“Mentor, could I ask you a question?” Something had gotten under the boy’s skin, and he went ahead and asked his question when he didn’t get a response. “Why did you send everyone but me off? I could have bought you the potions in front of them, no? Or was there some secret to how you blew up the pool?”
“There’s no secret, but you’re on the right track. Remember this: we’re mages, which means we leave grunt work to commoners. Hauling around cages and other loads is for rabble and servants. While they’re doing that, our job is to oversee the process and punish anyone who steps out of line.”
“But — ” Tailyn started, but Forian held up a hand.
“Just accept that. And bear in mind that if I ever see you feeling sorry for the rabble or trying to make their job easier by taking a load yourself, you can forget about being my student. I don’t waste time on scum. Got it?”
The boy said nothing as he processed the information, but Forian wasn’t backing down.
“I’m waiting. Got it?”
“Yes, Mentor.”
“That’s the last time we’ll be discussing that topic. How are your cards? Do you need to recharge them?”
“Oh, right!” Having a specific job to do was enough to clear the boy’s head. He decided to just cross all the different bridges as he came to them — first, his cards, then everything else later. Because while the boy could understand his mentor’s logic, he couldn’t accept it. The whole thing stood in complete opposition to everything he believed in and strove for. But recharging his cards was more important in that particular moment.
Tailyn’s mana had just about run out by the time he finished with his last card. It had taken him 3,600 to get them all back up and ready to go. Meanwhile, Forian watched his student work with unfeigned surprise, having expected him to just be working with the cards he’d been given a year before. But it turned out they were gone without a trace. Instead, the boy had six level two cards with 150 charges each, and he hadn’t even needed to drink a mana potion to recharge them. It was impressive. Even Forian himself had needed to polish off a few to get himself ready. Of course, most of his cards were epic, but that didn’t do anything to take away from the fact that Tailyn had really made some strides.
The worst part was that Forian couldn’t even see the boy’s parameters, having himself forbidden him from completing his initiation.
“Mentor, is that the same reason why you decided not to give me and my group level bonuses? Because mages should stand above everyone else?”
“Explain yourself.” Forian even stopped, taken aback.
“You said yourself that you killed three guards. And you got level bumps or attribute and skill bonuses for them, right? So, right now you’re still the only one who can kill the guards outside, but if you do that, you’re going to take the entire reward rather than sharing it with the group.” By the end of his little speech, Tailyn was blushing, having decided he’d somehow crossed a line. The look on his mentor’s face didn’t bode anything good.
Forian was at a loss — his student’s words cut deeper than any stiletto. According to the rules he’d followed his entire life, he should have gone ahead exactly the way Tailyn had described, killing the beasts on his own and taking the reward for himself. Only he’d never had a student he had to worry about. Actually, Tailyn was perfectly capable of worrying about himself — the issue was more that Forian owed the boy a blood debt no matter how distasteful that feeling was. And he needed to pay it if he didn’t want the god punishing him.
Forian Tarn invited you to join The dean’s mission.
Attention! If you accept the invitation, you will be removed from the Sirius group.
“What about the rest?” Tailyn asked, in no hurry to hit the accept button.
“I’ll invite the rest as soon as I see them,” Forian replied. “I can’t join someone else’s group, but I can create my own.”
That was enough for the boy to buy in and leave Valanil’s group. His frame popped up in front of Forian, and it was only the fact that the mage knew a surprise was coming that kept the unperturbed expression on his face. Tailyn’s counting parameters put him at around level seventeen. Of course, he was behind Valia and especially Valanil in terms of his mana and magic strength, but those two also had their level three mage outfits giving them a boost. The mage sighed. Life at the academy was going to be tough for his student — he knew all too well how the children of high-born mages treated anyone stronger than themselves. Even Forian’s patronage wasn’t going to help. Tailyn was going to have to fight for his place in the sun the same way Forian once had.
The mage set such a snail’s pace that they only caught up to the rest of the group by the door. In fact, his slow amble was driving Tailyn crazy, though there was nothing the boy could do about it. But at least his mentor kept his word. Once they actually did catch up, he invited the rest of the group and restored their communications.
“You blocked yourself?” Valanil snorted when she took a close look at the frames that popped up. “What, you think we’re enemies?”
“I think life is long enough to take a risk,” Forian replied. “Okay, I’m going first; Tailyn will follow me five seconds later. The rest of you will sit here and wait for us to come back for you. Don’t so much as stick your nose out there until we do.”
“I’m not leaving my master alone,” the lix growled. “I’m coming, too.”
A slight twitch of Forian’s lip was the only tell pointing to the emotions he was going through.
“The lix will go with Tailyn,” he said. “You two will wait here. Okay, Tailyn, your five seconds starts now.”
Forian touched the panel, and the door slipped off to the side. The dean had done a good job preparing him for the road. When he got out the door, he found that the stairs were gone without a trace, the guards having pulled the entire building apart from the foundation. Even the ground had been furrowed by their tentacles, the creatures apparently having tried and failed to dig their way around the door.
