《Soul Forger》 Ch. 1. Crimson Constellation An old man with a rare gray beard sat on the bench at the stone house. He smoked the pipe and put smoke rings in the night sky, towards the two moons. His anxious thoughts gave out frowning eyebrows, and the point was not what was going on behind him, but the moons. Crimson Constellation. The day when you can see two bloody red moons in the sky happens once in sixty years - not everyone will be able to catch such an event twice. Unless, of course, it has the magical power or wealth to cure various diseases that keep pace with medieval life. Speaking of the old man, this is his first time. During the Crimson Constellation, the magical powers of any creature almost doubled. For example, magical scientists, who are always conducting their favorite experiments, were looking forward to this event. If we talk about the effects on consciousness, the Crimson Constellation did not cause madness, on the contrary, it caused calm and pacification. The exception was the dark creatures - monsters dreaming of slaughter. Their forces practically did not increase, but their adequacy sharply decreased, towards uncontrollable rage. In many villages and towns, the militia looked carefully into the area to keep an eye on the stray creature; the monsters hiding among the people were releasing claws and gnawing at yesterday''s "friends". But the last one, actually, is a great rarity. Truly dark creatures are too few and, being smart enough to hide among people, they are more likely to be alone than to risk revealing their location. If we talk about Vereden, the city where the old man lived, then there was not a single dark creature hidden here and the residents were under the reliable protection of high walls. It is difficult to hide when there are three churches of a light deity at the side, and one of them set a goal to reveal and destroy any dark creature and in the name of this created a whole knightly order. The door to the house opened, where the man in the gown of the clergyman immediately came out. He didn''t look as calm as the old man, rather nervous, as if he was working the second day without a break for a nap. He had a crying newborn baby in his hands. "A boy. Congratulations," said the priest. "The boy..." the old man sighed. " You should have seen him, Lucca." "Unfortunately, I failed to save Anna," the clergyman said with slight regret. "It''s a pity..." the old man was saddened. " Let Hyunza light up her path." The priest left, taking the baby with him and leaving the old man alone with the dead body. When he approached him, he couldn''t help but be sad - his late son''s wife was dead. The magic of clerics is able to work miracles: to heal wounds and diseases, to give powerful blessings, so that even an ordinary man beat with the power of a bear. There are rumors that the highest clerics of the Hyundza deity, who are very few, are able to resurrect the dead at the cost of their lives, but the old man did not believe in it - no one is in control of the kingdom of the dead except Imaginis. "Anna, Anna..." - The old man closed his eyes and started praying. Clerics, during the Great Constellations, lost most of their strength. Outside the holy walls, they could do almost nothing but pray and heal lightly. Priests of average and above rank felt better, but they rarely engaged with parishioners who could not pay a fair price for their work. Only the Hyundza ministers provided free help to anyone who asked for it, but their clergy were too few to help everyone. In addition, they were pressured by other churches because of the many differences in doctrine and beliefs. At this time, if you dive deeply into the ground and go "through" the magic barrier, you can get into the demonic space. Reasonable creatures upstairs call him Ha''af. If on the spiritual part of Ha''afa the situation is quite calm (there are no fools next to sleeping archidemons), on the material side the situation, to put it mildly, is peculiar. Demons, in the vast majority, had no intellect - they were guided by instincts. And the instinct was yelling - kill it! So they killed each other. No pity or regret. Only the demons of the middle claw could resist the desire to shred their neighbor. They might have been happy to "have fun", but their leadership preferred another time to spend with them. Ask any demon if he likes Ha''af and you''ll hear the only correct answer. Any one of them wants to leave the cage called Ha''af and it is easiest to do so during the Crimson Constellation, because the barrier that prevents the penetration of the world on the surface is greatly weakened. The higher demons are doing it - looking for weak spots from which to penetrate the world of mortals. Unfortunately, it is impossible to overcome the barrier being in the material body, so it is necessary to change the shell to the spiritual one. Can an ordinary demon make such a transition on his own? No. And the archimandrite? Oh, yes, of course! But he will not be allowed to do it by the Gods, except for the fact that they are asleep at the moment, which is what not only the demons are happy with, but also the Deities themselves. It would seem that the situation is hopeless. But, no, it''s not. If the daemon cannot change the shell himself, it does not mean that the shell cannot be changed. For this reason, in a powerful