Tailyn had a day off scheduled for the next day. The master who oversaw their morning work mumbled something about dirty rakes and said the boy could have some time to himself. Lying in his bed, he did his best to go to sleep, looking forward to waking up a new person, but dreams wouldn’t come. He tossed and turned, the past running through his head as he kept looking back at the virtual clock counting down his last seconds.
23:55
23:59
00:00
That was it. He could finally call himself a real person and —
Tailyn wasn’t able to finish that thought. Along with his twelfth year came a searing pain reminding him of a time stored deep in his subconscious when he’d gone through the first initiation step. His body convulsed, and the boy groaned, unable to cope with the agony. But it kept going, each passing second sending more stars shooting across his vision as buttons unlocked in his status bar. Still, it did eventually come to an end. Tailyn had just about lost touch with reality when the pain disappeared. His body relaxed. And in that moment, he sank away into dark nothingness — his mind needed to rest.
Congratulations!
You completed your initiation and received access to all properties.
Mission complete: Initiation at Twelve. You completed your mentor’s task.
That simple message was the first thing Tailyn saw when he opened his eyes. But as soon as he waved it away, his heart skipped a beat. The world around him had changed. His entire vision was filled with panels, buttons, indicators, status notifications, inventory statuses, and other information suddenly available to him. A list of ingredients he had available for alchemy took up an enormous amount of space. There were so many frames, in fact, that Tailyn couldn’t even see the ceiling.
Would you like to apply the standard settings?
He did not want to, in fact. Tailyn knew what that meant — empty space with a few main icons. Forian had given him some lessons on the interface and how to put together the ideal setup for a mage, including the list of frames he needed to always have in front of him. As his mentor had said, nobody taught that at the academy. They all figured students should figure things out themselves rather than running to their teachers with problems that trifling. But Forian went ahead and gave the boy key tips: how to lay the group frames out so they didn’t get in the way, how to scale them if there were lots of people in a particular group, how to hide his personal details when he was setting up a group, and how to make it so other people couldn’t even see his name. Concealment made even that possible. Although, Tailyn had to assume his mentor was going a bit overboard — who needed to hide their name?
Finally, the boy could see the logs everyone was always asking about. And the detail was astounding. They were divided by year, month, day, hour, minute, and even second, and Tailyn could see how many times he’d taken a breath, what he’d said, what he’d heard. Everything that happened to and around him was logged. Even temperature changes were in there. It was like an entire army of chroniclers was sitting around jotting down his every move — the whole thing boggled the mind. It was terrifying, too. Presumably, everyone else had the same recordings, be they human, lix, or maybe even monster. What if someone was able to leverage them against Tailyn’s will? What if there were specialists who were able to read other people’s logs and find bits of information in them? From what Tailyn could understand, that was how hacking worked — it offered access to what you weren’t supposed to have access to. The boy felt a wave of panic and even sat up. He was going to have to dig into that issue.
After wrapping up with the settings, Tailyn grunted in satisfaction. He liked what he was looking at. It was compact, his main parameters were right there, and he especially liked the new table with numerical values showing his potential damage. One good look at an opponent, and his perception told him how hard he’d be able to hit.
With each new level, you will receive one free point you can spend on an attribute or skill. If you fail to assign the point within twenty-four hours, it will be assigned automatically. Plan your development ahead of time.
1 point available.
There it was — the great gift from the System everyone received after initiation. Tailyn had laughed it off as a drop in the bucket, but Forian took his parameters very seriously. That was especially true since the boy’s enhancement wouldn’t be increasing automatically anymore. At least, his mentor had emphasized his enhancement, making Tailyn promise he would invest everything he got in it once he reached level twenty. The priority in the meantime was boosting the attributes he needed for his named items. And as there were a few of them, he just picked one at random.
Anatomy Master +1 (7).
And that was the end of the changes. The boy gave himself a mental once-over and realized nothing much was different. He was the same Tailyn he’d been the day before, just a few of his parameters having jumped due to the fact that he was a year older. With a practiced gesture, he activated his status table. That was where he needed to start his training. From what the dean had said, Tailyn was the lowest-level person in the entire history of the academy, something he wasn’t sure if he should be proud of or embarrassed about.
