“Come here, Georn!” Tailyn yelled. “Onto the stairs! The god won’t let them through!”
“Stay there, boy!” The guard took another few monsters straight to the chest before sending his sword flashing once again. Another one bit the dust.
Tailyn knew his shield wasn’t going to hold up for long. And he wanted to help, though he also wanted to hold onto the card’s remaining charges. The guard pulled himself to his feet. He began swinging his sword to beat back the lixes, but one of them got around behind him before he could notice it. Tailyn definitely wasn’t going to be able to make himself heard through the heat of battle.
The decision was an easy one.
Alchemist Tailyn Vlashich.
You used Electric Strike-I.
You did 16 damage to level 3 green lix 778-R332 and stunned it for 30 seconds due to its weakness against electricity.
Charges remaining: 49 of 50.
The lix dropped to the ground in a fit of convulsions, and a spear pierced it immediately. Tekhor and a squad of five fighters had come to Georn’s aid. The leader yelled over to Tailyn.
“Can you do that again?”
Instead of replying, the boy looked over at the next lix and activated his card, blowing on it just once. The situation repeated itself exactly. One charge down, one beast dropped to the ground, one quick thrust with a spear.
“Bravo!” shouted Tekhor. “Stay there and keep taking them out. We’ll do the rest!”
Five charges of electricity… Ten… Fifteen… Thirty… Forty.
The more lixes Tekhor’s squad took out, the more appeared out of the portals. And they were all level three, terrifying and angry, throwing themselves immediately at the squad of defenders without paying any attention to anyone else. Tailyn even had to use the remainder of his shield card to save Tekhor from a lix coming at him from above. Another wave poured out of the portals to join the fray. Tailyn used the last of his attack card and ran back up onto the steps, having done everything that had been in his power. The mountain of dead animals was a testament enough to that. He felt bad for Tekhor and the guards, but he was just a ten-year-old kid. What more could anyone have expected of him?
Charges remaining: 0 of 50.
“Retreat!” Tekhor quickly figured out why Tailyn had made his way back to the steps. The boy had bought them a few minutes, and the baron’s troops were going to be showing up soon to beat back the invasion. It was just a shame he and his boys weren’t going to live long enough to see that happen. But that was okay—he’d lived honorably, and death held no fear for him. Most important was that the women and children were safe.
Three lixes leaped onto Tekhor all at once. Covering up with his shield, he awaited the blow, only it was not forthcoming. There were no flashing shields, no dying cries coming from shredded people, no exultant howls from the beasts. And when Tekhor risked a peek out from behind his shield, his eyes widened. The monsters were all convulsing on the ground, having been stunned by bolts of lightning coming out of the sky. The portals were gone, too—the lixes that had been holding them open were just as affected as the rest.
“Wipe them out! You only have thirty seconds!” Tekhor looked over to see the two mages standing on the wall of the city elder’s palace. They didn’t need to repeat their order. Both Tekhor and Motar sent their detachments rushing in from the adjacent streets, weapons at the ready. Spears and swords worked diligently to bathe the square in the blood of the invading army.
Tailyn stared triumphantly at the mages who had managed to turn the tide of the battle. It didn’t occur to him to wonder why they hadn’t showed up sooner. Just the fact that they hadn’t meant they’d had a good reason, and it wasn’t for him to question them. The storm cloud hanging over the city began to recede; the sun began to break through.
Even with how fast the guards were working, they weren’t able to finish off all the lixes. About twenty survived. Jumping up onto their paws and realizing what was going on, they showed surprising mental acuity and dashed out of the city. Nobody bothered chasing them. The guards were exhausted, and they were right in the middle of sinking to the ground when the god made its decision. They were heroes.
A surprised Tailyn read the message that popped up in front of him:
The attack on Culmart was repulsed (2 waves).
All participants in the local event receive +2 levels.
***
You were among the five locals to contribute the most to the defense of the city.
Level +1
You earned 8% of all loot collected from the dead lixes.
To receive your reward, speak to the city elder.
***
Note! Since you haven’t completed the initiation, you cannot level-up.
Character modification ongoing.
You unlocked attributes.
Attribute received: Enhancement (3).
Enhancement. Description: An attribute given by the god in unusual cases that serves to increase all other parameters. Anyone who receives Enhancement demonstrated incredible mastery bordering on heroism to the god. Don’t forget to prove worthy of this gift.
***
Level in the formula used to calculate your main parameters was changed to level + Enhancement.
Tailyn, shocked, pulled up his attributes and stared at the changes in surprise.
Status table
General character information
Tailyn Vlashich
Alchemist
Level
1
Age
10
Yearly tax (crystals)
1 (beginning at age 16)
Coins
0
Gold
22
Main parameters
Shield level
215
Mana level
210
Physical attack
26
Magic attack
34
Attributes
Enhancement
3
Skills
Alchemy
Shield Restoration Potion
6
Mana Restoration Potion
1
Magic Enhancement Elixir
1
Herbalism
Amilio
1
Ordinary Loach
2
Ordinary Daisy
2
Ordinary Lavender
2
The table was really starting to grow, and Tailyn decided to hide all the recipes he’d collected. If he needed them, they could always be pulled right back up. But the fact that he had another field without a colored background was fantastic news. His main parameters had jumped up as though he’d actually gotten to level four—it was a shame he hadn’t, but what he had gotten was solid already. The only problem was figuring out how enhancement was leveled-up. What did he have to do for the god to consider it an achievement worthy of the title?