City of the Dead

by Vasily Mahanenko

  “None of your business!” the mustachioed warrior shot back. “The baron isn’t responsible for defending just this hole; he has to take care of the entire Gray Lands. But I haven’t heard an answer to my question. Where are the lixes?”

  “Open your eyes and look around the square.” Forian released Motar from his withering glare and turned to the commander. “I’m Forian Tarn, second-class academy investigator. And you are?”

  The arrogance was wiped off the commander’s face.

  “Darod Bifo, commander, fifth detachment, second unit of Baron Equire’s guard.”

  “The baron will be receiving a report on your actions today,” Forian said harshly. “Leaving level three guards alone in the city and only showing up twenty minutes after the invasion is the height of negligence! I was forced to violate our agreement to avoid using magic within the town and involve myself in the battle. At least twenty-two lixes were able to escape the city, so do your duty, Darod Bifo, and take care of the town. You’re free to go.”

  Tailyn shivered. The already formidable warrior became even more so as he turned red, his face twisted in rage, and his eyes looked ready to pop out of their sockets. But Forian had turned away. Swallowing his pride, the commander barked an order to his troops, and they galloped out of the city.

  Forian glanced back at Motar, who was pale once again, and thought about what to do next. The god had turned out even more unpredictable than he’d expected. After handing the mage the mission to find the crystal fence and his accomplices, it had organized the invasion. And while Forian had been busy getting the green light from the dean to protect the city without the baron’s personal authorization, while the pair of mages had been trying to find a work-around for the rules, the lixes had just about won. Tailyn had once again distinguished himself, too. The boy really was an intriguing case. Having set up within the safety provided by the temple walls, he’d helped the guards fight off the first wave and boosted the reward in the process. And then, the mages had been able to react faster when the second wave showed up. The dean had personally vouched for the use of magic, and Forian had used one of his rare cards to bring lightning down on the lixes.

  Three levels—two for the victory and one for contributing to it—would have been a great result for the surprise turn of events if it hadn’t been for one thing. The god had canceled the crystal fence mission. It had decided that Forian had lost the only suspect, without which it was impossible to get to the truth. If Motar had just followed instructions…

  Forian just sighed heavily and let his eyes droop closed.

  “I have nothing against the city guards.”

  His wasn’t to understand the ways of the god; all he needed to understand was that taking his rage out on the guard would have been silly. Forian hadn’t personally made sure Dort was delivered to the prison, which meant it was partially his responsibility, as well.

  Motar let his breath out. Bowing deeply, he disappeared quickly, in a hurry to get away from the crazed mage. But the latter had already forgotten about him. The mage was focused on the boy.

  “I want to know why you didn’t follow my instructions. You were told to head to the temple.”

  “The god closed it, Master,” Tailyn replied, stunning even himself. The battle behind him, he no longer felt the least bit of fear conversing with the mage. “The guard told me to come back after the attack.”

  “You were too slow.” Forian ignored the boy’s attempted reply, instead continuing on. “But that’s a good lesson for you. When a mage tells you to do something, you drop everything else and get it done as fast as possible. Every guard who did the least bit of damage to any of the lixes got two levels. But you wasted the cards I gave you without ever getting past level one. You disappoint me, Tailyn Vlashich.”

  The mage turned away from the boy, considering the job done. There was no reason for him to stay any longer in the town, which meant he could put it behind him as soon as he got his share of the loot. It was very possible he wouldn’t be back, too. Following his instructions slowly was just as bad as not following them at all in his book.

  “You’re wrong, Master!” Tailyn called after him, and Forian stopped. There wasn’t a trace of pleading, begging, or anything similar in the boy’s voice. Instead, there was a confidence the mage hadn’t yet heard in him.

  “And what exactly am I wrong about?” Forian retraced his steps and towered over the boy. The latter shrank back and hung his head, though he replied firmly.

  “The only reason the god didn’t promote me up three levels was because I haven’t completed the initiation. But he gave me the enhancement attribute and changed the formula…for something…”

  Finally, it hit Tailyn who he was speaking to in that kind of tone. Forian could easily have punished him just for breathing in the mage’s direction, and there he was arguing, trying to prove a point.

  “Keran?” Forian said.

  “Just a second. No, the boy isn’t lying. His parameters are on par with level four, though he’s still at level one…”

  Forian looked back at Tailyn. The fact that the boy had level three enhancement changed quite a bit, to the point that it looked like he was going to have to keep his promise to the dean and take on a student.

  “What did the god write to you? Tell me everything word for word.”

  The boy didn’t dare do anything but exactly that, especially since there wasn’t anything secret in the messages.

  “Well, well, well…” Keran said slowly, placing a hand on Forian’s shoulder and beginning a mental conversation. One benefit to being a healer was that you had to have a way to communicate with patients who’d lost the gift of speech. Do you understand what this means?

