Tears of Alron (The Alchemist Book #3): LitRPG Series

by Vasily Mahanenko

  The glass flasks hurtled off in the direction of the monster, and the three heads showed how quick they were. Tailyn didn’t even see it happen — suddenly, the heads dissolved away, blurred in space, and appeared in another spot to snap their jaws. As glass broke, the liquid poured right into the monster’s mouths. Ronan roared with laughter, figuring Tailyn had lost his mind by tossing useless elixirs at his companion. But that was when the hydra froze.

  It was funny to watch the creature try to understand the sensations coming from inside it. The thing very nearly had some kind of intelligence. After eventually deciding that everything was fine, it went back to digging its way through the sand, though that was when something amazing happened.

  All six of the hydra’s eyes popped out when it began to burst apart from the inside. It even tried to yell something, though it couldn’t. With its innards growing uncontrollably, its long tongues caught in its throats, its body swelled up to fill the entire space, and Tailyn barely had time to hold out his hand and activate his protection. The living mass reached his force shields and slowed for a moment. But after it filled the entire space, it began pressing the boy backward. He felt his back hit the wall. As the force continued relentlessly bearing down on him, his arms gave in and bent at the elbows. Still, his protection held, saving him from what had once been Ronan’s companion. Tailyn’s card was losing charges at a scary clip, but the boy didn’t give in, knowing he was going to be in for a rough go of it the moment his shield disappeared. While the hulk might not kill him, it was definitely going to break some bones.

  Ronan gritted his teeth as he found himself pinned to the wall, fighting to even out the pressure and get air into his lungs. While his mentors had warned him the hydra could grow, nobody had thought it could get that big. Finally, he was pressed so hard against the wall that he couldn’t breathe. There was a sickening crunch, and pain shot through his body — a rib had snapped. Ronan knew he had just a little longer before even his advanced strength failed him. The hydra was going to squash him like a bug. Still, he decided to grin and bear ten more seconds of pain, as he knew Tailyn was going through the same ordeal somewhere across from him. The longer Ronan’s opponent was crushed against the wall, the easier it would be to deal with him.

  Stars twinkled across Ronan’s vision — he was about to lose consciousness. And that told him he needed to act. Pulling up the deactivation button with his eyes, he just barely pressed it, though the relief he felt was instantaneous. The hydra was gone so completely it was like it had never been there. Collapsing to his knees, Ronan greedily gulped down air. The pain in his chest intensified, and he pulled back his face guard to dump a regeneration potion into his mouth with shaking hands. His father had given it to him just in case. But something went wrong. His fingers refused to pop the cork, and Ronan panicked for the first time.

  Tailyn had already kissed victory goodbye. While his shields had held up, he had just twenty of the five hundred charges left, and they were only going to be enough to buy him ten, maybe twenty seconds. And the hulk was going to crush him to death as soon as they ran out. But the hydra suddenly disappeared, and Tailyn almost fell forward in surprise. Raptor quickly drew a picture for him — his opponent was on his knees twenty meters away. Tailyn knew very well that Ronan would win in a pitched battle, and so he pushed away from the wall and howled in pain. Something was wrong with his arms. They were listening to him, only they hurt so badly he saw spots.

  One step. A second. A third. Each move came with agonizing pain to the point that Tailyn whimpered and cried. But he had to keep going and finish the duel. Focusing on his opponent and readying himself for a final push, he saw a familiar flask in the other boy’s hand — regeneration. If Tailyn gave him time to drink it, Ronan would be able to tear him apart with his bare hands. And he wasn’t going to get there fast enough. Despairing, Tailyn did the only thing he could.

  Attempting to hack Ronan Diteon.

  Your Hacking level: 36.

  Ronan Diteon’s protection level: 30.

  Probability of successful hack: 100%.

  Attempt 1… Successful.

  You received access to Ronan Diteon’s equipment.

  Block! Tailyn mentally ordered as he collapsed wearily to his knees. It was going to be another ten minutes before he could keep going — that was how much his regeneration timer told him it would be before his critical injuries were healed.

  How are you? Valia asked worriedly.

  Fine, though I think my arms are broken. Just waiting for them to heal. I blocked Ronan, so it’s okay. By the way, I think I figured out a great way to fight one on one. Hacking is amazing!

  A silence fell over the arena. Everyone stared tensely at the pair lying on the sand, not sure why they weren’t getting up to finish the battle. But that was when a barrel-chested student boomed happily, and the area resounded with his echo.

  “He’s up! Vlashich is up!”

  Still wobbly, Tailyn got to his feet. It was still going to be a while before he was completely healed, but the worst was already behind him — his bones had popped back into place to let him move around once more. Making his way over to his opponent, Tailyn thought for a few moments about what to do next. Ronan was howling. Calling for help. Cursing Vlashich and everyone he knew. But all that was pointless — Tailyn wasn’t going to be taken out by shouts.

