhaled air through his nose and instantly the central head opened its eyes staring at me. I quickly walked the remaining distance, set an explosive run on his nose and jumped away from him with a kick in the nose. The central head of the Cerberus looked at me with bewilderment while the other two slowly opened their eyes. But unfortunately for the animal, the rune exploded faster, raising a cloud of dust into the air.

Well, dog meat is much better than wolf meat.

But the feeling of the lines upset me beforehand. The explosion at least did not kill Cerberus. Suddenly, all three heads rose up and roared, scattering a cloud of dust. My eyes widened at the sight of Cerberus, who was not affected by the explosion in any way. When he lowered his head to look at me furiously, I got into a fighting stance and began to stabilize my breathing. Cerberus stepped over the chasm and swung his paw to strike. Easily bouncing to the right, I instantly punished Cerberus for his slowness and kicked his right head in the jaw. The right head recoiled a little from this action, but did not receive much damage. I felt a paw flying at me from the left in response to which I jumped. But the paw was able to slightly touch my legs, which caused me to lose balance and fall to the ground on my side.

I understand that you really like getting injured, crybaby, but we have more important things to do. Deal with the dog somehow.

The feeling of the swinging paw appeared again and I instantly rolled to the side avoiding the blow. The headache was already starting to wake up, but the focus on the fight suppressed it. A small cloud of dust rose into the air, blocking the view of the central head of Cerberus. The left head looked at me while I was looking for vulnerability and coming up with a plan. Suddenly, while inspecting Cerberus, my eyes caught a detail on our battlefield. Stalactites hanging from the ceiling.

I felt Cerberus swinging his paw again and dodged to the side as usual. Then while Cerberus kept his paw on the ground, I jumped on it and ran up. The eyes of all the heads widened from such impudence and the central one of them opened its mouth wanting to devour me. I stretched out my magical tentacles to his big fang and jumped back out of the affected area of the mouth. Cerberus looked up at me in amazement and tried to bite the tentacles. When my back collided with the wall, I pushed off with my feet from it and pulled the tentacles to give myself speed. This allowed me to get on his head faster than Cerberus could react and deliver a powerful blow to his central head. The head quickly collided with the stone with its chin and I heard its furious growl.

"What happened? Don't you like stone and dirt, mongrel? How strange." I said openly mocking while standing on the central head. In response, the central head growled even louder and abruptly lifted its head up, sending me flying. I looked down at Cerberus with a grin as I flew closer and closer to the cherished stalactites. Cerberus opened all his mouths as if he thought I would fall and he would deal with me. As a result, I found myself at the level of stalactites and grabbed the nearest one. After that, I kicked one of the stalactites onto the central head. The stalactite whistled right into the mouth of the Cerberus, forcing him to cough and lower his head. I let go of the stalactite I was holding on to and began to fall freely on the central head. I regrouped in the air for my attack.

Pushing out my fist to hit the central head and pressing my knees under me, I got ready. At the last moment, I hit the central head and using my fist as a support, I kicked the other two heads. The central one was trampled into the mud and the other two recoiled from the force of the blow to the sides. As a result, Cerberus lost his balance and fell loudly to the ground, raising a huge cloud of dust into the air. Pushing off with my hand from his head, I jumped off his body and ended up in the air.

"Lie down, dog. " I ordered before getting off Cerberus and landing right in front of him.

The central head slowly opened its eyes and, having made the right decision, humbly bowed to the ground. The other two heads looked at each other as if they were talking nonverbally. After a few seconds, they also bowed down, showing submission.

Grinning, I walked over to the bag and slung it over my shoulder and walked past Cerberus. Finally, I said with a wave of my hand: "Don't forget me, mongrel. I'll be back soon."

In response, Cerberus whined for a moment, but quickly remembered that he had to be impressive and just looked after me. After a few steps, I saw how a relatively narrow cave turned into a huge space with cells whose contents were hidden by shadow. Focusing on the lines, I discovered a strange thing. The lines diverged away from the cells as if they were alive.

Or they contain magic. Yes, an enchanted cell sounds more logical than a living cell. I think the lines react to magic. The more magic, the further the lines are pushed.

Examining the cages and the road ahead, I saw a narrow path down to my right. As soon as I took a step towards the path I heard a man's voice calling me: "Hey you."

