“We can’t! The lift isn’t active. Do you think we’re idiots?” Valanil shot back. Forian permitted himself a curse — he hadn’t thought about that. But just then, a young voice cut in.
“I’ll do it! Get ready.”
“Tailyn, no!” Valia threw herself at the boy only to be caught by Forian.
“Don’t get in his way, little lady. Hurry into the lift! Tailyn will activate it.”
Admittedly, Forian himself didn’t put much stock in Tailyn at that moment, though he didn’t see another way. It was going to take a miracle to save them, and the strange kid certainly had enough of them up his sleeve. That was why it wasn’t worth getting in his way.
“Get the cage in here, too.” Valanil was also in a hurry as she stared at the boy, who’d turned into a statue. The fact that he hadn’t burned up instantly meant he’d gained access and was working on the power supply.
“Take the magistrate — ” Forian started to say, though he was quickly interrupted. Valanil had no qualms about talking back to the mage.
“Not on your life! You can take him yourself — I’m not about to ride an elevator with someone out of his mind. Valia, give me a hand. We can’t leave the lix here.”
Forian bit his tongue, just marking the time in his virtual notepad. He could check the logs later to refresh his memory and give his student’s trainer the punishment she deserved. In the meantime, she was fine carrying off their caged prisoner.
At the same time, Tailyn was trying to talk the security system into letting him reroute the energy streams. Gaining access had been simple enough for someone with partial initiation, the god apparently having just one system for everything. The precedent had been enough. But that had been where the good news ended.
Your access level is insufficient to reroute energy. Contact the administrator to raise your access level.
Where is the administrator?
The administration building was destroyed. No new coordinates have been given.
How do I get access if there isn’t a building? Who am I supposed to talk to?
Your request could not be processed. Contact the administrator for more details.
Tailyn’s frustration grew as he kept coming up against the same answer. The system was as stubborn as a mule. Having gotten it into its head that it needed permission from some administrator or other, it was taking him around in circles. But the issue was that the Nemean lion was about to show up and eat them all, so Tailyn blurted out the first thing that occurred to him.
I talked to the administrator and was put in charge. That includes access to everything. Go ahead and verify that.
Processing your request. The connection to the administrator could not be established.
I have access to control the tomb, and I demand that the lift start working!
Processing your request. The connection to the administrator could not be established.
Great, then I officially count the system as acting in defiance of the administrator. I’m going to head back over, and you can kiss yourself goodbye. You’re going to be liquidated!
Protocol 99-GR-3 applied. Because contact with the administrator could not be established, control was handed over based on the claim to access.
Redirecting energy.
Lift engaged.
“It’s working!” Valia shouted, her cry venturing across the edge of his subconscious.
“Get down there — you have thirty seconds!” That was Forian.
Tailyn was about to disconnect when he heard another voice. It was low, vibrant, calm.
Not bad, human, not bad. That was a nice move since the system couldn’t check you. It’ll be my pleasure to swallow you and your companions, so come on down. I’ll be waiting. And I’m hungry.
A herd of shivers ran down the boy’s back — someone really was down there, and it was expecting them. The mission the god had given him had been right on the money. However, regardless of the warning, the lift was gone by the time Tailyn disconnected from the terminal.
“Did you hear that voice?” the boy asked his mentor worriedly, though the latter just waved him off as if to say he didn’t have time right then. The mage was focused entirely on the forest surrounding the dig. A chain of lixes had just appeared, the big six-limbed creatures so close together that not so much as a mouse would have been able to sneak past.
“I don’t like this even a little bit. Level four armor, all of them with levels in the fifties, absurd parameters… Where did the black lixes come up with that kind of power? And how does nobody know about it?”
“There’s someone down there!” Tailyn finally yelled. “It’s a trap!”
“Learn how to savor the moment, Student,” Forian said, his voice finally regaining the imperturbability it had lost. “The only way we’ll die is if the god wishes it. So long as we’re acting in accordance with its will, nothing can threaten us. There’s a reason we were led here. It’s our path. If we stop, we’ll be swept away, so we have to keep going.”
“But the lixes will just follow us down, so what’s the point? Halas can use the lift, too — he has the same access to the terminal that I do.”
“It’s not ours to judge,” Forian shot back. “But you’re on the right track. We have to destroy the lift…”
“The store isn’t working,” the boy said just in case.
“I know.” Forian turned the hill into a skating rink once again. “We need to think…”
“Ka-Do-Gir!” Tailyn suddenly yelled. “They have Ka-Do-Gir!”
The group of lixes eased their way grandly into the dig, ignoring everything around them. A hydra was out front gobbling down the boy’s fire. Behind it, Halas was riding on his golden lion, his head thrown so far back that he looked the part of emperor of all the planet. Everyone else was beneath him. Directly behind him, four black lixes were leading a hairy creature reminiscent of a cow, and Tailyn’s servant was on its back. His armor was shredded, his body had been lacerated by claws, and his limbs were twisted unnaturally, but Ka-Do-Gir was still alive. At least, that’s what the boy’s perception told him.
