End of an Era (Project Chrysalis Book 2), page 1
Project Chrysalis
Book Two
End of an Era
John Gold
Translated by
Jared Firth
Copyright © 2017 Litworld Ltd. (http://litworld.com)
All rights reserved.
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Contents:
Part One
The Trial
Part Two
First Among Equals
Book Recommendations:
Part One
The Trial
Bernard was celebrating getting all the way to Level 950. Over the previous two years, he’d picked up 450 levels, created a powerful clan called the Black Rose, and nurtured the next generation of leaders. The former god did nothing but push himself continuously to the limit.
The guild’s military wing had spent the past two weeks clearing the local dungeons. Bernard pushed them, forcing them to level up and work on their skills, teamwork, and ability to think strategically. At some point, he had realized what a good thing it was that he had been the one to fight Idzumi and die at his hand. The ancient god rued the stupidity of underestimating his opponent, though he also knew that nobody else in the large pantheon could have created as strong a clan with such well-trained fighters.
During a modest party he was having with the other leaders, one of Bernard’s brothers got in touch with him.
“Hi, Bernard, can you talk?”
“Hey, Teur. It’s good to hear from you.”
“Well, something’s up. Do you remember the ritual in my temple, the one that created Leon?”
“Sure.”
“They sacrificed a kid. Anyway, my current high priest swears that the boy roughed him up and forced him to say what happened to his parents while he was dead.”
“Wait, wait, wait, how can that be? He’s in Hell! There’s no way out - nobody’s ever come back.”
His party mood vanished, replaced by fear of the unknown.
“Well, apparently, there is. The kid got away, and he’s not exactly looking human.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“He showed up looking like death. The priest swears the boy was choking him with hands as cold as a skeleton’s.”
“Could he have just been scared?”
“No, he said he saw the arms of a skeleton. There was complete darkness under the kid’s hood too. The priest is Level 106, and the kid just shoved him down on his knees and choked him until he gave up the information. He even promised to eat him, drink his soul, and make him suffer - in my main temple! Can you imagine the nerve the kid has to pull that off?”
Bernard sat back in his chair, looking out the window in fear and hopelessness. His worst fears and deepest suspicions had been confirmed. Why hadn’t the quest been failed? The boy was alive, and he was in Imir.
“Did he say anything else? Did he mention me? Any threats or anything about the ritual?”
“He just said that he’d be coming for my soul if his parents were hurt. That was it. Nothing about you. Fun little character, don’t you think?”
“Okay, I’ll have my people in the city keep an eye out. If they see him, I’ll do what I can to neutralize him. What happened to his parents?”
“When the priest was killed, certain fanatics took matters into their own hands. The new priest wanted to solidify his position too. They were going to execute the two of them, hang them for murder, but they ran off to No Man’s Land. It’s all godlessness in there. I didn’t have a new high priest initiated yet, and I couldn’t create a new avatar for myself, otherwise I might have caught them.”
“That may be for the best. We don’t know what powers the boy has after Hell. Let’s hope he’ll just forget about us.”
“That’s possible, though I don’t think it’s very probable.”
“You are forgetting the wanderers of the last era! They proved how strong they can become over just a short period of time, something I only realized once I was brought back to life. Anyway, thanks for the news… How’s everything over there? I had a bad feeling after that war.”
“Yep, everything’s quiet. It’s been a good harvest, so everyone’s happy. It’s probably just odd that the little gods are lying low. They all went missing before the beginning of the war, almost at the same time.”
“Thinking up something unpleasant.” The mage grimaced, thinking back to their previous tricks.
“Who knows, Bernard? They talked with Idzumi during the wanderers’ last exodus too. Maybe, he offered them the same thing he offered us.”
“Could be. Okay, thanks.”
Teurus gone, Bernard exhaled freely. He needed to figure out what the boy was up to, what he was capable of, and if he was planning his revenge. Sagie was still a kid, which meant that making his childish dreams come true would make him willing to forgive and forget.
***
I did my best to put as much distance between me and Imir as I could. If Teurus paid me any attention, he’d be more than capable of using his followers to keep track of me. And I certainly don’t need any extra divine attention.
As soon as I left the city, I took off the cloak and gloves. I need to find my parents, but that isn’t going to happen right now. The road south will be locked down after my conversation with the priest. Instead, I head east and take a wide circle around the dwarf mountains. I want to get to No Man’s Land from the sea. Father…mama…I’m so glad you were able to get away! I’m going to avenge us on all our enemies. My sword is ready; my shield, not so much.
I asked everyone I found on the way to Imir, but nobody has heard about the Hunters. All I’ve found out are rumors about very strong people. I do notice that all the information I get about them is immediately deleted from the network, so it’s very possible that Lunar itself is keeping things under wraps. If I’m right, I’ll be able to pick up a hidden class after I beat the trial. What other kind of reward could there be for us geniuses? If nothing else, I’m intrigued by how secretive everything is.
