All the group had left to do was wait. Finally, Forian activated his portal, and the boy grabbed the cage with the lix and stepped into it. The Gray Lands were behind them — forever, Tailyn hoped. He never wanted to have to deal with the lixes on their turf again. Halas could come find him in the empire if he was so hell-bent on finding him.
“What’s going on here?” came a woman’s annoyed voice as soon as the space surrounding him began to take form. Tailyn looked around to see that he was in the inner quarters of a beautiful, intricately designed palace. Everywhere he looked, there were arches, columns, marble floors, and snow-white sculptures, with swords, long curtains, and paintings hanging on the walls. The boy’s mouth gaped wide. In comparison to Forian’s residence, Isor’s palace was a pigsty.
“I asked what’s going on here,” the woman said, and Tailyn finally saw who was speaking. A lovely woman was looking down at him from a balcony on the second floor.
Finiel Beon (human). Mage. Age 27. Level 24.
“Finally! Forian, what took so long? And who’s that commoner?”
Those last phrases were addressed to Forian and Valanil as they stepped out of the portal. Tailyn didn’t hear the sarcophagus explode, but he could tell from the herbalist’s face that it definitely had.
“Welcome to my residence,” Forian said calmly as he brushed off some nonexistent dust. Nodding to his servant, who was holding the second part of the card, he continued. “Thanks, Patrick, I appreciate it. Student, you can leave the cage here. I’ll have it taken care of.”
“Student?! What did you do?” came a hysterical shriek from the balcony, and Tailyn shivered. Suddenly, he was anything but excited about being Forian’s guest.
“I did what the god led me to do,” Forian replied, finally noticing the woman. “Finiel, this is my student Tailyn Vlashich and his trainer Valanil Revolt. They’re going to be living with us until he joins the academy. Tailyn, Valanil, this is Finiel Beon, my bride.”
“I’m not going to live under the same roof as a couple of commoners,” the woman announced. “They can get out!”
“Patrick, take the guests to their rooms so they can get themselves cleaned up. Also, let the Duke of Carlian know his daughter is here — he can pick her up.”
“Forian! I’m serious, there’s no place for them in our palace!”
“It’s my palace, Finiel. My palace, my rules. You haven’t forgotten that in the year and a half I’ve been gone, have you? Patrick, why are you still here? Was I unclear?”
“My apologies, Master. Right away.” The servant bowed and led the guests off, doomed as they were. Having Finiel Beon as an enemy was the last thing anyone would have wanted. It was simpler to just throw yourself off a bridge.
But that was the last thing on Tailyn’s mind. All he could think about was getting his hands on Isr Kale’s journal. Since his mentor needed dragon’s blood, he, Tailyn, needed it, too. And why hadn’t Isr Kale or Mark Derwin used it themselves? What was the point of hiding it? It was incredibly powerful, after all.
It was hard to say why, but Tailyn got the distinct impression that that was the most important question he had to answer. And the System agreed wholeheartedly.
Mission update: Search for Coordinates. Additional mission: find out what dragon’s blood is needed for. How can it help or harm the planet?
Epilogue
THE TRIAL of Isor Barka, the Culmart elder, shook the empire. The Duke of Carlian himself was the accuser, his daughter’s kidnapping pinned on the elder’s negligence. And the worst part was that Isor didn’t really have a defense. He really had known about the kidnapping, not to mention who’d pulled it off, and he hadn’t done anything.
Isor’s Betrayal complete.
Crystal +1 (12).
The execution was held the same day, after which Isor’s head was paraded around the imperial cities with a list of his crimes read off in the city squares. From what Forian said, the provost had insisted on that, and the emperor had eventually agreed that the bureaucrats had gone too far and needed to be reined in. A fear of inevitable punishment was a great reason to follow the law.