There was a click on the other side of the boy as the lift returned. Realizing he was going back on his promise to himself, he returned his dragon to his wrist — the last thing he needed was to accidentally lose it. It could ride down with him and then take off once they got to the bottom.
“Hurry, let’s go!” Forian ordered. “We’ll decide how we want to block the passage once we get down there. Grab the magistrate!”
“But the lix — ”
“We can’t help him! They didn’t kill him right away, so that means they need something from him, and we can free him later.”
That seemed reasonable, so the boy leaned over Vavon’s body. But as soon as he touched it, a message popped up:
You can’t use the Marauder attribute on a living being.
Suddenly, the boy knew what to do.
“I know what to do with the lift,” he said hurriedly. “The lixes won’t be able to follow us! The magistrate must have really strong protection against marauders — he’s three hundred years old, after all.”
“What are you talking about?”
“The kid’s on to something,” Valanil said through the intercom. “You know yourself the old man died — it’s just his body that’s still breathing. His consciousness is gone forever. Tailyn has the marauder attribute, so if you kill the magistrate and try to loot his body right before the lift door closes…”
A happy roar came from over where the lixes were as Halas leaped off his lion and pointed at the tree. Finally, the guards stopped their fruitless climb and backed off. It was time for a professional who spat on ice to take care of the problem — getting to the top was going to be a matter of a single leap. For a moment, Forian was taken aback, though he quickly regained control. His student was right. Their lives were worth more than an empty shell.
“Tailyn, do it. I don’t have a weapon.”
Matild
a leaped back into Tailyn’s hand, and a crushing blow slammed into Vavon’s head. With no personal shield, it was instantly turned into a bloody mess.
“Quick, get into the lift. Touch the body!” Forian barked as he pulled the magistrate’s body over to the door. All Tailyn had to do was place a hand on it to activate the protection the magistrate had. If he had protection.
“Not yet.” Tailyn suddenly felt the sense of calm that often found him when he was himself facing mortal danger. Sticking a hand out of the lift and holding it right above Vavon’s body, he didn’t try to loot it. Instead, he waited. The Nemean lion was in fine form, moving in slowly to let its victims savor their fear and the imminence of their demise. For a second, it disappeared as it made its way over to the base of the tree-topped hill.
Seconds ticked by. The boy’s hand twitched, and he bit his lip so hard he drew blood, but he still waited. Even Forian didn’t hurry him, having figured out what he was going for. Of course, the mage hated when he had to wait for other people, but there was nothing he could do about that. It was up to the god to decide if they were going to live or die. If not, Vavon would detonate the moment Tailyn placed his hand on him no matter when that happened, then or a few moments later. And so Forian waited with his hand on the button. One push, and they would be sent flying downward.
With a streak of golden lightning, Halas’ companion leaped up onto the hilltop. The lion cut loose a thunderous roar that should have frozen the blood of anyone daring stand against it, but that was exactly what the boy had been waiting for.
“Now!” Tailyn yelled as he let his hand fall onto the magistrate’s body. Forian jammed the button, and everything started happening at once.
Active protection against marauders detected.
Your attribute level: 14. Active protection level: 85.
Activating security protocol…
The door slammed shut, and Tailyn’s stomach leaped into his throat as they shot downward. From the inside, the walls of the elevator were just as transparent as the ceiling of the hall of fame, which let him see what happened on the outside. An enormous fireball swallowed up the tree, the terminal, the entire hill, and, most importantly, the Nemean lion.
The shaft was filled with fire, and the roof of the lift began heating up. Made of some kind of strong material, it was still unable to withstand the incredible temperature. All that saved them was how fast the lift itself was racing away from the fire. But as soon as they stopped, drops of melted metal began to rain down — the flames were in no hurry to let their victims get away. The door opened, and Tailyn leaped out into a small room. Valia and Valanil were working on a door that was apparently locked.
“Get against the wall!” Forian yelled as he yanked the cage over and leaned against it himself. Valanil reacted instantly, grabbing the girl as she did, and that was when the fire burst through the top of the lift and angled out. With the flow as strong as it was, the wall Valanil was leaning against melted away instantly. Tailyn just had time to hear a short shriek of pain before Vargot lit up to warn him of the danger and its inability to maintain an optimal temperature. As it heated up, the boy swallowed a salamander potion to keep himself safe from the fire.
But it didn’t help. The flask that was supposed to make him immune from fire turned out to be powerless against the force of nature Vavon’s death had unleashed. Tailyn’s legs were scorched, but he stood tall. Falling into the stream of fire would have meant the end. Of course, everyone else definitely had it worse since Vargot was better than level three armor at dealing with the heat, and the only good news was that he hadn’t gotten any messages about group members dying. There were plenty of other messages, however.