I turned my head towards the sound and saw two yellow eyes looking at me from the darkness of one of the cages. Looking at them, squinting asked: "Give me at least one reason not to ignore you."

The voice of the owner of the eyes was silent for a while and eventually gave an answer: "I saw you fighting Cerberus. Very impressive. However, I feel that despite the impressive reserves of magic, you do not know how to use it effectively. If you would free me, I would be happy to teach you. Believe me, after my training, you will be able to surpass even the Alicorns. You have the potential for that."

I raised an eyebrow and leaned against the wall and asked: "How are you going to train me? In case you haven't noticed, I don't have horns and, accordingly, I have to use runes instead of spells."

The figure came closer to the cage so that I could see him. A centaur with tiny horns, dull red skin and a thin build appeared before my eyes. He grinned and replied: "I use runes too. To be honest, I'm surprised that this art has not been forgotten yet."

I restrained my laughter at the sight of such a pitiful sight and said approaching his cage: "Good. Give me one piece of advice about runes in advance and I'll set you free.

" Show me how you create a rune. " The centaur instantly replied as if he couldn't wait to be released.

I quickly created a normal arrow rune and the centaur responded almost instantly: " It's not necessary to create a flat rune."

I raised an eyebrow and stopped a few steps away from his cage, waiting for an explanation. The centaur sighed and explained: "You can layer one rune on another like a multi-layered cake. If everything is done correctly, the effect will multiply. With proper skill, you can learn how to layer so many runs on top of each other that you get a sphere. My personal development. "" Who should I be grateful to for this advice? " I asked, smiling a little.

" I am Lord Tirek," the centaur replied with pride. Ha, in the pride of our own name, we can be similar.

I shot an arrow in the ceiling and turning to the narrow path said: "Well, Tirek, I hope your advice will be useful. I will definitely use it when I have time. I wish you a good time in prison."

"WHAT!?" Tirek asked, raising his voice as I moved away from him.

"Did you really think that I would set you free? How stupid. If you really know as much about runes as you claim, then you're a threat to me. To gather dangerous people around you, you need to be perfect to keep them in check by the simple fact of your existence. So before I become Perfect, please sit here. Maybe I'll come back for you. " I said without turning to Tirek and continuing to walk down the path.

" You little shit! " Shouted Tirek, making me laugh briefly, but I decided not to answer anything. As a result, I reached the path and began to walk carefully along it going down. As I moved down, I continued to hear Tirek's angry shouts, but I paid more attention to the growing heat.

I should note that you have shown yourself perfectly now. Looks like you're not hopeless yet. If you continue in the same spirit, you will stop being a crybaby, crybaby.

With a nod to myself, I finished the descent and the next high door appeared in front of me. This door was burned to such an extent that it was completely black and at the same time a key hole was visible. Pulling the key out of the bag, I went to the hole and inserted the key into it with both hands. The first attempt to turn the key but there was no reaction. With an inspiration, I started connecting both arms and legs to turn the key to the right. Slowly, with a profuse creak, the keyhole gave way. Eventually, there were a lot of clicks and the huge door swung open. I decided to leave my bag at the gate and slowly walked through the resulting passage.

After a few steps, I saw a cliff in front of me. A thick layer of ash spread apart from my movements and fell down. Standing on the edge of the cliff, I looked down and saw the distant bottom illuminated by something. I looked around in search of a normal descent. Unfortunately, nothing was discovered by me. We'll have to come up with something.

The key is big enough to insert it into the wall and hook the tentacles like a rope.

I nodded to myself and turned around to pull the key out of the keyhole. With great difficulty, I managed to pull out the key and return to the cliff. I stood for a while, looking for convenient points and eventually chose a section of the wall that was a little lighter than the rest. Probably because of the smaller amount of ash. I took a deep breath and then, together with the exhalation, I hit the wall with the key. The stone crumbled under my force and allowed the key to attach itself to the resulting hole.

I pulled the key up and down a bit to check its strength. A few pebbles broke off from the wall, but the key did not fall. Grunting, I pulled the tentacles out of my hand and grabbed the key with them and took a step into the abyss. I felt my hair flying, with every second of falling the speed increases and then with increasing speed the head starts to hurt more and more. When the ground was close enough, I spread my tentacles and prepared to land. As soon as my feet hit the surface, I bent them at the knees and did a somersault softening the fall. After a few seconds, I got to my feet and dusted myself off, looked at the picture in front of me in amazement.