run-of-the-mill circle drawn by demon blood, there was a middle claw demon - a Succubus. There was no fear on her face. The tallest demon, ten meters tall, one meter tall, with winding horns, ordered him to stand still and do not interfere. Behind the Highest Demon stood a hungry, bony helper, with ashy skin and strong spiky bones. A wavy flagellum was sticking out of his oblong mouth, twitching from side to side. The hungry, if pumped with magic, are able to feel the slightest fluctuations in the barrier, so the highest used them as a warning system. "Master! A wailing wailer. "I can see that! The owner, immediately, drove a Succubus into the ground like a nail. Her body fell apart like sand, and the runway circle broke out for a second. The Master''s eyes caught on fire, but when he saw that the unstable barrier had increased dramatically, he only growled stronger. There''s a new demon in the runoff circle. This time, a shaking incubus in fear of incubation. He was well aware that the higher demons did not appreciate the lives of their subordinates and his life is worthless, compared to the ghostly chance to send a slave to the upper world - in Ezef. "Hole!" - ...was screamed by a hungry man. The body of a superior demon literally exploded with power. Even the one standing next to him, hungry in a flash, disappeared under the pressure of force. The incubus is there, too, though. At the same time, demons of all kinds, which can only be found in the vast expanses of Ha''afa, began to appear in a circle with great speed. The master''s fist was working a runner-up at the speed of a demolition hammer. Some burned before they could feel their fists, others teleported to the run-of-the-mill circle to their fists and were torn from the inside. The reason for this is the tiny chance that the soul of the middle claw demon can overcome the barrier. If the weakened part of the barrier can be sent one "victim", the "hole" had to send a pack of souls at once, in the hope that someone will pass. One in a thousand is already lucky. However, if the demon is lucky enough to get into Ezef, he still has to find the body! And this is almost even more difficult, because only a reasonable creature with magical potential is suitable for the role of a vessel. For example, a farmer who has been smelling in the field all his life and doesn''t think he''s some kind of "magician", will unconsciously suppress an extremely weakened demon with a soul torn from death. It follows that the body of an adult person is not suitable, and if we continue to talk about people, then only the baby will be quite weak and not any of them. Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. The demon who took possession of the body in the Purple Constellation, will merge with the baby and after years of restoration of their self-awareness, and after a decade will be able to freely enter into any sanctuary of the bright gods, thus deceiving even high-ranking priests. Except where to find a magically gifted baby? The only chance is to break into Ezef next to him. The odds are dropping dramatically... The highest demon, still tearing the souls of his subordinates, would be very happy if he managed to pull off the project. Not a single hit in the last ten years. Too many variables must match. Meanwhile, not everyone on the surface, where the Crimson Constellation went on, was aware of the danger of demonic invasion, but the tradition of keeping babies under close supervision remained strong. The paladins of St. Linus, who had a sense of demons and had a spell in their arsenal capable of finding children with magical gifts, patrolled the city. They had the authority to enter almost any residential building and take their children for the time of the Crimson Constellation. According to the law, residents must hand over their children under the age of two to the temple in advance. The aristocracy solved the issue differently - they hired magicians, and they could not tolerate clerics. The paladins marched past magically protected houses without breaking the walls. The cleric, who had recently given birth, shuddered, smelling the smell of sulfur, and then saw the veins on the baby''s hand blackening. The filth began to spread in a small body. The paladins, like dogs, smell the familiar smell and trot to him. But the cleric was already in the vicinity of the church and quickly ran across the alley. He didn''t want the paladins to kill the baby, and they certainly wouldn''t. Cruelty and fanaticism were equally on the shoulders of the paladins. Almost flying in the door of the temple, the cleric shouted at the rector of the church - Irwin. A high-ranking priest can do a lot of things. Including protecting the baby from paladins, who have already caught up with him and with undisguised hatred looked at the child-demon. " What? Demonorphus? " - Irwin was surprised. " How long has it been?" "Almost..." The cleric who gave birth put the baby on the altar. The paladins didn''t dare to come any closer. The situation was too tense and without the First Sword, which was already approaching the church, they did not dare to start a conflict "Move aside!" - was ordered by Irwin. And then he waved his hand and yelled: "Purgatory fire!" The baby broke out in white flames, stopped crying. The clerics who were watching it were astonished at the heads. "The Purgatory Fire, a