“Do you have any dragon’s blood?” Tailyn asked with a hopeful glance over at his guest.
“Not enough to save the planet. And even if it were, I still wouldn’t waste something that valuable. What do you care?”
“Would that help?” Tailyn bit his tongue to avoid saying too much. If he’d learned anything over his twelve years, it had been that he couldn’t trust anyone. Especially if they’d tried to kill him.
“Theoretically, yes, though the quantity would have to be absurd. Also, you’d have to integrate it into the center of the planet—doing it on the surface would be pointless. But you didn’t answer my question.”
“Fang. If I don’t find blood in five hours, I’m going to lose it. At least, for now. I don’t need much—just a standard core and a half. Would you trade it for my logs? I’ll send you everything.”
“I don’t get it. What does the blood have to do with Fang?” Derwin asked with a frown. He wasn’t aware of that particular feature.
“It lets you get rid of attribute and skill requirements. Here, look,” Tailyn said willingly, copying the logs from when he’d cleared Raptor of its requirements. While the boy had been expecting instant refusal, the Absorber was clearly interested, and that had kindled a faint hope. What if he got lucky, and the ancient loosened his wallet? Just a few seconds later, Mark grunted emphatically. He’d never used the blood like that. And he’d never seen anything about that feature in any of the documentation, either. At his progress level, adding new named items meant a few hundred maximum injections to boost parameters he didn’t need. If what Tailyn was saying worked, his life was going to get much easier. A core and a half was about five grams of pure blood, or two hundred and thirty thousand credits. Expensive, but worth the gamble.
“And you’re okay with going against the System? It was pretty clear about the penalty,” Mark said just in case as he began counting out the blood.
“I don’t have a choice. This is the only way to keep a lot of creatures I care about from dying.”
“They’re going to die right along with the planet one way or another.”
“Sterilization means instant death?” Tailyn asked gloomily.
“No, though... I mean, sure, they’ll hang around a while longer. Wait, did you say ‘creatures’? Not people?”
“Lixes. I have more than a hundred living in the city.”
“Lixes...lixes...” It was Mark’s turn to frown. Unsure, he checked his logs, which went back deep into the past. But there hadn’t been anything called lixes on that planet three thousand years before. “What are they?”
Tailyn took a step back in surprise and told everything he knew about the tribe of six-legged creatures—who they were, where they were from, the different types, and what they were doing on the planet. The Absorber was shocked. If it hadn’t been for the timer counting down the time he had left on the planet, he would have scoured it from one end to the other in an effort to restore justice. What the local System was doing was a malicious violation of the creator’s main law: planets that won the game were returned to their original condition. Anything else was grounds for the harshest of punishment. But that raised a question: was it just there, or was the same situation occurring on all the other copies of Earth? Mark had never been to a planet that had survived its release, not even going back to his own. It had taken him fifteen hundred years to purchase his freedom from the game, and everyone he’d known and loved had died by that point, meaning going back was pointless. That had just changed, however. Who knew what was going on back on Earth-1? Could lixes be running around there, too?
“Okay, I’ll take care of that,” Mark said as he finished getting the dragon’s blood ready to be turned over. “I need the logs from your victory over the black slime, the time you got unification, the time you unlocked magic, our battle, and your experiment kills. Basically, everything that let you reach level one hundred by your thirteenth birthday. Per the description, the average level on this planet is four.”
Collecting the information didn’t take much time, and Tailyn got his blood.
You have pure dragon’s blood. Would you like to use it for yourself?
As tempting as that was, the boy had to decline. He wasn’t even able to look through the possible enhancements since Mark kept pushing him along—the latter was going to be leaving shortly. Turning down the offer, Tailyn found himself staring in surprise at the next message.
Tailyn Vlashich, you have enough dragon’s blood for 2 standard cores. If you hand them over to the System, everyone in your Unification will be given the right to join the main game at your current level. If you decline, you will be assessed a penalty.
“No,” the boy said aloud even though hitting the Decline button would have been enough. “I need to upgrade Fang—I want to remove the parameter requirements.”
You used dragon’s blood.
Upgrade applied: attribute requirements removed.
Level +1 (108).
Wisdom +1 (54).
***
You went against the god.
Given the difficult situation the planet has found itself in due to the lack of noa, you have been assessed the following lifelong debuffs:
-20% to all attributes
The time remaining until the Mean Truk siege has been reduced by 50%.
You were removed from the registry of characters to be transferred to the general game world.
All your attributes and skills were reduced by 3.
There is a 50% chance you will not receive loot from your kills.
“Oh, wow!” Astonishment flitted across Mark’s face. The local System had been incredibly harsh, the penalties generally not going beyond the loss of two or three parameter levels.
