Chapter 25

The "Headquarters" hut was truly magnificent. Three trees, located approximately in a straight line and at a short distance from each other, were felled. And they weren't cut down at the base, but at a height of about two meters and fell in one direction, not allowing the trunks to completely separate from the high stumps.

The tops of the fallen trees were lifted and placed on horns. Thin poles were thrown between the trunks, intertwined with twigs and branches. The result was a real house with a large inner area, in which Alexey Gennadyevich and his inner circle settled. In addition to Olga Viktorovna and the chief accountant, the "proximity group" also included the head of the transport department, the director of the sanatorium, and a dozen more people.

They all comfortably accommodated in this truly cyclopean hut, which quickly became the headquarters of the entire camp. People had to come here to solve problems, receive work instructions, and so on. Apart from Alexander's entourage, no one complained much about Gennadyevich and the methods he used to manage.

Everyone understood that someone had to be in charge. So why not let the chief, whose orders they had been accustomed to following for the past few years, take on that role? Finding themselves in a difficult situation, people calmly endured both arrogance and rudeness, which were so characteristic of the deputy general director in his previous life on Earth.

He believed that no one but him was worthy of commanding. It seemed that Alexey Gennadyevich didn't try to change his familiar pattern of behavior at all, although the circumstances had changed drastically, and he was sure that he alone was the true leader.

People didn't rush to dissuade him; there were more pressing matters at hand, which they solved under his guidance. Only a small group of rebels constantly questioned the authority of Alexey Gennadyevich.

"You told us all that there are no helicopters here! How should we understand this, young man?!"

"What does a helicopter have to do with it, you old fool! Understand this, we're vampires! You yourself recently drank blood."

"And what I drank is none of your business! Get the hell out of here and don't distract me from real business. Because of you, I can't help all these people."

"And they won't need your help if, by your grace, they burn in the sun, which you're protecting by stripping entire sections of the forest of trees, which are themselves a natural protection!"

"Why should some punk teach me, me! Who are you anyway?!"

The conflict only escalated further. Unfortunately, Olga Viktorovna approached just in time, and it all turned into a downright obscene scene. They simply dragged Alexey Gennadyevich, spitting saliva, away from Eugene, who was being held back by Konstantin from active actions.

"Satisfied, scoundrel?" Olga Viktorovna threw at Alexander, who stood aside.

He just shrugged and motioned with his head for Zhenya and Kostya to follow him. They silently walked to the dugout, where they found Sergey and Gennady, somehow sitting around a small campfire and chatting about nonsense.

"Isn't there any work to be done?"

"Resting, boss!" Sergey was clearly in a cheerful mood.

"Well, then come with me, I'll show you something."

The serious tone immediately killed the desire to joke. In complete silence, the group of men left the camp and delved into the forest.

"Have you noticed that there are mages in this world?" Alexander asked his first question when, in his opinion, they had gone far enough from the camp.

"And how! - Konstantin was the first to answer, - Paladins, shamans, druids, necromancers, witches, warlocks, priests — there are so many different types of magic users in the soldiers' memory. But everyone pays special attention to the paladins — warriors capable of using personal magic."

This was exactly the case with the memories of both soldiers and warriors. Military and ordinary people, they were first and foremost familiar with the military application of magic, where a significant role was played by those called paladins.

People who were not capable of "real" magic but possessed "personal" magic and chose war as their profession. Fighting with ordinary weapons, such fighters were capable of some magical tricks, the same kind that Alexander performed at the dam — attracting or repelling enemies, blinding them, blocking attacks, healing themselves.

This simple arsenal of techniques, nevertheless, was the object of envy of ordinary warriors, as it made paladins very serious opponents. Besides them, there were those known locally as "true battle mages". Among them, elemental mages stood out — mostly fire, ice, and earth.

But there were also more "exotic representatives", such as shamans, who subjugated animals with their power and altered them, making them completely obedient to their will. Or necromancers, who did the same but with "dead material". The "battle machines" obtained in this way, whether by shamans or necromancers, possessed enormous power but required large energy expenditures.

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