medium rank spell, can burn a dozen unarmed people in a couple of seconds, and then it was used on a single baby, albeit in a very weakened version. When the fire went out, a bewildered crowd surrounded a living but sleeping child. In fact, not every cleric took demons seriously, they undoubtedly knew about their existence, but having lived a lifetime in peacetime, never met their activities. Only Irwin guessed how the Higher demons treat their subordinates and that after the correct preparation of the demon of the Middle Claw can "settle" to the baby. The problem was that it was possible to do so only under the Crimson Constellation, when the line between Ha''af and Ezef becomes thin as a thread. In addition, the soul itself needs to be properly "prepared", which is impossible without a passage through the barrier that separates the two worlds. "He doesn''t have... a hand..." said one of the clerics. "The demon had time to grab a body part," Irwin said in cold blood. " I was able to banish him, but I had to sacrifice my hand." The cleric who delivered the baby was covered in cold sweat. Irwin, their superior, the most respected man in town... almost killed the baby! The purest Hyundza is resolutely against the killing of any intelligent creature! Not even a demon! "But... how...? We don''t have to..." the clerics protested. "Yes! " Another cleric agreed. "The Hyundzes teach us..." Hyundza teaches that every being with a mind has a right to life. It doesn''t matter if it''s evil, kind, chaotic or orderly. It has to, no, it has to live. Clerics with open arms received any creature in need of divine help from one of the Gods of Chaos and to see the demon disappear from the body of the baby was a shock to many. "Silence! " - interrupting all of Irwin''s life. " Everybody back to work! The darkness of the Crimson Constellation is still scorching our lands!" "But, uh..." (sighs) "Get to work now!" The disgruntled clerics were scattered, and Irwin plunged himself into thoughts. The Hyundzes consider themselves to be a conditionally "light" deity, so their brethren are allies with the true-light, and this imposes some restrictions. For example, they are forced to publicly refuse to help dark creatures. Luckily, covert operations aren''t covered. "They''re standing for the second day," Irwin looked at the paladins of the Order of St. Linus. " And the First Sword''s like this. Sniffing out if I did banish the demon..." If Irwin hadn''t shown cruelty to the demon, which is practically murder, the temple would have had a big problem. The paladins didn''t notice anything unusual and left in approval. The first sword cast some kind of spell, like searching and destroying demons, but without noticing anything reprehensible, left. "Demons must be destroyed!" - ...such thoughts were in the heads of the Paladins of the Order of St. Lane. High rank clerics do not break the covenants of their deities, but if this happens for some unimaginable reason, the inevitable reward immediately overtook the traitors of faith. However, Irwin did not lose his magic or his life. On the contrary, he quietly took the baby and took him to other children, who were under the careful supervision of the Paladins. The very same warriors of St. Lion it is not alarmed, because the demons - it is a monster, and no wonder that one of them has just been destroyed. Each of them felt that demonic emanations completely "weathered" from the baby''s body. Everything''s fine. Time passed: night changed in the morning and morning in the afternoon. The Mayor''s Office has counted the dead, who were practically absent, dissolved the army and announced the holiday, which is traditionally held by the Church of the Dark Deities. The representatives of Saltilla and Burial lived in Vereden, and they wished to conduct it. Speaking of the gods, Saltilla embodied greed and avarice, she was worshipped mainly by merchants and aristocracy. Buryal is a god of sea disasters, worshipped by sailors who do not want to lie dead on the sea floor. The relationship between the temples of dark deities and light deities can be described as "armed neutrality", but since the light temples had a great influence in Vereden, they could dictate their rules. The baby was returned to the family from the same old man in a couple of weeks. By that time, the paladins had made sure that none of the children were ill with something dangerous, such as obsession, and that there was no point in keeping them isolated. Seeing a one-armed baby, the old man was very upset and almost cursed the Hyundzes, along with their priests, who mutilated his grandson. There''s anger in my heart. Ch. 2 The baby was named Solan, after his great-grandfather Solanessia, who spent his whole life fulfilling his dream of opening his own forge in the city. Moving from village to city is a hard work, not only tenacity and connections, but also luck. Solanessia is lucky. One of the representatives of the blacksmith''s guild became interested in the village blacksmith and helped him to borrow his own production in the city. Solanessia became a legend for the blacksmith family, the embodiment of the best qualities necessary for a good craftsman. From his childhood, Solana''s grandfather, Terrick, taught his grandson''s craft, wishing him to become as legendary as Solanessia. By the time he was ten years old, Terrick had