Security protocol activated: local armageddon covering a radius of 30 meters, damage radius of 200 meters.
***
You destroyed more than 50 creatures at least 50 levels above you.
You received a level-up for four random attributes.
Integration +1 (5).
Agility +1 (8).
Cartography +1 (6).
Resilience +1 (8).
***
The dean’s mission destroyed a legendary creature.
Level +1.
Instead of a level, Tailyn got a crystal, already his fifth, and that was when the armageddon finally abated. The fire suddenly disappeared, almost as if someone had turned off a valve, and the boy peeled himself off the wall and ran forward as fast as his roasted legs would carry him. His regeneration told him he needed three hours to get back to working condition.
Tailyn found the three bodies quickly. They were burnt, almost charred, but alive. With Forian moving more than the rest, the boy began to shake him, knowing all too well how much that was going to hurt.
“Coins! I need coins to save you! Thirty thousand. I’m going to make potions!”
The combat status hadn’t disappeared, so he had no way to sell everything he had in his inventory. And that just left one way out — getting the coins from his mentor.
Forian’s face guard slid to the side, releasing a cloud of smoke. And with how horrific his face looked, Tailyn was afraid to even think what Valia and Valanil had been turned into. Turning his one remaining eye on the boy, Forian tried to say something but couldn’t. His mouth had been roasted shut.
“Please, I need coins!” Tailyn practically whimpered. “I can save you. Please!”
An enormous glimmering coin appeared in Forian’s hand. Grabbing it, Tailyn jumped immediately into the workshop. He knew he’d be fine — his regeneration would take care of that. And that meant he had to save the rest. One potion wouldn’t be enough, the damage being much worse than he’d hoped for, and that meant each of the three needed two flasks. The ingredients for one cost 5,200 coins. And he needed six. That was 31,200 coins. Forian had given him the 30,000 he’d asked for, but that was fine — he could throw in his own. The most important thing was to finish in time to save the group.
It took just seconds for Tailyn to get everything ready. Jumping back out, he pried Forian’s mouth open with an effort and carefully poured the potion in. That was one down. Valia and Valanil were lying next to each other, having taken much more damage that Forian. The fire had apparently not broken through the wall immediately. Stopping suddenly, Tailyn couldn’t believe his eyes when he saw Valanil with her arms around Valia, the woman shielding the girl with her body. The herbalist’s back looked horrific, her armor had melted, and the boy could see her spine, but she was still breathing. Tailyn swallowed hard — there was no time for sentiment. Pulling the bodies apart, he deactivated their face guards, having asked them to give him access to their hermetic seal after the incident with the poison. Two flasks went to each of them, and it was only then that Tailyn could sit down weakly and read the latest message to pop up.
What had the god wanted to tell him?
Ka-Do-Gir, a member of The dean’s mission, was killed by Halas.
You lost your servant.
Tailyn choked back the sorrow and glared upward in hatred. In that moment, he realized that what he’d felt toward Dort had been nothing but mild distaste. Real hatred was what he felt right then for his personal enemy, and the boy swore that he would one day force Halas to answer for what he’d done. The lix was going to feel the pain of loss with every fiber of his being.
Chapter 20
The dean’s mission entered the 2nd level of General Isr Kale’s tomb.
All group members receive +1 level.
***
Crystal +1 (6).
TAILYN PULLED his mentor through the hole the fire had burned and looked back with distaste at Vu-Rga. The lix had survived, the isolation cage having completely blocked both the flames and the heat. For a good while, the boy thought about whether to drag the old shaman over or not, unwilling to see what was going to happen when he handed him a level bump. Who knew what the bastard would be able to do with it? But leaving him there wasn’t an option, either. The armageddon had destroyed the tree
and part of the central column, and Tailyn could see through the clear ceiling, which was also the floor of the hall of fame, that the lixes were already running around trying to get to the hole. All they wanted was everything, people and loot both. But the best news for Tailyn was that the terminal was gone without a trace. There were going to be no more sacrifices made there.
Deciding that Florian would be less than pleased if he lost their valuable prisoner, Tailyn lugged the caged lix through the opening and looked around once again. He was in a large empty space. The fact that his scanner couldn’t see the other side meant it was more than a hundred meters away, and while the spot where Tailyn was standing was made of stone, the rest of the hall featured clear glass. Green acid bubbled underneath it to show what awaited anyone who tried to go any further. But projected onto the glass were red lines that outlined a labyrinth, with the picture changing every minute. Part of the floor disappeared with each new change. If you didn’t react to the changes in time, you’d drop into the acid, and that would be curtains for you. Every time the labyrinth moved, however, a green line also appeared to lead past all the holes in the floor. Tailyn reasonably decided it was a trap — it was too good to be true.
Forest of Desire (The Alchemist Book #2): LitRPG Series Page 28