I saw a picture of a scorched earth with many faults filled with red liquid and from which flames periodically burst out. To my left was a forest with ugly black trees. Above all, this towered a large palace from the upper floor of which a red pulsation emanated. A similar ripple crystal on the key. I looked up at the key and wondered if I should go up and pull the crystal out of it.

"No, I'm too lazy." I said, returning my gaze to the path ahead. Fortunately, from my point of view there was a descent in the form of a long trail of steps. Looking closer, I looked around the wasteland in search of at least something alive. To my surprise, I managed to find living creatures. Who were writhing in pain in the red river. All kinds of creatures suffered in the river. Except for the dragons.

Do you think dragons don't go to hell?

"They probably have their own special boiler," I said, gathering my strength. Somehow, in an amazing way, I managed not to go crazy because of the fact of being in hell. To make sure and cool off, I unbuttoned my coat and touched my chest. It seems to be still alive. Okay, just go down, take everything of value and leave. A twenty-minute adventure.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath before slowly exhaling. After that, I abruptly opened my eyes and started walking down the stairs at a brisk pace. As I descended, I was getting hotter and sweat was already flooding my forehead. When there were only a few steps left before the end of the descent, I caught something strange. It's like my body weight has increased by a kilogram or two.

Do not pay attention. Just move forward.

I looked at my target in the form of a red pulsation on the top floor of the castle and took another breath to calm my nerves. Then I jerked forward from the spot, looking both ways, waiting for any threat. Cerberus can't be the only threat, right? No matter. The important thing is that now I'm just a few yards from the red river where a bunch of screaming creatures was stretching their limbs in the hope of help. At this distance, their screams become legible and made me think about stopping for a second.

"Help!"

"For what?"

"Stop it, please."

Why help them? What do you think a dead man can give you if he is saved?

Not finding an answer to the question, I continued to move, preparing to jump. When I was only a few steps away from entering the river, I abruptly pushed off the ground. At first, everything was calm in the air until I felt something bigger coming. And there were a lot of these big creatures. Still in the air, I convulsively raised my head and saw how all the air was blocked by the approaching dragons. But unlike the creatures in the river, they looked absolutely emotionless and for a second it seemed to me that their eyes were flickering with a red light. No, probably just a light drop.

The largest dragon from the squadron began to dive at me and began to make sounds similar to the bubbling of a volcano. Fiery breath. Unable to dodge, I quickly created a shield rune and put as much magic into it as I could. The dragon with a mighty roar released a thick jet of flame in response to which I activated the rune by creating a thick shell of my own magic around me. The fire went around the shield without harming me, but at the same time completely blocking the view. The next thing I realized, my face was imprinted into the warm earth. It looks like the river is passed.

Lifting my head off the ground, I noticed two things. The first is that the magic shield is still intact, but it is flickering, hinting at imminent destruction. The second is that a crowd of dragons hovered over me like vultures and began to make similar seething sounds at the same time. I abruptly jumped to my feet and ran to the castle trying to ignore the headache. Several roars sounded simultaneously in response to which I jumped into the air. A deadly jet of fire passed from under me while I continued to move forward by inertia. Then I felt the approach from behind and turned around and saw a dragon flying up to me with its mouth open. The next moment, his teeth bit into the shield and I could see his throat. Fortunately, the shield lasted long enough for me to avoid being swallowed by the dragon and figure out how to react to it.

As soon as the shield broke under the force of the dragon's fangs, I grabbed his nose with my hands and quickly pulled myself up to be away from his mouth. After that, I grabbed the dragon's horns to get even further away from his mouth. In response, he started wagging his head in all directions, wanting to throw me off while the other dragons, to my surprise, started making a bubbling sound again. They won't shoot at their own, right?

Do you think that fire can harm the dragon?

