.

Elim, as soon as his head touched the pillow, fell fast asleep, but Jan was nervous, tossed and turned, but after an hour he fell asleep. The guys agreed to get up at 12 and as soon as the alarm went off, Elim got up. His friend did not possess such self-control and began to mutter something about 5 minutes, for which he was kicked out of bed.

"Get up sleeping beauty, we have a lot to do today," Elim wished good morning to his friend.

- And good morning to you, that is, night, - Ian muttered resentfully.

- Let's get dressed, we have very little time, we eat quickly and move out.

After that, they ate quickly - everything was ready, it only remained to warm up, their backpacks were also collected, so in 15 minutes they were already moving to the south of the city, there was the Minsk underground. They decided that the best option would be a dungeon located in Minsk, the one that Elim had visited. The other two were quite far away and out of sight, so the government could focus most of its research away from the eyes of the common people.

You can't show everything in the city, so everything was much more peaceful there, and if they were caught, the chances that they would just shoot you are much less than somewhere in the forest near Polotsk. They left the car a couple of hundred meters from the park and, taking their bags, moved towards the gate, now they were both in suits that looked like military ones, and given that now the soldiers were working more for the benefit of scientists, no one would be surprised by two guys with some then bags.

Jan was sweating all over with excitement as they walked, but Elim was absolutely calm, as if such things were in the order of things for him, this surprised his friend very much, although they were the same age, Elim seemed much more mature than himself ... Contrary to Jan's pessimistic predictions, they were able to go unnoticed to the camp, no one even paid much attention to them, but Elim still preferred to bypass large concentrations of soldiers and the most illuminated places.

There were a few tense moments, but in general they made it to the edge of the camp without any problems, where the zone began, into which the gatekeeper would only let the Ascended. The gatekeeper, at the request of the military, outlined with his spear a zone into which only the "Reborn" can enter, which determined the habitat of scientists - their tents and equipment began immediately beyond this line.

When they approached the tents, no one paid attention to them, considering them to be the next living transporters of equipment. Scientists and soldiers did not really like each other, so they preferred to simply ignore each other. The territory, which the Gatekeeper had outlined, was poorly lit, so the guys ducking slightly were able to quickly walk through it without being noticed, at least by people. The guard only slightly turned his head, looking at the two people creeping in the darkness, but said nothing: both were "Reborn" and had the right to enter.

They stopped near the black shroud, Jan was a little scared to enter and Elim decided to give him a couple of seconds to prepare, although it was a little risky. Gathering his strength, Yan stepped through the veil and found himself in a strange tunnel, he immediately looked back and saw his friend appear next to him.

- And now we are doing as agreed: I am walking in front, and you are a few meters behind, chatting less and moving more quietly, understand?

Jan nodded, after which Elim handed him his knife.

- If anything, immediately activate [Petrification], given my last campaign, there are hardly many people who can pierce your armor, the main thing is to protect your eyes - they are your most vulnerable spot when you use your skill.

Jan nodded again and took the knife more comfortably.

Seeing that his friend understood everything, Elim also pulled out his weapon - [Good Goblin Sword], a trophy that he took from the corpse of the captain of the Goblin Outpost. So their duet set off, Elim walked quite quietly, but Jan, although he tried to make as few sounds as possible, still created quite a lot of noise, so Elim walked a little ahead: this way he would be able to find opponents before they heard Yana.

Elim did not blame him, he himself learned to move silently for a very long time, this comes with experience: how to put your foot, how to transfer weight and how to mark all the small pebbles and other trifles that might crunch under your feet at the wrong time and give out your position.

They have already passed several branches, each of which Elim checked, even after he made sure that this is the dungeon in which he was last time, he carefully checked every side tunnel or recess. In the dungeon, everything can change, the same goblins could well have set up more posts or put them in a different place, after the carnage that Elim arranged not so long ago.

His friend, Jan, followed him almost on track and closely followed and memorized all of Elim's actions. From the moment they entered the dungeon, his friend seemed to have become a different person. Of course, he was a rather tough guy before, but now Ian seemed to be looking at a predator, ready to attack and kill his enemy at any moment.

"What happened to you for

those couple of years until we saw each other? " - such a question asked Jan, looking at the back of his comrade.

In the meantime, their duo reached the branch, in which Elim first met the first enemies in the dungeon, the corpses were no longer there, but traces of the battle still remained. Elim gestured for his companion to come up.

- Last time there were goblins, then there were several more groups, and then the outpost, which I told you about, I think their settlement will be even further. For now, let's walk through it, if we meet too large a group, let's go back, '' Elim said quietly when his friend was close enough

"Got it," Ian answered him also quietly and tightened his grip on the hilt of his weapon.

Further they moved with even greater caution, and the distance between them increased. After some time, Jan realized that he saw plants at the corners of the tunnel and this surprised him very much, he wanted to ask Elim about it, but the instructions he gave him clearly said: all questions are outside the dungeon. Even at home, Elim was entrenched in the position of a leader, he was already in the dungeon, and in general he was much more prepared for such a thing than Yang.

They walked through the tunnel until they reached the place where the last battle of Elim took place, the traces of which were clearly visible. But unlike the last time, the outpost was now not in the free space between the paths, but was located right in the passage that led to the goblin settlement. He could not discern the exact number of goblins, and he had no desire to storm this outpost, especially when he was still with a completely "green" Yang. Realizing that there was nothing to catch here, he turned around and shook his head, showing a friend standing a little further: they say, it won't work, let's go back. Ian nodded, waited for Elim to position himself in front again and followed him. When they returned to the main tunnel, Elim explained everything to him: - There the outpost is better than the previous one and we could not attack from behind so that there is nothing to try.

- So, what is next? - Jan asked a little upset, he was already ready to accept his first battle, and then it turned out that their very first opponents had become indestructible for them.

Don't worry, you'll still find someone to fight with, we still have time, - Elim glanced at his wristwatch, - almost 20 hours, so we'll sit for 5 minutes and move on. And by the way, since when I first came here they were holding that tunnel through which we walked, it is quite possible that they got through it somewhere where there is something of value, otherwise why would they still waste resources on holding the whole tunnel? - said Elim and grinned when he saw how the mood of his friend changed dramatically: from slightly disappointed to full of enthusiasm.

Return of the Soul Collector