It’s a five-day trip to Zirda from the sea, and there are woods and plains on the other side of the mountain, meaning that I have twelve days in reserve before the trial starts. I need a shield, and only the best will do.
The ocean is beautiful. The water soothes my nerves, and it even gives me the chance to work on my resistance to physical damage. On the boat from Heron to Sural, I did a lot of diving in search of poisonous fish. That was when I found out that you take continuous physical damage once you’re a hundred meters down, something I’m only too happy to leverage right now.
It’s a funny picture: a boy lying on the ocean bed with stones in his hands as he thinks about the mistakes he’s made in his life. Eliza has probably written another petition requesting urgent psychological care for me, and I’ll bet the station ArtIn has already turned her down.
I needed to calm down, throw any pursuers off the scent, and boost my resistance. Water is perfect for all those. To keep things interesting, I catch poisonous fish, open shells, and check to see how my spells work under water. None of the local fauna exceed Level 200, though there are plenty of plants. On the other hand, the lower I go, the fewer plants there are and the more dangerous the predators are. Anyway, the underwater world is beautiful. When I picked up the money I got for my loot, I bought almost two thousand flasks of underwater breathing potions. I burn six of them an hour, a hundred and forty-four every normal day, and almost three hundred in each of my days. That gives me eleven or twelve days in total. It’s just a shame that I can’t use blood magic, otherwise, I’d be able to level up much faster.
The ocean is a wondrous vision down there at the bottom. The fish, the rays of sunlight, the underwater scenery… It’s all so calming. I’m starting to realize why father likes fishing so much.
I was right about a few things. Father can’t just be a simple fisherman if he was able to break the blacksmith’s arm and pick his cell lock. His mastery in battle is impressive too. Of all the admittedly weak opponents I’ve had to deal with, father has been the most experienced and masterful, with a combination of skills I’ve only seen in marauders and thieves. On the other hand, father is definitely a craftsman. I saw what he can make with wood and bone. There just isn’t enough information… So, he was a marauder, and then he took up fishing? How did he change his class? How was he able to use his main class skill to pick locks? All I have are questions…
The dark used to scare me, but my fear left me the day I learned how to use it. Today is my seventh underwater, and I’ve gotten all the way down to eight hundred meters beneath the surface. When I combine my lights, I can see everything around me, even the underwater cleft I’ve been climbing down. There’s more than just the dark; I can’t help but notice an enormous squid swimming along with the current.
Monster, Kraken Spawn, Level 770. Raid boss.
The beast is easing its way toward my lantern with hundred-meter tentacles. The body itself looks two hundred meters long. The bright light must have attracted its attention, and it looks poised to taste whatever’s creating it.
&nb
I’m wading out when I see a message pop up.
Forced disconnection… In 3… 2… 1
Vaalsie is standing next to the capsule, his expression one of rage and disgust. The old man’s haughty face makes him look like some kind of scarecrow.
“Anji Ganet, you’re being transferred to a different orphanage. Gather your belongings and come with me.”
I follow silently, knowing full well what’s going to happen.
We get to the exit, the aerocar waiting outside, and I see Eliza, Galboa, and Finx standing next to it. I feel more rage than confusion.
“I don’t think you understood, Miss Donovan,” I say, so that only Vaalsie and Eliza can hear me. “Didn’t I make it clear to you that tricks like these would only backfire?”
Galboa calmly raises both hands, and pain flashes through me at the mere sight of him. My thoughts cross, it’s hard to think, my head feels tight… But I’ll never fall for something like this.
“Anji, Miss Donovan said you’re being transferred.” Galboa is just as direct as ever, speaking what’s on his mind without a hint of insult. I love that about him. “I know we haven’t seen each other for a couple years, and I don’t think we’ll see each other again, so I wanted to say goodbye.”
“You…you don’t get it. She’s manipulating you and the attention you pay me. She thinks I’m supposed to just talk with everyone, all of my peers.”
“You never said anything about that,” Galboa replied with a frown, though he isn’t angry.
The loathing I’ve been holding in starts to burst out. It’s been two years since the last time I cried, and here I go again.
“It hurts, and I hate talking with other people.” Tears flow down my cheeks, the grief is bitter in my mouth, and the lump in my throat hurts. “They’re idiots, ignorant fools who hurt other people because they were hurt first. It took everything I had just to explain the simplest ideas to them. Do you have any idea how painful it was to be in that hole? To feel your weakness in the middle of the crowd? Every last one of them would be happy to boost their self-confidence by beating me up. I know I’m a kid, I know how smart I am, and that just makes it worse! They’re evil and stupid, cruel and weak. I felt like I was at home in the space port. I’d more call it home than the orphanage. I did nasty work, feeling happy because you two were there. My home is where the people I care about are. I realized that when it hit me how much I missed you and the crew. And now, Eliza has ruined everything.”