"Oh shit." I whispered before quickly hiding behind thick horns and in a hurry to create some kind of shield around myself. A lot of dragons simultaneously let out their fire at me while their brother, on whose head I was standing, was actively shaking his head to the sides. After just a few seconds of continuous shelling, the shield began to crack, forcing me to retreat. I jumped off the dragon's head and breaking out of the streams of fire could see that there was very little left of the castle. Then I felt a huge crowd below, the size of which aspired to infinity. Nervously turning my head down, I saw a crowd of creatures running towards me like a tidal wave. The most amazing thing is that despite the burnt skin, which in some places has become completely black, they continue to move quite confidently. At the same time pushing each other as if they were breaking into the store during a good sale.

Then I felt another weighting of my body. And together with him, I realized that I abruptly began to fall down like a brick. Because of the long reaction, I fell into the ground, raising a cloud of dirt around me and feeling the pain that passed through my whole body. But the feeling of a huge crowd and a squadron of dragons made me get up with a groan of pain and continue the hike. But there is one plus in this. Now, against the background of pain all over the body, the head does not hurt so much.

Slowly, I began to run, seeing that there was very little left of the castle. As I approached the castle, I felt my body getting heavier and invisible lines radiating from the castle far to the sides. Turning around, my eyes saw an endless crowd of creatures following me and dragons doing the same. I focused on the road again and picked up speed trying to ignore the pain all over my body. Suddenly, a tongue of flame burst out of the ground in front of me, from which I dodged to the right at the last moment, stumbled slightly, but quickly regained my balance and continued the race.

My ears caught another sound of a bubbling volcano, but feeling the hellish pain in my legs that barely held my body, I just picked up speed knowing that I would not be able to jump. With a mighty roar, several dragons released jets of fire, but so far they have not been able to aim at me. Succumbing to my curiosity, I turned around but seeing a wide jet of fire that was a few feet away from me, I decided to focus on the road.

When I already felt the fire at my back, my eyes caught at the entrance to the palace. With the last of my strength, overcoming the pain, I accelerated and, entering the palace, fell to my knees. While I was trying to catch my breath, I saw that the path was not over yet. There is still an infinitely long circular staircase ahead. Hearing the approaching sounds of a huge crowd walking, I realized one more thing. Yes, dragons cannot enter the palace because of their size. But smaller creatures can do it without problems.

I jumped to my feet and ran up the stairs feeling the increasing pressure on my body. It's already getting a little hard to breathe. Turning around at the sounds, I saw that some members of the crowd ran into the palace and began to climb the stairs pushing each other. Many creatures were simply pushed down the stairs, sending them falling down. Some particularly unlucky ones were trampled. I focused on the path again and, putting the last of my strength, started running up the stairs trying to break away from the crowd.

At first, the whole body just hurts. Then my knees bent a lot, as if they couldn't hold my weight. Then I felt pressure on my chest preventing me from breathing normally. Grabbing air with all my might, I continued to rise. Fortunately, the pursuers were also experiencing difficulties. But unlike me, most of them were barely able to move anymore. However, some continued to move despite the hellish work.

With the last step, I went through the stairs and a room appeared in front of me. The room was illuminated by light passing through black stained glass windows and there was a source of red glow right in front of me. A humanoid figure who sat on a throne with two glowing red eyes and a hole in his forehead. Due to the falling light and blurred vision, I could not see the figure in more detail. Behind the throne I saw a small corridor at the end of which was a bookshelf. I was about to get into a fighting stance to take what I came for, but something grabbed my leg. Turning around, I saw a mutilated unicorn on whose neck there were no muscles left, only bones that grabbed me by the leg with two hooves.

With titanic difficulty, I took one step forward trying to force the unicorn to retreat. Suddenly he let go of my leg and pulled away clutching his head. At first, his horn crumpled like a tin can and pressed into his skull, causing a small splash of blood. Then abruptly his head flattened into a pancake, flooding my face with blood. For a moment I felt panic. What if the same thing happens to me when I approach this figure? He doesn't get up, maybe he lets me go? As if I'm not even interested in killing.

Let me make one thing clear to you, crybaby. You HAVE TO win, you WILL WIN and you WILL BECOME Perfection. There is simply no other option.

With difficulty taking a breath, I took a strong step forward and raising my hand to wipe the blood from my face, I shouted: Get up your ass, whoever you are and fight. I don't care about your gravitational force, I'll still defeat you! "

Absolute silence greeted me in response. After everything I've been through, does anyone dare to ignore me? Gradually, irritation began to grow on me, turning into anger, which stimulated me to go forward. Approaching the figure on the throne, I began to create an arrow rune in my hand. But the magic just refused to obey my will, as if the weight was crushing even magic. I can handle it with my fists.