Status table
General character information
Tailyn Vlashich, betrothed to Valia Levor
Alchemist
Level
1
Age
12
Yearly tax (crystals)
1 (beginning at age 16)
Coins
32770
Gold
70970
Main parameters
Shield level
5332 (5332)
Mana level
7012 (7012)
Physical attack
576
Magic attack
1576
Named item level
5
Companion level
3
Attributes
Enhancement
15
Mysticism
11
Intellect
9
Armor
9
Wisdom
10
Perception
9
Regeneration
9
Agility
9
Strength
8
Concealment
8
Cartographer
7
Integration
6
Resilience
9
Marauder
15
Monster Knowledge
6
Anatomy Master
7
Scanner
6
Hacking
1
Skills
Alchemist
Points invested:
80
Herbalism
Points invested:
38
Linguist
Points invested:
1
Mining
Points invested:
6
Tailyn got to the Duke of Carlian’s palace half an hour before the dinner party was scheduled to start. Valia had promised to get him ready, tell him who was who, and explain why her father had invited everyone. And regardless of how little he wanted to be there, Tailyn showed up in a great frame of mind. He was finally on par with everyone else. He was a student at the academy, he was studying under a worthy mentor, and he had a charming girl as his betrothed. What else could a twelve-year-old want?
But Valia’s glower told him something was wrong long before she got to him.
“What’s with that face?” the boy asked, skipping the greeting. “Did something happen?”
“Happy birthday,” the girl muttered. “Tailyn, I didn’t know. Father did it all behind my back.”
“Thanks, of course, but could you just tell me what’s going on? Should I leave?”
“No, they won’t let you. It�
�s just that he invited… I already had it out with father, but he refuses to change his mind. Finally, he pulled off the mask and told me what he actually thinks of our betrothal, you, and what I’m doing with my life. Basically, he invited the emperor’s viceroy and his son. Father wants to boost the clan’s status by joining our families. And he doesn’t have any other daughters.”
“I don’t get it… We were betrothed by the System. It said nobody can change that unless we want it changed. Wait, is that what you want?”
“Me?!” Valia gasped in shock. “Are you out of your mind? Here I am pouring out my soul, and you…”
The girl turned away, barely able to hold back the tears. Another episode from the book popped into Tailyn’s head, and he decided to give it a try. Wrapping his arms around Valia’s shoulders, he leaned over her and whispered in her ear.
“Please forgive me. It’s just that I don’t get what the problem is — that’s the kind of idiot you’re dealing with. Could you explain what they can do? You’re mine, and I’m not about to let anyone else have you.”
That worked. Valia turned back around, hope flickering in her eyes.
“The viceroy is going to annul our betrothal. They say he can do that, and then father is going to announce my betrothal to Ronan. There’s nothing I can do about it — I don’t belong to myself until I turn sixteen.”
“Why don’t we run?” That was the first thing that came to Tailyn’s mind.
“There are two mages behind me, two in front of me, and an army of guards. That wouldn’t work. And they’re not going to let you get away, either — father doesn’t want Forian Tarn showing up. He’ll take care of him later. Tailyn, please, think of something…”
Valia had held out as long as she could, though she finally cracked. Bursting into tears, she threw herself into Tailyn’s arms. None of the options she’d come up with would work.
“You said you don’t belong to yourself until you turn sixteen. Who told you that?” As so often happened in moments of crisis, a sense of calm had settled on Tailyn.
“That’s the law, which is why the emperor and his viceroy have the right to annul our betrothal.”
“Okay, that’s the law of the empire, but our betrothal is higher than the empire,” the boy replied evenly. “It was blessed by the System, which means the viceroy has nothing to do with it. Nobody can force us to do anything against our will. All right, give me a second.”
For the first time, Tailyn tapped the button to create a group. A window popped up asking him to fill out a name and several other settings his mentor had already told him about.
Valia Levor joined Together.
Tailyn Vlashich made Valia Levor the group leader.
“The Creator doesn’t need to hear our oaths out loud,” the boy said. “It just matters what we want, and that’s far more important than the laws people make up. Actually, not even people — functions. You know what to do.”
Group renamed. New name: For life.
“We only get a few tries,” Valia replied, a timid smile creeping across her face as she saw a chance of getting out of the tough situation.
“So, let’s use them right.” Tailyn pressed the girl tighter against himself. “I don’t care if the Creator itself is up against us. I’m still not letting you go.”
What even was that? Why did that stupid book keep coming to mind? He needed to scrub it from his memory.
The pair stepped into the palace as if on the warpath, hand in hand and heads held high. Tailyn had removed the disguise from his armor, and Vargot was displayed in all its glory. Next to him, his dragon instilled fear in the servants glancing sideways at the odd couple. Had they ever seen the young lady holding a stranger’s hand? Where were her parents?