  Ronan’s list of equipment was impressive. There was his complete level three outfit, an amulet, rings, some kind of belt, and even a cloak. As he’d never come across the latter two items, Tailyn took some time to study them. It was just a shame they were in the arena, which meant he couldn’t steal it all. None of it was real. Even the regeneration Ronan had been planning on using couldn’t be taken out of the arena. And not only that, but if the viceroy’s son had managed to drink it, it still would have reappeared in his inventory the moment he left the arena.

  “You’re an idiot, Ronan. Did you really think you’d be able to beat me with a legendary card? If anyone knows I took out a Nemean lion twice, it’s your father, and that thing is way more dangerous than your hydra. Did your daddy not tell you? Did he feel bad for his poor baby? You wanted to destroy me, grind me into the dirt, make a laughingstock of me, right? Well, let’s see what you think about this...”

  The entire faculty leaned forward when they saw the alchemical fire appear in Tailyn’s hand. They knew very well what it meant. If Tailyn dumped the regeneration potion into Ronan and then hit him with the fire, the viceroy’s son would endure torturous pain for a full minute without being allowed to die and leave the arena. And nobody knew what that would do to the boy’s psyche. They didn’t know what it would do to the academy, either.

  “No, not that...” Valanil gasped in horror. “My boy, not that...”

  Tailyn, don’t torture him, please. Kill him with Matilda. Just don’t use fire, Valia said. The professors are all worried about that happening.

  It all ended suddenly. Tailyn listened to the girl, but not because he felt bad for Ronan. No, he’d been struck by the warning that the professors were on edge. Since that could have reflected poorly on his mentor, something Tailyn didn’t want, he decided to back down. The flask returned to his inventory, Matilda leaped into his hand, and one of its ends sharpened right there on the spot. Continuing his sweeping motion, Tailyn buried his staff in his opponent’s chest, cutting right through his opponent’s armor. The hydra had already done a number on the third-year student’s armor.

  Ronan’s eyes widened, and that was the end of his time in the arena. His body flickered and disappeared as the loser’s consciousness was carried back out into the real world. And with that, the provost’s voice boomed out once more.

  “We have a winner! Congratulations to Tailyn Vlashich, first-year student at the magic card department!”

  You won your bet.

  150000 coins received (165360).

  Chapter 15

  “YOU DID IT!” Valia threw her arms around Tailyn the mome
nt he left the arena. A giant crowd of students had gathered to congratulate the winner, though Valia’s right to get to him first went without question. Surprised, Tailyn looked around. He hadn’t thought there were that many people at the academy that cared about him.

  What are they doing here? he asked Valia as he hugged the girl to the cheers of the crowd.

  They want to congratulate you. You’re a hero to the academy now, so enjoy the adulations of the mob.

  Do I have to? I’m not a big fan to be honest.

  Too bad. Everyone will be excited about you so long as you’re at the top. Topple off your perch, and they won’t look at you twice. Here, I kept them safe and sound for you.

  Before heading into the arena, Tailyn had handed Valia all his cards just in case. He wasn’t sure what would have happened if he’d had his dragon with him since the card was active and giving him a continuous buff that cut the damage he received. What if the provost had handed him the loss because he’d been using two cards? No, there was no way the boy was going to risk it — he wanted his victory to be clean, fair, and free of any asterisks. As soon as he got his deck back, the golden bracelet on the girl’s arm disappeared, reappearing on the boy’s. His dragon was home.

  “Tailyn Vlashich, the dean wants to see you. Immediately!” Madam Varin appeared on the other side of the crowd, the lanky woman towering above them like a tower above a city.

  That was unpleasant. Tailyn knew very well what the dean wanted, and he was trying to figure out for himself if he wanted to divulge his secret. Five minutes after the duel had started, Valia had told him he wasn’t going through the labyrinth the right way. Forian had asked her if she knew how Tailyn was getting past the traps so easily, and from that point on the pair tried to find something for Tailyn to eat. But as if out of spite, the traps were all lethal. They had no other option but to continue showing the magic of intuition and foresight, and that was what had earned Tailyn his visit to the dean. The latter was presumably also wondering how a first-year student had been able to survive where only one out of twenty academy graduates was successful.

  What are you going to tell him?

  Nothing. I think I’ll say I don’t know how it happened, either — I was just able to jump out of the way at the last moment. Apparently, nobody here knows about unification, and the library keeper isn’t in a hurry to enlighten them. We shouldn’t have told him about it, by the way.

  Agreed. But saying nothing would be stupid since nobody will believe you. They might demand to see your logs, and refusing would be tantamount to betrayal. Hey, I have an idea that might work. Magistrate Vavon once told me...