My right leg buckled, causing me to fall on my stomach to the ground. But continuing the movement, I dug my fingers into the floor and began to pull myself forward with my hands. When I grabbed the figure on the throne by the leg, I felt and saw a strange thing. Getting closer, I was able to make out a skeleton with an outstretched jaw, nose, two toes and four at the hands. In some places, there were still muscles that, to my shock, throbbed weakly. I barely raised my head higher and saw his red eyes that were incredibly slow trying to transfer to me. Is it paralyzed or something?

Get busy and try to get rid of those eyes.

Gathering the last of my strength, I threw my hand on his knee, pulled myself up and threw my other hand on his shoulder. When I was about at the level of his eyes, I stretched out a trembling hand to one of them. With an exhalation, I reached into the eye sockets of the skeleton, grabbed the eye that felt like stone and abruptly pulled it out. Abruptly, the pressure on my body decreased significantly, but it did not disappear completely. I was going to repeat the process, but when I looked back, I realized that this was not the best solution. A crowd of creatures stood next to the stairs, also feeling the pressure drop. Next to them lay a lot of brothers turned into a pancake, which they did not pay attention to. Fortunately, the pressure was still strong enough that the army did not pounce on me. But one question remains. How to get out of here?

Bookcase. Let's see what's there and just test it in battle. The pressure has dropped so there is no risk that your eyes will be doubted like that unicorn. Maybe.

I nodded wearily and got off the skeleton's body before heading to a small bookcase. As I moved away from the skeleton, the pressure on my body decreased and when I passed a small corridor leading to the closet, it became much easier for me. I stretched out my hand, still shaking, in one of the books that was completely black just to see the title. Necronomicon.

"Of course everything is logical. First Cerberus, then natural hell, which for some reason is located in the east, and at the end of this path I find the Necronomicon. Where is the Cthulhu summoning manual here?" I grumbled hurriedly flipping through the book in search of something useful in this situation. In the book, the rituals of summoning the so-called spirits were mainly indicated. There was even a Discord listed among them. It's a pity that I don't need it now, and even if I did, I don't have the components. For example, to summon a Discord, you need a bar of milk chocolate. I'm serious and it looks like the author of the book too.

With a sigh, I threw the book behind my back and decided to try my luck again. The next was a book of bright blue color with the inscription Animancy. What? Opening the book and quickly flipping through it, I realized two things. Firstly, almost all spells are duplicated in the form of runes on the next page, which is very convenient. Secondly, the book is written in an unknown language. It is strange that the Necronomicon was written in understandable. For convenience, we will assume that this is Latin. Do I have to say that I didn't learn Latin at school?

Throwing another book over my shoulder, I picked up the next book in the hope of getting at least some success. The next book was scarlet red and was signed as Sanguisncy. Opening it, I was met again by the Latin alphabet along with images of runes. I decided to try my luck with this book and understand what it is about from the drawings. Great, to at least guess what the book is about, I'll have to look at the pictures as a child.

Don't whine.

Taking a breath, I began to examine one of the runes presented in the book. The outer circle with spikes outwards means that it is at least not directed at me. A central circle with systematic irregularities resembling drops integrated into the circle. Water? And finally, a symbol similar to fog. No, something doesn't add up here. There's water in the fog anyway, so why add extra water?

In hell, they will not keep a book in which it is written how to create an ordinary fog. Think, crybaby, think.

" These drops do not mean the water. And the blood. "I said to myself after some reflection. Yes, it sounds logical. Blood, murder, violence is bad and the like. As the Moon told me while teaching me, the central circle of a certain element in the right circumstances allows you to save magic. For example, releasing a fireball in a conditional volcano vent will be cheaper in terms of magic costs due to the peculiarities of the environment. She said something about natural magic. So blood magic is cheap to use and does not require special terrain conditions.

I looked at the crowd of creatures who continued to wait without words for me to leave the high-pressure zone. I hope the dead have blood. I sat down next to the bookcase, giving a cherished rest to my legs and began hastily searching for useful runes in the book. Before I completely immersed myself in the process, only one thought flashed into my mind.

I have to get out of here. For the Sake Of Perfection.