realized that he had talent. Unfortunately, not to blacksmithing ... To sloppiness. And, perhaps, even to stupidity. To take on a hot frying pan? Easy! Fall down the stairs? Even easier! Sometimes it seemed to Terrik that the child had more scars than he had. Apparently, God of luck spat in Solana''s face, and it is not clear whether he took away all the luck or gave it to him. " Grandfather..." Solan said with little guilt in his voice. " What is it this time?" Terrick turned slowly, smoking his favorite pipe. He was not pleased with the view. His grandson, combing his curly hair back, smiled widely. But all his clothes had been torn by the many cuts from which the blood flowed. It immediately occurred to him that he had rolled his body over something loose and sharp. A girl as old as Solan ran up to Terrick. She had long curly hair, the color of ripe wheat, and an extremely worried look. Her cousin, who had promised to protect and preserve her "lucky" brother, once again failed to keep her promise. " Grandfather Terrick! " - She screamed, running to Terrick. " What happened?!" " Grandfather, everything in..." - tried to calm Solan to grandfather. "Shut up, Grandpa! Rosie?!" "Grandpa... I..." "Fucking hell! He''s bleeding out, isn''t he?! Run quickly to the priest Gil!" " Yes! Come on, Solan!" - The girl took his hand and they ran. Solana''s laughter once again made Terrick fall out of reality. Having taken a stick with which the old man could move quickly, he followed the children to the Hyundza Temple, the only place where they could save the life of a stupid child for free. At that time, Rosie, Solana''s cousin, led him to the priest. She blamed herself for not keeping an eye on her brother and for not keeping her promise to protect him from herself. On the other hand, it was fun to jump on the roof of an abandoned house. Who knew that the rotten boards could not stand ... It is good that Solan somehow did not fall to the ground floor, but just rolled off the roof. On the way they met some familiar children. They were not even surprised to see the next damage on Solana''s body. It was not for nothing that he was nicknamed "lucky", but the lucky one could fall from a five-meter high wall directly into a haystack and not even break anything. And how he climbs, using only one hand, causes unimaginable delight. Solan can proudly claim to be the best climber in town! The guards, by the way, can also confirm that she does not get tired of prescribing the neckties when he climbes in. " Ha," - one of Solan''s friends ran up to him. " What is it this time?" The boy''s name was Bob. He had brown eyes and a big hole between his front teeth. He liked spending time with Solan, though his father kept saying that he shouldn''t spend time with crazy, lepers and ugly people. " You wouldn''t believe it! " - Solan answered. - " We sneaked into Jerry''s old house!" " Come on! There''s security there!" " And we''re up on the roof, from Ishmael''s tavern, over the fence and Mandis garden!" " You''re... you''re... you''re crazy! You could have been killed!" Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. " Bob! "- Rosie protested. " We''re careful!" "Nobody saw us! " - Solan confirmed. Bob was three years older than them and, as the son of a merchant, knew who the nobles were and, most importantly, who the magicians were. Magicians set up "nets" on the entire territory of the nobility and only the suicidal person will jump into it. He personally saw what happened to the man who got into his father''s "net", who ordered from the magicians to protect himself from thieves. The man was flattened all over the floor, and his hand was left on the stolen goods. " They are noblemen! They have magic everywhere! " Bob decided not to tempt fate by being with a "lucky man" and ran away. No one else detained Solan with Rosie, and they reached the Hyundza Church. At the entrance they were greeted by a novice and, finding out what they were doing, he let them in. Inside it was very quiet, it seemed that the noise from the outside was drowned out and only the steps of clerics and novices were reverberated from the walls. Numerous shops along the walls were empty, and were rarely visited by believers in the evenings. The hall itself was lit up with a bright greenish light, and at the very end there was an altar for prayers. If you go around the corner, you can go up to the second floor, where novices and some priests lived. Irwin, the abbot, was not in town at the moment, but went to Larija on business. " Solan, Rosie," one of their novices greeted them. " St. Fred," the children worshipped." - We are at his mercy to Gil. " Of course. As soon as he is free, I will tell him you are expecting him." " Thank you! " " Sit down for now." Sitting on the bench by the wall, the children began to wait. Solan put his hand on his chest, and when he took it away, he saw that it was covered in blood. Ten minutes later, he noticed a strange picture: a lot of black spheres were flying around him, but no matter how much he tried to focus on them, they were constantly disappearing and appeared sharply on the periphery of vision. Without paying attention to other people, Solan tried to catch the spheres in the middle of nowhere, but they suddenly began to burst like soap bubbles. Some of the novices in the neighborhood stared at the child playing