“It’s okay—I’ll figure it out somehow,” Tailyn replied though his breathing had quickened when he saw the extent of the god’s rage. The System had landed its heaviest blow by dropping the time remaining until the siege from three months to one and a half. In other words, there were only four weeks left until an enormous army came crashing down on the Mean Truk walls, which the boy was pretty sure were far from ready to withstand it. The rest of the debuffs had nothing on that problem.
“Sure, you’ll figure it out...” Mark grunted when he saw Tailyn’s expression. “But what was that about a siege?”
“The emperor punished me for bringing my loved ones back from the dead. The humans and lixes are joining forces to attack the city in a month, looking to find and destroy me and everything that has anything to do with me. When we came here, I was looking to find something I could sell to get enough coins to buy protection...but it’s empty. Even the experiments... The god decided to grab that.”
“There are two technical bots by the entrance,” Mark said.
“I can’t touch them. Either I give them to the god in exchange for a little information, or I pick up even more penalties—I already checked. But I never thought the System would hit so hard.”
“Okay, enough whining. Tailyn, I don’t have much time left on your planet, so listen closely. The ability to create concentrated noa is too rare in our universe to just ignore it, so I’m going to head back to the creator and make sure you and your second half get into the main game. That should take six months, no more. In the meantime, survive. No matter what it takes. Remember that everyone around you is already dead, either now or a few decades from now—the planet is going to be sterilized. Don’t get too caught up in them since there’s nothing you can do to change what’s going to happen. Take care of yourself. What else... I can’t give you any coins since the local System won’t let me upset the financial balance like that. What I can do, on the other hand, is deal with the lixes. You’ll like what I have in mind. Do you have an idea for where you’re going to come up with the money? I knew a few storages, though they’re all on another continent. You’re going to have to take on another black slime, and I’m not sure if Fang will be able to deal with it.”
“Yes, we�
��re okay with coins,” Tailyn said, patting the container of dragon’s blood. “After the exodus, a One stayed on the planet and somehow managed to pull his consciousness out of the game. He’s currently making himself a body, though he needs blood for that. I give him the dragon’s blood; he gives me coins. Actually, that’s why I’m here.”
“One? That tin can is still alive?”
“A different one,” Tailyn explained. “The One you locked up on the planet was destroyed by me—I sent you the logs. This One prepared for the exodus ahead of time from his spot in a different hexagon.”
“We’re out of time, so I’ll talk fast. Don’t believe One. He and all the others like him were never alive—they’re just artificial intelligences. Programs. What they’re looking to do is destroy all things living, and that’s despite whatever fine speech he gave you. If you take his side, the planet is done. And it won’t be in another twenty or thirty years; it’ll be just one or two. One will destroy everything.”
“He said he needs aides...” Tailyn trailed off. Why hadn’t he thought of that sooner? What was wrong with the black and white minions packing the ancient city? Why did One need humans? All they were going to do was get in the way or maybe end up as lunch for his army.
“He doesn’t need anyone. He’s formless, not living. If the planet dies and the game goes away, he’ll be fine, so he doesn’t care about what happens to you. Give that some thought, Tailyn. He’ll help with coins since he has direct access to the System’s resource as a program, but are you willing to pay the price he’ll ask for? It’s going to be expensive. Okay, see you soon! Expect me back in six months.”
With that, Mark Derwin flickered and disappeared, leaving nothing behind but a pile of black dust on the ground. The Absorber had gotten what he needed on the planet, and the god had pulled the intruder out of his fiefdom to make sure he didn’t do or say anything he shouldn’t.
Tailyn had no desire to discuss what had happened with Valia. The screen transmitting what Tailyn was seeing was still in the virtual smithy, so she had seen and heard everything. In fact, she’d held up surprisingly well, only gasping once when the god cut the time they had left before the siege. We’re not going to make it, she whispered, the only time she betrayed emotion. The girl knew all too well what her betrothed was going through, and she wasn’t about to add to the pressure he was under.
For his part, Tailyn glanced ruefully at the time he had left from the god—less than a day to find both experiments. There was no time to lie around and feel sorry for himself. After taking one final look at the System’s “snakes” destroying the remains of the real world, taking on the cloth instead of the machines, the boy headed into the main laboratory. Flying, it seemed, was a thing of the past. He wasn’t going to get rid of Fang, and his perception was doing a good job plotting the path ahead to keep him moving quickly. Unlike the Absorber, Tailyn’s dragon was good at picking out rocks that were perfect for teleporting. Flying around the area, it gathered a whole mound of them, wagging its tail as it handed its treasure over to its master. Another labyrinth update went by, only that time it was marred by the hole leading to the mine. For whatever reason, the functionality responsible for building new structures wasn’t able to do anything with it. The lab’s integrity had been ruined.