Dort, Isor’s son, got lucky, as he was found not guilty, left alive, and sent off to live with distant relatives. But that was the end of the good news. Finiel turned out to be such a nasty, vengeful woman that Valanil fled Forian’s palace three days later, having found an entire brood of earthworms in her bed. The high-born bitch had somehow learned what the herbalist was most afraid of. But with nowhere for Tailyn to go, he was forced to tolerate the plagues his mentor’s bride threw at him. Formally speaking, Finiel didn’t go against Forian’s orders — she stayed away from open conflict. But the boy had something new to deal with every day, from his food being heavily salted to rats appearing out of nowhere to his door being stuck for days. The domestic beauty did everything she could without breaking the law. And everything she did was focused on getting Tailyn to leave the palace, as doing so before joining the academy would have meant he’d left his mentor of his own free will.
It was only when Tailyn went to talk to Forian covered from head to toe in blue dye that the mage gave in. Grabbing his student, he headed over to the academy, a fairly large but still separate city within the capital. It was delineated by a high wall.
“Student, I can’t admit him until he turns twelve! That’s the rule,” the dean said with a deep sigh after hearing out his favorite and taking a look at the embarrassed boy. The dye wasn’t really washing out, so he was going to be walking around with a bluish tint for the next few days.
“Mentor, please.” Forian wouldn’t have asked if the situation had been different. “He isn’t going to live to see his twelfth birthday. Finiel will eat him first!”
“You should have thought about that before refusing to take her brother on as a student,” the dean laughed as he glanced back at the boy. The kid was good. For his age and level, more than good. Even Valia Levor, who had submitted her papers and was being fought over by every single department, wasn’t on his level. And before everyone else found out about Tailyn, the dean knew he needed to act.
“Okay, Student, but only because of our relationship. Have you taken care of your problem?”
“Not yet. My mysticism still isn’t working even after adding parameter points.”
“I hope you realize that a mage without mana is an impossibility. You have a year to figure out an answer.”
“Yes, Mentor,” Forian replied with a bow of his head. “I have a year.”
“Now, as for you,” the dean said, looking over at Tailyn, “congratulations on joining the academy, Tailyn Vlashich. I hope you prove worthy of our trust. I hate it when people disappoint me.”
Congratulations!
You enrolled in the academy.
Level +1.
Attention! Error detected…
Returning to previous state.
You can’t level-up until you complete your initiation (20 days remaining).
Finding a solution…
Solution found!
***
Crystal +1 (13).
All your attributes and skills were increased by 1.
***
You’re the first person in this release to enroll in the academy at level 1.
You received access to a remote terminal.
Tailyn checked his map and found the red dot just a few steps away. But there was nothing in the room besides the dean’s desk. The one-story buildings occupied by the department heads were in a beautiful garden set apart from the main building, and that told Tailyn the terminal might be underground. In a basement? Or even deeper? There was no telling what kinds of tunnels had been dug down there over the millennia. But that didn’t make anything easier. And he was going to have to figure something out — there was no way he was going to give up on a gift like that. It was how he’d gotten Vargot, after all. Pulling up his status table, the boy grunted his appreciation for what he saw. It was time to figure out what life at th
e academy was like, not to mention what the rules were.
Status table
General character information
Tailyn Vlashich, betrothed to Valia Levor
Alchemist
Level
1
Age
11
Yearly tax (crystals)
1 (beginning at age 16)
Coins
2770
Gold
71970
Main parameters
Shield level
5331 (5331)
Mana level
7011 (7011)
Physical attack
575
Magic attack
1575
Named item level
5
Companion level
3
Attributes
Enhancement
15
Mysticism
11
Intellect
9
Armor
9
Wisdom
10
Perception
9
Regeneration
9
Agility
9
Strength
8
Concealment
8
Cartographer
7
Integration
6
Resilience
9
Marauder
15
Monster Knowledge
6
Anatomy Master
6
Scanner
6
Skills
Alchemist
Points invested:
80
Herbalism
Points invested:
38
Linguist
Points invested:
1
Mining
Points invested:
6
But the most important thing was to find the best sweets the capital had to offer. Valia had invited him to come visit, and he wasn’t going to show up empty-handed. Was the meeting with the dean ever going to end?
End of Book Two
Book Three is available for preorder on Amazon!
