Isr Kale's Journal (The Alchemist Book #4): LitRPG Series Page 5

  Boo...

  You used Weakness-III and reduced your opponent’s parameters by 30%.

  You used Dark Strike-III and did 15,870 damage.

  If any normal creature had been standing there instead of the destroyer, it would have been sent right back to wherever it had come from. Nothing could stand up to being weakened and then hit with that strong of a blow. But the machine wasn’t a normal creature. Not only did it withstand the hit; it hit back. With a flutter of its wings, the destroyer flew up into the air only to come hurtling down at its target. Unable to take the boy out on the fly, burn him up with plasma, or hack him, it had apparently decided its best move was to simply squash him like a bug. The machine was surprisingly logical, unusually intelligent. A true dealer of death.

  Tailyn’s short life flashed before his eyes, for whatever reason stopping right where Forian Tarn had battled the guards. While it wasn’t the most memorable moment, it was... Well, that episode told the boy what he needed to do to survive. His cards shuffled, his new acquisition popping up in front of him.

  Boo...

  You used Telekinesis-I.

  Object weight: 4,500 kilograms. You cannot hold it in the air.

  Beginning controlled descent.

  The plummet the destroyer had been counting on turned into a much slower but still quick fall. Even its wings were helpless—Tailyn was in charge of how fast it was descending. Meanwhile, the boy still had to keep shields popping out since his opponent was relentless. As soon as one means of destruction proved ineffective, the next was brought to bear. There wasn’t a moment of peace.

  Once the destroyer got to the ground, telekinesis turned off. Suddenly, the barrage ceased, and the wings began to flap ever faster, turning into two buzz saws. But the worst part was that they began sucking in air like some kind of tornado. A couple boulders next to the machine flew up and were reduced to dust by the tender mercies of the whirling wings. Tailyn felt himself being sucked toward the destroyer, though that was when he reached for his weapon of last resort.

  Structure it!

  It got dark in the virtual smithy as the blizzard around it grew so thick it was impossible to see through. Valia gave in completely to the power of her dance, closing her eyes and spinning almost as quickly as the destroyer’s wings. Two blue beams shot out of her hands as she spent mana in an effort to summon even more cold. After waiting another second, Tailyn thrust his hands into the icy frenzy and felt an immeasurable power surge through them. His attack in the real world came as the space around him lightened.

  Tailyn threw his hands up the way he had in the bowels of the academy, and a block of ice formed around the destroyer. The wings slammed into the obstacle and stopped. Still, the attack hadn’t come easily for the boy—blood began seeping from his nose. His mana gone, he’d been forced to spend his own health to make more of the ice. His legs buckled, and he collapsed to the ground. Five meters in diameter, the block of ice was impressive. It should have been enough to hold anyone in the world...

  But not a destroyer.

  The machine’s body was too big, and Tailyn didn’t have enough mana to engulf it completely. With only its head and body frozen in place, it quickly transformed its tail into a long sword that got to work cutting through the ice. Shards flew as it worked its way to freedom. But that wasn’t all—fire burst from its jaws to immediately cut an enormous hole in the ice. Plasma charges flew, too, as the emitters from its wings somehow found their way to its face. Without a moment to spare, Tailyn threw up his hands and activated his force shields, saving himself from instant death.

  Get the humans out of here! If the lixes accept you as their chief, take them, too. I’m heading down.

  I’d be happy to, only I’m still a statue. This isn’t Vargot—I don’t have an emergency release.

  I’ll try to pull that thing away. Maybe, it’ll let you go. And... I love you, baby. I’m sorry it had to happen this way...

  I love you, too... Just don’t die, okay?

  Tailyn said nothing. There was no reason to make promises he couldn’t keep—the god didn’t like that. As he covered the few dozen meters to the hole leading to the lower levels, the boy deactivated the tent and field generator. The destroyer would definitely have trampled the valuable items as it came lumbering after him, which meant they were better off just lying on the ground. Valia could grab them later.

  After sliding all the way down the spiral staircase, Tailyn used one of his mana flasks and looked around. The area looked huge, only there was nowhere to hide. Not a single niche or hole was anywhere in sight. The last time he’d been in that area, Raptor had filled him in on how pointless digging was, too. It was just a smooth, solid wall all the way around.

  Suddenly, something metal came clattering down the stairs. Whirling around, Tailyn saw two small cylinders bounce off the last step. There was nothing wrong with his sense of logic, and so he knew very well what he was looking at even if he was seeing it for the first time. They were bombs. Running or covering up with shields seemed pointless. Instead, Tailyn surprised even himself by sprinting toward the cylinders. They began blinking faster in preparation to blow, only they were just a split second too late. The student had been trained well by his Crobar graduate mentor. Leaping, he gave both bombs a kick that sent them flying, simultaneously throwing his shields into place right before the explosion ripped through the air.