In fact, her parents at that very moment were with the emperor’s viceroy and his fourteen-year-old son. Ronan was just beginning his third year in the battle magic department, where he was a solid student. He wasn’t the best, as nobody could argue with Miranda Stvil, but he was still well above average. At least, he was part of the team that had won the group competition in the arena in his second year, even beating some third-year students. The only problem was that they next had to go up against some graduates who wiped the floor with the kids.
Ronan was physically imposing, too. His father had trained him from a young age, teaching him how to use a staff and dagger, showing him how to control his body like any good fighter. The best teachers, the best trainers, the best everything — there weren’t many who could do more for their children than the viceroy.
“Banish him from the empire and be done with it!” the viceroy said harshly.
“He’s a mage,” the duke replied. “The empire’s laws don’t apply to him.”
“He’s a student! And as far as I know, they often kick those out of the academy and strip them of the title. After today, I don’t want to hear another word about the kid. Oh, and whose great idea was it for your daughter to go work with Forian Tarn? A little errand boy jerked around by his master. The magic card department? Really? I’m surprised she didn’t jump over to the artifact or herbalist department… Anyway, tomorrow we’ll get her back into the battle magic department — I already discussed it with the dean.”
“Tailyn Vlashich!” boomed the herald’s voice.
“Finally.” The viceroy glared at the door and nearly choked on his rage. “What are they doing? Duke, stop this nonsense!”
Everyone in the room fell silent when they saw the newcomers. The event was due to start in just a couple minutes, and everybody there wanted to see who was going to feature. It wasn’t every day the Duke of Carlian threw a dinner in honor of a kid nobody knew.
Tailyn held up admirably under the gazes cast his way. A few weeks before, he would have felt embarrassed and awkward, but he was ready for battle in that moment. It wasn’t just a meeting with Valia’s parents; he was fighting for the girl herself.
“Sweetie, would you come over here? Tailyn will be taken care of.” Valia’s enchantingly beautiful mother led her daughter away in keeping with the viceroy’s instructions. For a few moments, the boy was taken aback. But he quickly regained his composure — it wasn’t yet time to despair. Finding an open bench, the boy headed over to it, playing absentmindedly with his dragon as he went.
“Is that a legendary companion?” The viceroy couldn’t take his eyes off the golden sparks. “How does a kid have a card like that?”
But there was no answer forthcoming — the duke wasn’t sure. He’d only once asked his daughter about what had happened in the City of the Dead, and she’d just told him the god would kill her if she spilled the beans. It hadn’t exactly been the answer he was looking for.
“Whatever,” the viceroy said with a dismissive wave. “First, we’ll take Valia, and then we’ll take the card. I’m going to suck the kid dry. Okay, get started. My time is valuable, and I don’t like wasting it.”
The duke flashed a sign that was quickly followed by a gently ringing bell. Large doors opened to let the group into a second hall with a richly laden table. The evening had begun.
“Please, Master, I’ll show you the way,” a servant said to Tailyn. As he stepped into the dining hall, the boy looked around. The many guests were already seated around a table shaped like the letter T. The duke, his family, the viceroy, and his son were at the head, letting them see everyone else without so much as turning their head.
“Have a seat, please,” the servant said as he pulled the chair away from the table. The boy took his place, which was at the far end facing the hosts. Even Tailyn, who knew nothing of etiquette, could tell his was the seat of least respect, followed perhaps only by standing with the servants. Still, he went ahead and sat down.
The duke started in. Standing up to attract attention, he began speaking.
“I’d like to welcome the Carlian clan and thank everyone for finding the time to join us. The occasion today is the twelfth birthday of Tailyn Vlashich, the young man you know
my daughter betrothed herself to against the will of the clan. As you are aware, it was difficult for me to accept her decision, but I eventually was able to get past the blow fate dealt us. I reconciled myself to the fact that a lowborn peasant would be joining our clan. However, the god worked a miracle for us today in the person of the emperor’s viceroy and the viceroy’s son, and without further ado I’d like to turn the proceedings over to our esteemed guest.”
The viceroy didn’t bother to stand.
“The Carlian clan is on good terms with the emperor. You are a bastion of the empire, a guarantor of stability and prosperity, and many Carlian sons and daughters have given their lives in service of the country. Now, it is time for your just rewards. By the power vested in me by the emperor and the god, I declare the betrothal of Valia Levor and Tailyn Vlashich null and void. The boy is unworthy of a place in the Carlian clan! Raise their hands and behold the will of the god.”
Tears of Alron (The Alchemist Book #3): LitRPG Series Page 3