A protective shield appeared around Forian, and the mage leaped forward, hopping nimbly from rock to rock. Off to his right, movement appeared immediately as a guard in energy conservation mode kicked into action and tried to take out the new opponent. The problem for the mage was that he couldn’t talk one-on-one with Tailyn — anything he said was going to be heard by the entire group, but he couldn’t say nothing. Nobody had forced him to take on the role of mentor, after all.
“The thing you always have to remember, Student, is that no matter what level your opponent is at, there’s always a way to take them out. You just have to find their weaknesses. Just take the guards, for example, all the way up at level 150. First, you have to isolate them.”
Despite how quick the ball of tentacles was, it wasn’t quick enough. Forian activated one of his cards, and an icy shroud descended on the surrounding area. The boy looked up to see that it was ice all the way up. Once upon a time, he’d pulled the same trick, only he hadn’t been able to keep the monsters pinned for long. His mentor continued talking evenly, almost as if there wasn’t a deadly tentacle right next to him.
“The guards were created specially to keep a group of non-mages safe from magic attacks. They’re practically immune to all kinds of magic damage, ice and fire doing almost nothing to them. And they feed on energy.”
“Created? They’re artificial creatures?”
“Machines, to be precise. So, now that you know a little more about them, you can plan your attack. What are machines most afraid of?”
“Electricity?” Valia chimed in when Tailyn didn’t answer right away.
Forian said nothing, leaving it to the boy to correct her.
“No, they feed on that. Maybe, structural damage? If they’re machines, their insides should be all in order, something like Isor’s music box. One time, Dort dented it, and it stopped playing. Isor was furious.”
“Very good,” Forian said as he felt an unusual sense of satisfactio
n that his student with his lack of education had found the right answer when the duke’s daughter had gotten it wrong. Really, it was surprising how happy that made him.
“But how do we damage them?” Tailyn asked with a frown. “I don’t know how to break… Careful!”
The guard turned out to be stronger than Forian was expecting, and it was able to free a few tentacles that were sending flying straight at its main target. Even the beast’s artificial brain was sufficient to figure out who the biggest threat was. And while Forian struck again with his freeze, he was too late — three long, black tubes had wrapped themselves around him to block off his line of sight. His protection held up, but his mana level dropped precipitously. Worse than that, he couldn’t see because of the tentacles on all sides, so he couldn’t pick up or throw a rock.
Tailyn froze, staring at the black mess of tentacles enveloping his mentor. There was no notification about Forian dying, though the boy was all too aware that if he did nothing, it wouldn’t be a long wait for one. Fire did nothing to the guard. Electricity was equally powerless. Ice? That was just enough to stop it, and only for a few seconds. The boy needed pure, naked power, though he didn’t have any ready to go — Valia’s and Valanil’s summoning cards needed hours before they’d be off cooldown. The hydra was also pointless since there wasn’t any magic for it to absorb. More out of desperation than anything else, Tailyn waved his hand to activate his dragon.
Attack! Free Forian! Cut through the tentacles.
Li-Ho-Dun soared off, cutting loose a stream of fire as it did. A few tentacles twitched in pain as the companion’s fire ignored their protection and cut right through them. And while the attack only lasted two seconds, that was more than enough to lop off everything holding Forian in place. Not knowing how long his mentor’s freeze would last, Tailyn threw in ten charges from his own Cold Ring-II and ran over, only Ka-Do-Gir got there first. The lix’s steel claws went to work freeing the mage from frozen flesh that was anything but willing to throw in the towel.
“Careful! There are more up there!” Valia called, and Forian, who was still trapped, immediately activated another burst of ice. Educating was out of the question. As it turned out, dealing with multiple guards in a closed space wasn’t particularly conducive.
Eight tentacles reached down as two guards tried to force their way through the hole. And just as they finally freed Forian’s head, the dragon’s twenty-second cooldown time finished. Tailyn turned away and left the lix to finish the job. He needed to deal with the guards — the dragon was able to roast holes in them, and he planned on maximizing that.
Attack! Go for the eyes! Or whatever can kill it.
The dragon flipped its tail and flew off toward the guard on the lower level. That one was first; the two frozen up above were next. But that time, Li-Ho-Dun didn’t start its flame from a distance. Instead, it ducked out of the boy’s line of sight behind a rock, got right up in the monster’s face, and found itself staring into a pair of beady eyes. Tailyn even shivered when he saw the thirst for blood projected onto his vision. He’d never thought it was possible to convey emotions with a single glance, figuring that was just something romantic girls made up, but there was hatred right there. No intelligence, just the desire to destroy and devour.
And that was when Li-Ho-Dun attacked.
The stream of fire wasn’t directed at the eyes; it was aimed at the space between them. And while the guard’s forehead held up for exactly a second, it soon evaporated, unable to handle the heat of primordial fire. That opened a path right into the creature’s holy of holies — its brain. Lasting just one second longer, the dragon’s flames were still enough to turn the bare gray matter into kindling.