on the bench with a little surprise. Of course, they all had a magical gift and saw that he somehow absorbed the mana hovering in space. Even for a novice who was ready to pass the first rank magician''s exam, such a task might not seem to be a trivial one. However, they didn''t care and their interest was quickly lost. " Solan, what are you doing? " - Rosie asked, feeling her cousin put his head on her shoulder. " I want to sleep," Solan said with a drowsy voice. " Oh, okay." When Solan closed his eyes, he fell asleep. Deep water of consciousness pulled him down and down and, at some point, he ceased to understand what was in the church. Images of unknown creatures and things, many incoherent words and sentences flashed before his eyes. All this was interspersed with scenes from an obscure place, where instead of the sky there was a bloody glow. " Sir! I don''t know..." My grandfather''s voice was heard through the dream, and there was a blow. Something broke down and fell. A rattle. Broken vase, voices of unknown people. Threats mixed with apologies made their way through the veil of Solan''s sleeping consciousness, but he could not comprehend a single word. " I will give everything back, sir! "- My grandfather swore. ¨C" I will..." Solan fell asleep again, this time completely isolating his hearing organs from the material world. Images flashed in consciousness with renewed vigor. Reality fell apart. He spent the whole night in a coma without waking up, and on the second day he woke up as a completely different person. 3. Thief With the arrival of the morning rays, the central quarter of Veredena woke up: the doors of the guilds and shops opened, the aggressive magical protection of the gates of the nobles living here was shut down, and the temple''s novices went out into the courtyard to meet the flock. The central quarter itself copied Marble Quarter of Marble, that is, looked like a "city in the city", with its walls and guards at the gate, rules and wealthy residents. Initially, Vereden''s advice was to lay out a marble path, but when they found out how much it cost, their desire changed dramatically. Still, thanks to the advantageous trade route, the gold chickens do not bite when, like Vereden, a small port town in the south, there were big problems with it. The most important building - standing as if a cherry on a cake - is the city library. It stood out above the whole city and looked like a miniature castle, with four small towers on the sides and one big one in the middle. Silver color created a majestic impression, and the huge, height of a man, the windows, decorated with mosaics, did not leave indifferent even spoilt aristocrats. The architecture of the building differed markedly from its neighbors and it is not surprising, because the library at the same time and the temple of the neutral God of Answers - Ventry. His temple libraries were distributed to most large cities, and Vereden''s council had to spend a lot of energy to convince them to build a temple in their small town. Even in the neighboring town of Laria, he wasn''t there, and he was much richer. " Ah..." yawned the guard at the stairwell to the Ventry Temple. " Uh..." his partner yawned. - Thomas, I''ve been yawning as long as I can. " What about me?! My son''s been keeping me up all night! " I know your son, so I guess I went back to Emilka?" " And you too! What the hell is Emilka like?!" " Yeah, yeah, yeah, pretend." Thomas is standing still on the counter. Ahead of him were local aristocrats from the glorious family of Mandis: Mandis Sr. - Shonnet and Mandis Jr. - Shonnie. Behind you, very quietly, was mentor Ferapont waddling. From the last one, people were slipping away because of the bad smell. Ferapont couldn''t do anything to him - the curse imposed by a magician of the fourth rank, not so easy to remove, especially when there is no gold. If it hadn''t been for his knowledge of natural sciences, which he was also able to present to his pupil, poor Therapontus would have long been kicked out of the central quarter. Dating in the temple also played an important role, which has always made him a guest of honour. " Good morning!" - The guards greeted the noble gentlemen at the same time. The mentor tried something under his nose, the Mandises ignored it. The guards guarded the city library, the only one on the entire Black Bay. Another nearby library is located in the Duchy far to the north, in Marble. It''ll take at least a month for the ship to get there. "Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. " Thomas, without looking, sharply pulled his hand back and stopped the guest behind his shoulder. The latter looks like a boy of fourteen years old with slightly curly hair that almost reached his thin lips. The boy turned and looked at Thomas with surprise, as if a cow had flown in front of his eyes, and then said nothing: " What''s wrong with that? I have a mentor waiting for me." The boy looked rather tidy for a child living outside the central block: clean and not wrinkled pants of a dark tone, a light shirt and shiny boots. There was even a gilded chain on the neck, which immediately caused Sean to ask a dumb question: "Where did the blacksmith''s son get such a necklace? Did he steal it?" " You''re Solan, right?" - asked the second guard. " I saw you at Tom''s the other day." " Yes, it''s me," Solan said with all confidence. " The grandson of recently deceased Terrick?" " That''s exactly what I''m saying. Can I go now? The mentor was waiting." Sean''s child''s voice is so confident, he''s never heard it before. Actually, no, it wasn''t the way he was talking, it was what he was saying. " Yeah, of course, I don''t dare for..." " Solan! Where are you going?!"