  Of course. Either the dean isn’t telling us something, or he himself doesn’t know. I’d imagine it’s the latter. We need to test out that upgrade mechanism on someone else—Tailyn could just be a unique case.

  Maybe. But where are we going to find someone who’s only half-initiated?

  I know how you get them, and that’s enough. There are plenty of criminals in the world, plenty of ray weapons, too. I’ll make it happen.

  What are we going to do with the boy right now?

  Keep testing him. It actually turned out to be a good thing that he took his time with the job I gave him.

  Keran pulled his hand away, and Forian looked back over at Tailyn.

  “I’m forbidding you from going through the complete initiation right now. Just do it the normal way—when you turn twelve. And that’s an order, Tailyn Vlashich. Repeat it back to me!”

  “I’m not allowed to complete my initiation until I turn twelve,” the boy said. He received another mission a second later.

  New mission: Initiation at Twelve. Description: complete your initiation when you turn twelve. If you complete this mission, Forian Tarn will take you on as his student. Deadline: 1 year 7 months.

  “You’re going to take me on as a student?!” Tailyn asked in shock. Keran was no less surprised, staring at his partner as if seeing him for the first time. Something had happened to Forian in that town—he was acting awfully unlike himself.

  “We’ll talk about that in a year and a half. In the meantime, give me the cards back so I can recharge them. And remember, my potential student, if I see you taking your time with my instructions again, you’ll be harshly punished! Oh, and don’t tell anyone about your abilities. That’s an order, too! The only person you can trust is me. Forget about everyone else. You don’t need to repeat that back to me, too, do you?”

  It took practically no time at all to recharge the level one cards. As soon as Tailyn got them back, he bowed low and dashed off up the stairs. The guard didn’t bother to ask him the reason for his visit that time, just opening the door to the temple.

  “On the job,” Keran said. “He’s a good kid, quick on the uptake. But what’s Finiel going to say? You know she won’t be happy about some little rascal, don’t you?”

  “W
e’ll cross that bridge when we come to it,” Forian replied. “But for now, let’s go see what kind of loot we got. The Gray Lands are waiting for us.”

  Chapter 5

  TAILYN DASHED into the temple, the only thing on his mind taking care of Forian’s assignment as fast as he could. Rushing by, he just barely noticed the décor, not giving his subconscious enough time to so much as grasp at the general details. Everything was different from the usual homes in the town. The walls were bare steel, there were labels written in a foreign language, and the many sculptures were so detailed they looked like giants frozen in time. Actually, Tailyn did notice all of that, though he didn’t stop to look around. His attention was occupied by the shimmering window surrounded by iron snakes—the eye of the god. That was his objective.

  “Welcome, Tailyn Vlashich, to my temple. What brings you here?”

  The film vibrated slightly to give off the sound, and all Tailyn’s determination vanished in an instant. He’d only ever seen the god’s messages, never hearing it speak. And as the cold, lifeless voice enveloped his body, all he could do was drop to the ground in reverence before divinity. All his plans and desires disappeared in favor of servility in the face of the god.

  “Are you here to complete your initiation?” the god asked, having not received an answer to its first question. Tailyn picked his head up with an effort and mumbled a response.

  “N-no, Master… I… I brought… I want to donate to the temple… To the god…”

  His thoughts jumbled, fear swept over the boy, though he was even more afraid of Forian being displeased with his weakness. If he let the god complete the initiation, he could kiss the academy goodbye.

  “What do you want to donate, Tailyn Vlashich?”

  “Arcane dust. All of it,” the boy replied. As he began to come to grips with his fear, firmness crept back into his voice.

  “Your donation is accepted.” The god said nothing for a little while, finally addressing Tailyn mentally:

  You received 8034 gold.

  Tailyn’s eyes widened when he saw the amount hit his account. Forian had been exactly right. No longer afraid, the boy got to his feet—the god had accepted his offering, which meant his future instructor had been speaking the truth.

  “Would you like to complete your initiation?” the god asked again. Tailyn was ready with an answer that time.

  “No, Master. I want to just do it the normal way—when I turn twelve.”

  “Application received… Processing… Approved. You will be automatically initiated when you turn twelve, with no need to return to the temple. Is there anything else you need, Tailyn Vlashich?”

  “Yes!” Tailyn perked up, having successfully handled such an important problem, and felt a surge of confidence. “I want to unlock some attributes!”

  You spent 4000 gold to unlock attributes.

  ***

  Attributes received: Intellect (1), Mysticism (1), Armor (1), Wisdom (1).

  Intellect. Description: an attribute that boosts your base mana level. The level + Enhancement parameter for mana calculation formulas was changed to level + Enhancement + Intellect.

  ***

  Mysticism. Description: an attribute that restores one mana per hour.

  ***

  Armor. Description: an attribute that restores one shield per hour.