The dean’s mission destroyed General Isr Kale’s tomb’s 3rd guard.
***
You destroyed a creature 149 levels above you.
All your attributes and skills were boosted by 1.
***
Your companion reached level 3. 400 experience until the next level.
New ability unlocked:
Monster target (passive ability). Description: your companion attracts the attention of monsters, forcing them to attack it first. This ability is even active in bracelet mode. The damage your companion receives from monsters is reduced by 50%.
The tentacles dangling from up above twitched and came back to life — the ice hadn’t lasted long. Tailyn and his mentor used cold rings at the same time, but even that didn’t help much. The creatures were becoming immune to the card. In fact, the only thing that saved the group was that the idiot beasts were ignoring them completely, their attention fixed on the agile dragon. But while Li-Ho-Dun wasn’t having a problem staying ahead of the sluggish tentacles, they were moving ever faster with each passing second. Sooner or later, they were going to chase down Tailyn’s companion in the enclosed space.
“Get it outside! Lure them out!” Forian barked, instantly realizing what was going on. “Just don’t fly too far away — they have to stay locked onto the dragon.”
“On it!” Tailyn wasn’t sure what his mentor’s instructions meant, but an understanding of what he was supposed to do dawned on him. It was simpler said than done, however. The guards had plugged up the hole, though it helped that they were falling all over each other in their hurry to get at the dragon. After waiting for them to crash into each other yet again, Tailyn sent Li-Ho-Dun straight up. Tentacles flashed, but they were too slow. Not only that, but as the dragon soared by the monsters, it cut loose a stream of fire that elicited a thunderous roar from one of them. The machine was suddenly missing an eye.
“Change of plans — everyone, get out here!” Forian yelled to the group’s female contingent, which was peeking out of the open door. “Lix, make sure everything gets carried up. Tailyn, follow me! Take the dragon around the perimeter, farther away from the tree.”
Having finished handing out instructions, Forian began quickly leaping up the stones. The spiral staircase was gone, but that didn’t slow him down. To the contrary, it just meant he didn’t have to go in circles.
“Master?” Ka-Do-Gir didn’t make the slightest move to obey Forian. The latter was nobody to the lix.
“Do it. First, the magistrate, the cage after him,” Tailyn said as he glanced sadly over at the guard’s body just three meters away. Trying not to think about the loot he was missing out on, he clambered up after his mentor. It wasn’t the time for looting; in that moment, survival was the name of the game. The boy couldn’t climb as quickly as Forian, his split consciousness making it hard to concentrate. His lack of practice was showing through, and the boy swore to himself that if they made it out alive, the dragon wouldn’t be returning to his wrist.
Nothing much had changed outside since the previous time Tailyn had been there. The green lixes were standing off to the side, the idea of making a run for it still not occurring to them; the black slave driver was buzzing around; and the tree was still pierced by the blue light as it towered above the excavations.
“How long does your companion live?” Forian asked.
“Until it’s killed,” Tailyn replied, surprised by the question. Did companions have a limit?
“Excellent. Keep the guards about ten to fifteen meters behind it, just be careful with the turns. If someone capable of controlling them shows up, they’ll start trying to cut it off. Make sense?”
“Yes, sir!” the boy replied, barking out a phrase that popped into his head. He couldn’t remember where he’d heard it, or even if he’d heard it, though it seemed like it fit in that moment. Forian spun around and looked the boy up and down.
“If I didn’t know you personally, I’d say you were from Crobar,” he said. “Forget that phrase. And don’t even think about using it at the academy — if the dean or his deputies hear you, you’ll be beyond anyone’s help. That’s what the scum who hunted mages back in ancient times used to say, the military scum that made us lose almost all our knowledge and tech. Do you understand me, or
should I repeat myself?”
The boy even paled, not expecting to be reprimanded so harshly for what seemed like an entirely innocent phrase.
“I… Okay. I won’t say it anymore… I didn’t know…”
“And that’s why you’re still alive. What’s taking so long? We’re losing time!”
His questions were directed at the lixes carrying the magistrate’s body up to the surface. Ka-Do-Gir just snarled as he and his fellow green ducked back into the hole, Valanil and Valia taking their place.
“Grab the magistrate and carry him over to the tree.” Forian clearly didn’t like seeing anyone just standing around. But in that moment, even Valia’s pride didn’t keep her from obeying — the guards chasing the dragon did a great job clearing her head. The pair of women ran quickly over to the embankment, the old man in their arms.
“And we’ll get some practice in, my student,” Forian said with a nasty grin as he cracked his knuckles. “The next time the guards run by, hit the last one with lightning. We need to distract it from the dragon, only don’t you dare move a muscle. I need it to run right at you.”
Forest of Desire (The Alchemist Book #2): LitRPG Series Page 26