  Two small suns burst out underground, sending forth a powerful wave of fire. Tailyn was thrown against the wall with such force that his ribs cracked, the level three outfit doing nothing to cushion the impact. Instead of relaxing inside his armor, he felt every bit of the blast. The salamander potion he’d drunk earlier saved him from the fire, but his protection was still annihilated—it felt like his bones had all been ripped out of his body. Tailyn could feel neither his arms nor his legs. Stars danced in front of his eyes, keeping the boy from seeing the ceiling crumble as the destroyer’s massive hulk collapsed right where the pool full of red acid had been. Its tail slammed down next to where the boy’s motionless body was lying. Unable to withstand the blow, the stone floor rebounded, sending Tailyn flipping through the air. His short flight ended in a scream of pain as he felt enormous spikes pierce his shoulder, hip, stomach, and even arm. He’d landed right on the destroyer’s back. Instantly transforming back into a sword, the machine’s tail swept around and buried itself in the boy, emerging from his chest to stop microns from the destroyer’s own body. There was a squelching sound as it pulled back out and expanded the wound. But just as his consciousness was receding, Tailyn muttered a single syllable:

  Boo...

  The darkness crowded in, and the underground space grew eerily silent...

  When the monster fell underground, tears welled up in Valia’s eyes. She could only look straight ahead, but the hole just happened to be within her field of vision. Suddenly, her armor regained its mobility, though she remained frozen in uncertainty for a couple more moments. Was she supposed to dash over to Tailyn or follow instructions? The latter finally won out—she’d promised to save the humans. Running toward Motar, she began barking orders.

  “Let’s go! Hurry! The destroyer might come back.”

  “What about Tailyn?” the guard captain asked, unable to get over the shock. The man had never seen anything as fearsome as what had just come hunting the boy. Once black as night, Motar’s pride and joy, his mustache, had taken on a noble gray hue. His hair had, too. Even imprisonment and the lixes hadn’t scared him the way the destroyer had.

  “Tailyn is gone! I’m in charge now,” Valia snapped back at him. “Let’s go! Or are you looking for a date with that thing by yourself?”

  That threat proved enough to get everyone going. Some dashed toward the yaks, giving the collapsed hole a wide birth; a couple more daring types grabbed the protective field generator Tailyn had deactivated. In a hurry to leave the dangerous area, the group of humans acted quickly and in unison, Valia taking the time to pull out t
he key to the cages and head over to the lixes.

  “You were offered your lives in exchange for your service. I’m repeating that offer, but I need your answer right now.”

  “It came from the head of Mean Truk the first time,” the old lix replied.

  “I’m also its head!” Valia said firmly, bathed instantly in a white light. The god quickly confirmed that she was speaking the complete truth. “Okay, I’m going to count to five, and then we’re leaving. Either you stay here for the destroyer to eat you, or you come with me.”

  “We agree! I, shaman of family Do-Gir, swear to serve the city of Mean Truk faithfully so long as its head treats us fairly.”

  “I don’t accept your oath—conditions aren’t part of the deal. You have to be mine completely and unquestioningly.”

  “You’re not going to get anything else,” the old shaman replied.

  “In that case, you’ve doomed your entire tribe. I’m not going to risk the lives of my people, so goodbye.”

  Valia spun around and headed toward Motar. One thing she’d learned from her father was how to make decisions regardless of how cruel they seemed. And she’d already made hers.

  “Wait, young mistress,” the lix yelled after her. “We agree! The lixes will be your servants.”

  “You’ll be my tribe,” the girl said. “I know the difference between those two words. You’re going to recognize me as your leader and Ka-Do-Gir as my right hand or advisor—you can decide. But I’m your leader. That’s the only option. If you want your freedom, you’re going to take me as your chief.”

  “Loss has made you strong,” the shaman said with respect. “I feel your strength and resolve. Okay, the lixes will follow you as their leader. I swear it on my life! Tell your people not to fight us, and we won’t harm them.”

  “The oath has to come from everyone, and not just the shaman.” Valia glanced over at the rest. “You have a minute. Whoever doesn’t agree stays in their cage.”

  The silence lasted a few seconds. At one point, the girl figured the lixes had decided against following a human, but the prospect of starving to death in a cage was enough to sway anyone. One by one, the lixes swore fealty to their new chief, condemning themselves to eternal servitude. It wasn’t like they had any other choice.

  The population of Mean Truk increased by 112 lixes.

  “Motar, leave the lixes alone—they’re coming with us as equals. As head of the city, I call on the god to monitor the process and destroy anyone who disobeys my orders. My creatures will not harm each other. That is all!”

  Request granted. All inhabitants of Mean Truk have been acquainted with the new rules.

  Valia buried her pain deep in the recesses of her soul. Tailyn had told her how he’d felt after she died—he couldn’t remember the next few days. And oh, how she wanted to fall into that same kind of oblivion. Roll up in a ball, lie on the ground, howl at the sky...

  But she couldn’t. While she may have turned her back on her clan, she was still highborn, and that meant she was capable of taking anything fate threw her way. There was the new population of Mean Truk to look after, feed, and find work for. The city wasn’t going to rebuild itself.

  “Motar, does anyone have marauder?”