“Okay, time to go,” Tailyn said more to himself than his companion. The latter was only too happy to follow the boy to the far corners of the planet. Picking up one of the rocks, Tailyn sent Li-Ho-Dun deep into the corridor. There was no doubt in his mind—the System certainly wasn’t going to turn off the traps so he could get on with his mission. And that made things a challenge...
You destroyed the fourth embodiment of the Cleaner, one of the four parts of Experiment 1.
Level +1 (110).
Wisdom +1 (52).
Due to your penalty, you did not receive any loot.
***
Mission progress: Tartila Mine. Experiments remaining: 1.
It had taken Tailyn six hours to find the hidden dough. The last chunk had run far off into the labyrinth, meaning the boy had been forced to traipse it up and down until Raptor had found a small divergence between the map and its scanner. The creature had turned itself into a wall and frozen there. Even when Tailyn came over to it, it remained motionless, the third part, which had been killed a couple hours before, apparently having complained of the terrifying new weapon. But Tailyn wasn’t about to pity the creature. Fang buried itself in the fake wall, and it was only then that the Cleaner twitched in an effort to fight back. But it was too late. The dagger’s black strands were already busy doing their job to perfection.
The only thing left was to deal with Griala, but Tailyn decided to wait a few updates so he could get into the control center. Happily, there were neither traps nor dynamic walls inside, though there wasn’t any loot, either. The worn walls made it clear why that was—the grassy monster had gone through and swallowed everything it could get its stalks on. And that was pretty much the works.
After getting a few levels higher, Tailyn headed in the opposite direction from the main entrance. Griala wasn’t going anywhere, and he had the opportunity to take care of an ancient mission he’d gotten back at the beginning of his travels: Search for Coordinates. Lavr Nalin’s entries led him straight to an enormous steel plate featuring a password entry panel, the only thing Griala hadn’t swallowed.
Valia, ask the reptiloid what the access code to the control center is.
He says you can’t get in without him. Oh, and he thinks you should think twice about where you’re sticking your nose.
You know, I’m not in the mood. Could you get the code? We need it, and we don’t need the reptiloid—he’s been completely useless. Do whatever you have to do.
On it...
Valrus was apparently tracking the mental conversation the children were having because the answer was instantaneous.
The access to the control center in the ancient lab recognizes the physical attributes of individuals. Or reptiloids. You can’t just get in since there isn’t actually a code—it’s complicated. While he couldn’t really explain it, he told me again that you can’t get in with him. And you know what? I believe him. Take out Griala and come back. Forian and Valanil want to have a talk with you, and I’m all for letting you deal with them so I can get a break.
Mission updated: Search for Coordinates. Description: you got to a spot where a container of dragon’s blood is hidden. Find a way to get into the experimental laboratory’s control center. You learned that the key is a being with access coming into physical contact with the entry panel. Those beings are: Lavr Nalin (human, dead), Valrus Bur (reptiloid, alive), Mark Derwin (fire elemental, not on the planet). Others may also have access to the room. Get the container and use it wisely.
It was only then that Tailyn noticed the oddity. Apparently seeing nothing unusual about it, the god had informed him that there were multiple hiding places with the dragon’s blood so important for prolonging the planet’s life. And there were no implied threats, penalties, or flashing red notices... In fact, it was almost like the god who had arrived after the exodus had nothing to do with the mission. It didn’t know about it. The mission had apparently been initiated back when the release was in full swing, that god having figured out a way to get its treasure back. The situation was the same as in the city of the dead, the Forest of Desire, and other locations that shouldn’t have existed on the planet.
Raptor pulled Tailyn away from his musings. The attentive scanner had been on the lookout for any changes in the area and immediately noticed a mass beginning to fill the corridors. Judging by the forest of outcroppings, the density, and the speed the mass was moving at, Griala had decided to pay Tailyn a visit. Possibly, it had sensed the vibrations he made when walking and was rushing over to see what else it could drop into its bottomless stomach. Or whatever it had in place of a stomach.
Tailyn pressed himself against the wall with the metal door, activated Fang
, and held the weapon out in front of him. Even without the melee weapon attribute, he wasn’t worried about missing. That was impossible in the face of his opponent’s strategy of crushing him with sheer volume.
You destroyed Griala, Experiment 26.
Level +1 (111).
Wisdom +1 (53).
Due to your penalty, you did not receive any loot.
The battle turned out to be surprisingly short for a monster like Griala. The scourge of all experiments was rendered impotent by necrotic energy. As the stalks entered the room and surged toward Tailyn in an effort to chop off the part of his body nearest them, the monster found out to its dismay that it was holding the sharp blade of a named weapon. The invulnerable monster was gone in the blink of an eye, capable only of sprinkling black powder on its killer.
Tartila Mine (The Alchemist Book #5): LitRPG Series Page 20