  ***

  Wisdom. Description: an attribute that lets you use magic cards. For simple cards, the ratio of card level to Wisdom is 1:1. For rare cards, the ratio is 1:2. For epic cards, the ratio is 1:4. For legendary cards, the ratio is 1:8.

  “Is there anything else you need, Tailyn Vlashich?” the god asked as dispassionately as ever. The boy bit his lip. Master Forian had told him to just spend four thousand and use the rest to buy himself mage clothing, but what kind of mage was he if he only had two cards? And even that pair didn’t count—fifty charges was nothing unless he learned how to recharge them. The recent battle was proof enough of that. He hadn’t even had enough charges for all the lixes.

  But could he ask for that? Tailyn decided to start with something smaller to get the god warming up to the idea.

  “I’d like to donate my cloak, whip, and dagger to the temple, all good items. I got them—”

  “Your donation is accepted,” the god said.

  You received 38 gold.

  “I’d like the ability to replenish cards,” Tailyn blurted out as soon as the god took the items from him. It was pushing the limits, of course, but what was the harm in trying? If the god was generous enough to give the boy 38 gold for the trio of items, it might be generous enough to grant that request, as well. Master Forian hadn’t told Tailyn he couldn’t pick up extra attributes.

  “According to the agreement with the academy, that opportunity is unavailable to initiated and uninitiated creatures alike,” the god replied coldly. “You’ll have to visit the academy to receive that skill.”

  “But I’m neither initiated nor uninitiated,” Tailyn replied in surprise. The god was apparently equally surprised. Falling silent, it began processing its own words:

  Request received. Wait for the response!

  A minute went by. Then, a second. A fifth. Tailyn stood there, unsure what to do next. Every twenty seconds, the god let him know it was still thinking by asking him to wait a little longer. The silence fell again. Finally, another message popped up in front of Tailyn:

  Decision received!

  The first initiation stage does not fall under the agreement with the academy!

  ***

  You spent 1000 gold to unlock a skill.

  Alchemy skill learned: Card Saturation. Current level: 1. A rare ability that lets Alchemists transfer their mana to cards in order to restore the number of available charges. To restore 1 charge for a simple card, the ratio of card level to the amount of mana transferred is 1:10. For rare cards, the ratio is 1:40. For epic cards, the ratio is 1:160. For legendary cards, the ratio is 1:160. As the skill levels-up, the amount of mana required is reduced by skill level for simple cards, skill level * 2 for rare cards, skill level * 4 for epic cards, and skill level * 8 for legendary cards, though no less than 2 mana per charge.

  “Is there anything else you need, Tailyn Vlashich?” the god asked dispassionately, almost as if nothing unusual had occurred. Perhaps, that was the case. Tailyn couldn’t utter a word—he was too afraid the god would pull its gift right back. Never in his life had he seen such a detailed description, and his head was spinning. All he wanted to do was jump for joy and try out the new skill.

  “N-no, Master,” Tailyn replied with a boy. The shimmering film ceased vibrating and turned back into a mirror. The god had left the boy alone, though there was plenty for him to do. Next, he needed to head over to get his reward from Master Isor. And he needed to hurry—soon, the best would all be gone.

  * * *

  At that moment, Master Isor Barka, head of Culmart, was sweating rivulets as he answered the questions being posed to him by the second-class investigator while quietly praising the god for sending the lixes to take away his idiot son. He felt bad for the kid, of course, though he felt worse for himself. Why would Elass have tried to betray him? He’d come so highly recommended, everyone saying he was a completely trustworthy supplier. And since Isor had grown used to trusting his informants, the betrayal stung doubly. Obviously, he was going to wring his due out of them by slightly twisting the facts—Elass had killed his son!—but first, he had to assuage the interest of the mages who’d shown up at the worst possible moment. And then there was Meron, damn him. Who’d asked him to completely download his logs? At least, they’d clearly shown that Dort and Elass had agreed the former would show up alone.

  And it was because of that exact point that the academy mage was trying to figure out what an eleven-year-old kid had been doing cutting a deal with a crystal fence. Isor was sweating, but he kept up a strong façade—he had no idea, and he couldn’t hand over his own logs. They included information on imperial busine
ss that didn’t concern the academy.

  The fact that everything was going smoothly told Isor the investigator had nothing on him. If he had, he would have brought it up long before.

  The interrogation, as the city elder called it, or the friendly conversation, which was Forian’s version, wrapped up. Neither had been able to get the other to budge. Although, there was one thing: Forian was demanding his reward. Thirty percent of the loot earned for contributing the most to the victory was a drop in the ocean of the town budget, but he wasn’t about to leave it to someone as corrupt as the elder clearly was.

  “Yes, of course,” Isor said hurriedly, sensing the end of the unpleasant conversation and holding a piece of paper out to the mage. “Here’s a complete list of the loot and distribution. Your share comes out first.”