“I didn’t do anything. You made that decision yourself,” the psychologist replied, shrugging demonstratively.
So, being a psychologist means you have to be completely heartless?
“Hm,” I say, swallowing and looking around. “The last time we talked, I said how I wasn’t going to bite on your little games anymore. Neither Galboa nor Finx mean anything to me now, and that’s all thanks to you. Goodbye, Galboa; see you, Finx. I’m glad I was able to see you before leaving for the colony.” It hurts just to look at them, knowing that I’ll never see them again.
“Take care of yourself.”
Vaalsie walks me over to the aerocar, an odd grimace on his face, and sends it flying to the space port. His job is to get me to the shuttle and make sure that I reach my destination. Once that’s done, he’s no longer considered my guardian.
As we fly along the track to the space port in the aerocar, all the wonderful memories come flooding back. It was here that I learned more than I had in my whole life before. Galboa was a good teacher, and Finx was a friend, but I’m never going to make that mistake again… I’m never going to get myself in a situation where the people I care about can be used against me. Eliza is starting to disgust me. I’m never going to talk with her again. Not even in the game!
After Vaalsie gets me settled in the shuttle, he looks at me reproachfully.
“You don’t have anything to worry about, Supervisor Vaalsie. I have never told anyone about the things you get up to. It wouldn’t have done me any favors.”
“You went so long without talking, and now you’re talking like this.” Vaalsie shakes his head. “Do you actually realize that you’re being transferred to another colony?”
“Sure. I guessed so, based on the shuttle, but you’re fine. You did a wonderful job as supervisor and never once broke etiquette. The same is true of the rules, and you’re the only one who knows about your contracts.”
Vaalsie looks at me, and it’s only now that I see how haggard and old he looks. His usual bearing, the glint in his eye are gone, and all I see is an old man decommissioned to supervise an orphanage.
“Supervisor Vaalsie, you really should sign up for a rejuvenation course or, at least, some supportive care.”
“If you only knew how much that costs,” the old man laughs. “Good luck, Anji Ganet.”
“Thanks, Supervisor Vaalsie.”
I even feel bad for him. I’ve spent so many years suffering from his tricks, and only now see how difficult his life with the orphans has been. The shuttle takes off, leaving him standing there watching sadly as we gain altitude.
Goodbye, Vaalsie.
***
Eliza flew off in an aerocar with Galboa and Finx, her mind preoccupied by a number of different things. For just a short conversation, there had been quite a few unpleasantries packed into it. Galboa decided to break the silence.
“Miss Donovan, thanks for telling us about Anji’s transfer. I haven’t seen him since my recovery, and I wasn’t able to thank him. It’s been so long that even Finx had almost forgotten about him.”
“You wanted to thank him? He was only able to work in the space port thanks to you.”
“Oh, that’s nothing. After my accident,” Galboa continued, pointing at his right arm, “I was sent to a free hospital. They restored me and stuck engineering implants in my wrist, but I wasn’t earning anything. Somebody sent me money from an anonymous account, just about the same as what I would have earned in that month and a half, and that had to be Anji. I couldn’t return the money. I didn’t have any back then. I wanted to return it now, though, since it’s Anji. He remembers every debt, down to the last penny. But that’s not how it turned out. He didn’t want to listen.”
Eliza didn’t understand the situation or why Ganet was so resolute. He was a child, he’d adopted the crew as his family, and she had tried to use that against him. Ever since the conversation in the cafeteria, Anji had been more afraid for them than he was for himself. He, a child, had looked after the people around him. He’d cared for them even when his own life was painful and difficult. And just now, she’d created a situation that had led him to turn away from the people he loved most.
“Forgive me, Mr. Filtz. It didn’t turn out the way I planned.”
“It’s okay. You gave me the chance to see him, and I know everything’s going to be okay now. That’s good enough for me.”
Anji had turned away from the people he cared about in order to leave behind his weakness and vulnerability. She hadn’t realized that during their conversation in the virtual space. But that’s what it had led to. The force of the boy’s resolution was off the charts.
But he’d let one thing slip. He’d said that he was glad to see his friends before leaving for the colony, although he couldn’t have known that he wasn’t being transferred to another orphanage at the station. It sounded like nothing much, but it was Anji. Given his intelligence, it had to mean something.
***
Leon sat on the windowsill watching the turmoil in the castle courtyard. Airis Castle, the clan’s headquarters ever since his cult had been founded, was leveling up. A line of ditches was being dug around the outer wall, right up against the foothills of the mountain.