  “Where would we get it from, mistress? And should we even really be sticking our heads in there? The destroyer hasn’t left, yet.” Regardless of the fact that he didn’t agree with what the girl had done, the captain of the Culmart guard still had a considerable amount of respect for her. Being able to organize the situation on the fly, get everyone in line, and bring the lixes and humans together, even if that arrangement was temporary, was impressive.

  “We need to get our hands on his body or whatever’s left of it,” Valia said. “Assign some people to take care of that, and take the lix, too. Ver-Do-Gir, which of your fighters is the most agile?”

  Speaking in two languages was easy enough, only it was driving the girl crazy that she had to repeat everything she said. And while the idea of using a pair of crystals to teach Motar and the lix each other’s language, she had to give up on it. She only had twenty crystals, and she needed them to get Tailyn back.

  The shaman barked something, and a hefty female who looked very much like Ka-Do-Gir stepped forward. Valia frowned—yet another Do-Gir. They were going to have to rename themselves, because she needed them to have monosyllabic names that were different from each other. But figuring that mess out was later. In that moment, getting back to Mean Truk was paramount.

  “I’ll go myself,” Motar said. With a sideways glance at the lix, he headed off toward the cave-in. The last meters were crossed on his stomach—the ground creaked treacherously beneath him, and distributing his weight was the only way to keep from crashing down into the chasm himself. Peering into the opening, Motar frowned, not sure where to look for the dead boy. An opaque green substance filled what appeared to be the entire space, with neither Tailyn nor the destroyer were anywhere to be seen. All the guard could make out was the regular charges of electricity, each of which made his hair stand up.

  “Mistress! It’s...I don’t know what. Can you take a look?”

  “Chief, I can’t sense anyone dead or alive!”

  The scouts’ reports came back simultaneously, and Valia’s resolve not to give herself false hopes crumbled. Where there was “I don’t know what,” there was likely to be Tailyn. The girl’s betrothed didn’t know any other way to live.

  “Careful, there’s lightning down there,” Motar said as soon as the girl ran over to the edge. Compared to the scouts, her weight wasn’t enough to make the ancient metal-laced stone quiver. She stared down at the green mass and froze—Tailyn hadn’t told her anything about that kind of an effect. Almost the entire area was full of it, and charges of lightning lit it up every few seconds. Was that sticky? Even if it was, why did it have lightning? And so much of it?

  Valia headed off into the virtual mountains. Tailyn wasn’t there, though his smithy was. And even though it wasn’t completely his, the girl’s heart still began fluttering. Could he have survived?

  Tailyn, answer me, please. You can hear me, can’t you? Answer me!

  The darkness was loath to release Tailyn from its grasp. His thoughts began slowly shuffling back and forth, surprised they weren’t allowed to rest even after death. Then suddenly, an insistent and incredibly dear voice began beating through the noise. It was asking for an answer. It needed it. Demanded it. Begged for it. But Tailyn couldn’t say anything. Focusing everything he had on a single syllable, he was finally able to send a message.

  Here...

  And with that, it was like his head exploded. The darkness ceded victory, and color returned to the world accompanied by a wave of electricity and a message from the system informing him of the destroyer’s futile attempts to hurt him.

  You’re alive! Valia screamed happily, barely able to hold back the tears. But how?!

  Sticky. I hid to give you all more time, and the card apparently counted the destroyer as part of me. Probably, because its spikes are inside me. They’re in my chest, stomach, shoulder, and hip. I need to check out the logs—I’m not sure how I’m still alive since regeneration wouldn’t be enough to take care of that. But yes, the green stuff got the destroyer, too, so we have the same timer. Twelve hours. Although, it keeps hitting me with electricity. Can we jump over to the mountains?

  Already there! Valia sat down right at the edge of the opening and leaped into virtual reality. A few seconds later, Tailyn showed up looking absolutely terrible—he was covered in bruises and unpleasant-looking wounds. Still, he could walk and smile, and that was all his betrothed needed in that moment. She threw herself forward, wrapped her arms around him, and burst out crying, letting her emotions fill the space around them.

  “Stop it. I’m alive, and we’ll find a way out of this. There’s something I found out, actually—we need to head back to Isr Kale’s tomb,” Tailyn said. “The pool with dragon’s blood wasn’t destro
yed.”

  As he’d been going through his logs, the boy had come across something surprising. It was exciting on the one hand, but it also told him about a job the group had left incomplete.

  Destroyer used Electric Strike.

  0 damage received (immunity to electricity).

  Electric Strike destroyed Dragon’s Tears.

  And that was when the messages had started popping up, only Tailyn had missed them while he was out of action.

  You destroyed a container of Dragon’s Tears. Remaining: 14.

  Level +1 (11).

  Crystal +1 (1).

  “That’s how I survived!” the boy exclaimed when he finished reading his logs. “My sticky saved me. It filled in all the holes, and the blood had nowhere to go. My regeneration took it from there as best it could. Once I get this metal out of my body, I’m going to have to drink a potion to get rid of the holes.”

  “When you get it out? Are you kidding me?” Valia began sobbing again. “The sticky is going to wear off in eleven hours, and the destroyer will kill you!”