  The crowd parted, and Madam Varin escorted Tailyn straight to the dean’s office. It was the first time the boy had been in that part of the building — the dean offices were in the head of the giant scorpion. That put them as far away from the provost as possible, in fact. The décor was traditional, with a desk, a couple chairs, and lots of cabinets housing a variety of retorts and other devices. On the wall, there was a map of the empire, though it did nothing for Tailyn. His location descriptions were far more detailed.

  Forian and Valanil were already in the dean’s office, having apparently been interrogated before Tailyn got there. The whole thing was moving quickly. No sooner had Tailyn left the arena, than he was met by an entire commission.

  “Out with it,” Forian said immediately. “How’d you do it?”

  Tailyn didn’t like his mentor’s tone in the least. If the kindly dean had asked the question, smiling in the way only he could, and clapped the boy on the shoulder, he might have given in and spilled the beans. But the tone of distrust meant they weren’t going to hear the truth. They were just going to hear what Valia had thought up for them.

  “A pathfinder one-time buff. I got it in the ancient city as a reward for killing the monster. Remember the labyrinth in the Forest of Desire? Olsen gave me the buff then, and this time is was the monster. I knew I’d be able to get to the center, and the buff disappeared once it got me there.”

  “You’re kidding me! What a waste of a treasure,” the dean whispered, his expression one of shock, and Forian just rolled his eyes to demonstrate his opinion of his student’s mental capacities.

  “What are you talking about?” Madam Varin asked. “What’s the Forest of Desire? And what’s a pathfinder?”

  “That’s classified information, Magistrate. Thank you for bringing Tailyn here,” the dean said as a hint for the woman to leave. Tailyn could only grunt — Forian had clearly told the dean all about their adventures in Isr Kale’s tomb. That much had been a given. After waiting until Madam Varin left the office, the boy continued.

  “Everything else was easy. As soon as they announced which card Ronan was bringing in, I knew he lost. I know all too well how to handle hydras — I took out a couple back in the tomb by myself. And since I was pretty sure legendary cards didn’t differ too much from rare cards, all I had to do was wait for the thing to burst, at which point I could...finish the job. Easy enough. I’m just not sure what the problem is. Did I do something wrong?

  “It didn’t burst. Ronan deactivated the card, afraid it was going to kill him,” Valanil said. The woman had known Tailyn practically from birth, which meant she was perfectly aware that he was lying. Every time he’d brought her flowers and tried to trick her about how many there were, he’d glanced off to the side. But could the mages see that? What had really happened in the arena?

  “Show me the card,” the dean said as he sank down wearily into his chair. The provost had handed him the assignment of figuring out the great secret that turned out not to be worth the fuss at all. Pathfinder. And he couldn’t even tell off the boy for being that stupid — the dean himself had sent him off for three months, keeping him from his regular studies. But what was done was done. The girl’s card was interesting, at least. They needed to see what level four came with.

  ***

  The week before the arena went by quickly. Finally, Tailyn had time to visit the alchemist mentor, the frail little man with the burnt face staring him down before asking what he wanted to work on. Tailyn selected potions and abilities without a second thought. Everything else, as he’d already found out, worked for no more than sixty seconds. And thanks to the enormous buffs he had from enhancement and his named equipment, working on his concoctions and bombs was pointless. That would have just been a waste of points. The mentor helped structure the skills the boy had and sent him on his way. There was nothing for Tailyn to learn at his lessons for the coming few years — he already knew all of it.

  Skills

  Potions

  45

  Shield Restoration Potion

  15

  Mana Restoration Potion

  15

  Magic Enhancement Elixir

  15

  Abilities

  16

  Lesser Regeneration Potion

  *

  Card Saturation

  15

  Concoctions

  60

  Lervan Potion

  15

  Yeti Potion

  15

  Salamander Potion

  15

  Basilisk Potion

  15

  Bombs

  45

  Alchemical Fire

  15

  Acid

  15

  Cold Explosion

  15

  Alchemy

  Points invested:

  166

  A couple days of classes later, Tailyn and Valia had pulled their ratings out of the negative, and it was all thanks to dancing. Master Gronk was sceptical when the returning pair offered to show him what they’d been working on, but the jaw of everyone in the room began gradually drooping lower and lower the moment the music began playing. Valia wasn’t dancing; she was the dance. The music. Grace. Perfection. Compared to her, Tailyn looked like an unpolished blockhead, but the girl picked elements that hid her partner’s weaknesses. And when s
he threw her arms to the sides and spun into some kind of crazy vortex, the girl gave everyone there a blessing. The room erupted into cheers. That was the first day after Tailyn’s duel, and there was no room in the choreography hall the next day. First, it was the other students and professors from the magic card department. A couple days later, everyone from the other departments was trying to get in so they could see the dance and earn themselves a buff.