“No, Master. I want to just do it the normal way—when I turn twelve.”
“Application received… Processing… Approved. You will be automatically initiated when you turn twelve, with no need to return to the temple. Is there anything else you need, Tailyn Vlashich?”
“Yes!” Tailyn perked up, having successfully handled such an important problem, and felt a surge of confidence. “I want to unlock some attributes!”
You spent 4000 gold to unlock attributes.
***
Attributes received: Intellect (1), Mysticism (1), Armor (1), Wisdom (1).
Intellect. Description: an attribute that boosts your base mana level. The level + Enhancement parameter for mana calculation formulas was changed to level + Enhancement + Intellect.
***
Mysticism. Description: an attribute that restores one mana per hour.
***
Armor. Description: an attribute that restores one shield per hour.
***
Wisdom. Description: an attribute that lets you use magic cards. For simple cards, the ratio of card level to Wisdom is 1:1. For rare cards, the ratio is 1:2. For epic cards, the ratio is 1:4. For legendary cards, the ratio is 1:8.
“Is there anything else you need, Tailyn Vlashich?” the god asked as dispassionately as ever. The boy bit his lip. Master Forian had told him to just spend four thousand and use the rest to buy himself mage clothing, but what kind of mage was he if he only had two cards? And even that pair didn’t count—fifty charges was nothing unless he learned how to recharge them. The recent battle was proof enough of that. He hadn’t even had enough charges for all the lixes.
But could he ask for that? Tailyn decided to start with something smaller to get the god warming up to the idea.
“I’d like to donate my cloak, whip, and dagger to the temple, all good items. I got them—”
“Your donation is accepted,” the god said.
You received 38 gold.
“I’d like the ability to replenish cards,” Tailyn blurted out as soon as the god took the items from him. It was pushing the limits, of course, but what was the harm in trying? If the god was generous enough to give the boy 38 gold for the trio of items, it might be generous enough to grant that request, as well. Master Forian hadn’t told Tailyn he couldn’t pick up extra attributes.
“According to the agreement with the academy, that opportunity is unavailable to initiated and uninitiated creatures alike,” the god replied coldly. “You’ll have to visit the academy to receive that skill.”
“But I’m neither initiated nor uninitiated,” Tailyn replied in surprise. The god was apparently equally surprised. Falling silent, it began processing its own words:
Request received. Wait for the response!
A minute went by. Then, a second. A fifth. Tailyn stood there, unsure what to do next. Every twenty seconds, the god let him know it was still thinking by asking him to wait a little longer. The silence fell again. Finally, another message popped up in front of Tailyn:
Decision received!
The first initiation stage does not fall under the agreement with the academy!
***
You spent 1000 gold to unlock a skill.
Alchemy skill learned: Card Saturation. Current level: 1. A rare ability that lets Alchemists transfer their mana to cards in order to restore the number of available charges. To restore 1 charge for a simple card, the ratio of card level to the amount of mana transferred is 1:10. For rare cards, the ratio is 1:40. For epic cards, the ratio is 1:160. For legendary cards, the ratio is 1:160. As the skill levels-up, the amount of mana required is reduced by skill level for simple cards, skill level * 2 for rare cards, skill level * 4 for epic cards, and skill level * 8 for legendary cards, though no less than 2 mana per charge.
“Is there anything else you need, Tailyn Vlashich?” the god asked dispassionately, almost as if nothing unusual had occurred. Perhaps, that was the case. Tailyn couldn’t utter a word—he was too afraid the god would pull its gift right back. Never in his life had he seen such a detailed description, and his head was spinning. All he wanted to do was jump for joy and try out the new skill.
“N-no, Master,” Tailyn replied with a boy. The shimmering film ceased vibrating and turned back into a mirror. The god had left the boy alone, though there was plenty for him to do. Next, he needed to head over to get his reward from Master Isor. And he needed to hurry—soon, the best would all be gone.
* * *
At that moment, Master Isor Barka, head of Culmart, was sweating rivulets as he answered the questions being posed to him by the second-class investigator while quietly praising the god for sending the lixes to take away his idiot son. He felt bad for the kid, of course, though he felt worse for himself. Why would Elass have tried to betray him? He’d come so highly recommended, everyone saying he was a completely trustworthy supplier. And since Isor had grown used to trusting his informants, the betrayal stung doubly. Obviously, he was going to wring his due out of them by slightly twisting the facts—Elass had killed his son!—but first, he had to assuage the interest of the mages who’d shown up at the worst possible moment. And then there was Meron, damn him. Who’d asked him to completely download his logs? At least, they’d clearly shown that Dort and Elass had agreed the former would show up alone.
And it was because of that exact point that the academy mage was trying to figure out what an eleven-year-old kid had been doing cutting a deal with a crystal fence. Isor was sweating, but he kept up a strong façade—he had no idea, and he couldn’t hand over his own logs. They included information on imperial business that didn’t concern the academy.
The fact that everything was going smoothly told Isor the investigator had nothing on him. If he had, he would have brought it up long before.
The interrogation, as the city elder called it, or the friendly conversation, which was Forian’s version, wrapped up. Neither had been able to get the other to budge. Although, there was one thing: Forian was demanding his reward. Thirty percent of the loot earned for contributing the most to the victory was a drop in the ocean of the town budget, but he wasn’t about to leave it to someone as corrupt as the elder clearly was.
“Yes, of course,” Isor said hurriedly, sensing the end of the unpleasant conversation and holding a piece of paper out to the mage. “Here’s a complete list of the loot and distribution. Your share comes out first.”
“Five thousand gold?” Forian said in surprise. He hadn’t been expected that kind of a number.
“Magic equipment, Master Mage,” Isor replied. “You stunned three mages. The lixes didn’t have time to destroy their clothes, and the all-seeing god valued them highly.”