Tears of Alron (The Alchemist Book 3)
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Kaitlyn Weiss works in the genres of romantic fantasy, urban fantasy and fantasy adventure. You can download her first book FOR FREE on Amazon:
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City of Goblins (In the System Book #1) LitRPG Series
by Petr Zhgulyov
World of the Changed LitRPG Series
by Vasily Mahanenko
Rogue Merchant LitRPG Series
by Roman Prokofiev
Project Stellar LitRPG Series
by Roman Prokofiev
Clan Dominance: The Sleepless Ones LitRPG Series
by Dem Mikhailov
The Alchemist LitRPG Series
by Vasily Mahanenko
An Equation with One Unknown (Invasion Book #2) LitRPG series
by Vasily Mahanenko
Neue Versionen (in Deutscher Sprache)!
Survival Quest: LitRPG-Serie
von Vasily Mahanenko
Sehr geehrte Leserinnen und Leser, die ersten beiden Bücher der Reihe wurden von Lubbe herausgegeben und sind im Handel und bei Amazon erhältlich.
Leider hat der Verlag beschlossen, die Serie nicht weiter zu übersetzen, und wir haben uns entschlossen, dies selbst zu tun.
ALL BOOKS BY VASILY MAHANENKO:
The Way of the Shaman LitRPG Series:
Survival Quest (The Way of the Shaman: Book #1)
The Kartoss Gambit (The Way of the Shaman: Book #2)
The Secret of the Dark Forest (The Way of the Shaman: Book #3)
The Phantom Castle (The Way of the Shaman: Book #4)
The Karmadont Chess Set (The Way of the Shaman: Book #5)
Shaman's Revenge (The Way of the Shaman Book #6)
Clans War (The Way of the Shaman: Book #7)
The Hour of Pain (The Way of the Shaman Bonus Story)
The Way of the Shaman Comic Book:
The Way of the Shaman. Step 1: The Beginning: Volume One
The Way of the Shaman. Step 2: The First Day: Volume Two
Dark Paladin LitRPG Series:
The Beginning (Dark Paladin Book #1)
The Quest (Dark Paladin Book #2)
Restart (Dark Paladin Book #3)
Galactogon LitRPG Series:
Start The Game (Galactogon: Book #1)
In Search of the Uldans (Galactogon Book #2)
A Check for a Billion (Galactogon Book #3) LitRPG series
Invasion LitRPG Series:
A Second Chance (Invasion Book #1)
An Equation with One Unknown (Invasion Book #2)
World of the Changed LitRPG Series:
No Mistakes (World of the Changed Book #1)
Pearl of the South (World of the Changed Book #2)
Noa in the Flesh (World of the Changed Book #3)
The Alchemist LitRPG Series:
City of the Dead (The Alchemist Book #1)
Short Stories:
You're in Game!
(LitRPG Stories from Bestselling Authors)
You’re In Game-2
(More LitRPG stories set in your favorite worlds!)
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About the Author
Vasily Mahanenko is a fantasy author working in the new genre of LitRPG - the MMO-based fantasy and sci fi. His Way of the Shaman series took Russian literature by storm in 2012.
Vasily dipped into his college-days insider knowledge as a hardcore gamer in order to create a believable world of the virtual-reality MMO game. His bestselling series combines fiction and video games, telling the story of Shaman and his friends stuck in the ruthless reality of Barliona. He used his more than ten years' experience as an ERP implementation project manager to approach his writing in a well-organized manner, working to a strict schedule, a set of deadlines and even a budget. At the moment, the series boasts six novels with the seventh one in the works - this time the author expands on stories of Shaman's companions and those who helped and supported him in his trials and tribulations.
The English translation of The Way of the Shaman series is now available to the English-language reader in its entirety. So is his other LitRPG series, The Dark Paladin. Vasily’s latest project to date is also set in the world of Barliona: The Renegades (The Bard from Barliona Book #1) Lit
RPG Series, co-written with another Russian author, Eugenia Dmitrieva.
Vasily's other passion is space exploration which is why he works on a sci fi LitRPG series entitled Galactogon. Set in a space-simulator based world, the series is already available in English on Amazon.
He’s also released a graphic novel series based on his bestselling series: The Way of the Shaman Comic Book. The English translation of the first two installments are available here and here. Alternatively, check the book on the author's site: http://mahanenko.ru/en/Comics-1.
Forest of Desire (The Alchemist Book #2): LitRPG Series Page 33