- Sean jerked off when he remembered catching Solan in the old days. " I know you, you bastard, what kind of books do you want?" " Uh, uh..." " Mentor, huh? Okay. Okay. Show me your pass," Sean smiled. " Oh, yeah, that''s right, show me the badge," the second grabbed the second one, obviously realizing that he had just been fooled by a child. Solan wasn''t confused. His whole view showed that the pass was right there, now he''s gonna find it. Except he doesn''t have a pass. " Unfortunately, I left it at home..." " Oh, yeah?" Sean said sarcastically. " Kid, do you know what they''ll do to you if they find out you''re in the temple uninvited?" " Hmm. Um..." On normal working days, the central block guards would let in all the little by little decent dressed people and nonpeople. Solan looked rich enough to go through the post without question. " Nevertheless, I insist," Solan said. "What do you insist?! Get the fuck out of here!" The second guard took Solan''s clothes and pushed the boy forward, from which he almost fell, but fortunately he was able to withstand and not get his clothes dirty. "Hey, Jer..." said Sean. " What''s that?" (Sighs) " Well, don''t be so abrupt. I knew old Terrick. He was a great guy. He and I got drunk once and..." - He turned to Solan. " K-hm, Solan, you better go home." - I''ll be back," Solan left for last and went home. "And the plan was good," Solan thought to himself. - Too bad I couldn''t make it to the library... Oh, well, there''s plan "B." Solan''s slow gait headed home. He didn''t know anyone in the central neighborhood except Adina and her merchant father. He seems to be selling trinkets, but he has so much money that Solan couldn''t imagine who was buying from him. Walking along the carefully laid out path and turning towards the forge on the dirty path along the houses, Solan couldn''t help noticing the striking difference. The people who came to the city were basically going to the central quarter, and on the way they saw only a deception, when behind well-groomed houses and a clean path were hiding such neighborhoods, where even the locals were afraid to go during the day, not to mention the night. The blacksmith himself was lucky to have taken a good location near one of the guild of mercenaries; Solan watched with a smile when people with criminal intent on their faces walked around the block. The thieves rightly believed that professional soldiers would not be ceremonial and would cut off their hands without remorse. Halfway to Solan''s house, he met some familiar faces. They offered him a walk, but he said no. They weren''t surprised, because they noticed how much the character of an old friend had changed. If before the one-armed "lucky guy" knew all the kids as the craziest climber, now they have forgotten about him. Solan chose his friends too carefully, so he lost them all. At fourteen, he said strange things that made people angry. In addition, he refused any dubious activities and walks, where he could be explained that he should not be friends with the "central". - Welcome back," Rosie said when she saw Solana at home. She looked like a young housewife. With long hair, carefully folded into the tail, grayish apron and a smile, whose suspicion was not in doubt. - Where are you dressed up like that? - Rosie asked. - Nowhere to go," Solan sighed. - Are you hungry? - I will be. - Come on, let''s go. Once in the kitchen, Solan sat down at the table and started waiting for lunch. That''s when Rosie was looking for the spoon plate. Like Solana''s former friends, she noticed the changes that had occurred after the day he rolled his stomach over the roof. It turned out that they were foolishly running through the Mandis'' garden and actually survived by a miracle. Unfortunately, the magic defense put "marks" on them, which is why they were found on the same day. Terrick''s grandfather was beaten up, forced into debt to pay the fine. Lucky they didn''t. Things at the blacksmith were already going badly, but with the fine, it got pretty awful. Solana''s uncle - his name was Tom - as he could have tried to get out of his misery: he found an apprentice, agreed to defer the tax at the Guild of Craftsmen. But there are barely enough coins. Being a one-armed man, Solan is not able to master the forge trade and could only be engaged in direct selling with Rosie.The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. - Enjoy your meal," Rosie said. Solan, with an acidic face, started to eat. Terribly fresh soup and stale bread. Not the pinnacle of poverty, but close. "We''ll be kicked out of town at this rate," Solan thought to himself. - "You have to solve something with education..." For those around us, the changes in Solana have been quite smooth. But not for him. On that day, the consciousness of the ten-year-old child changed so rapidly that Solan could no longer associate "himself" with "himself". Only four years later did he manage to understand himself and his desires, to feel alive, not asleep. "Plan "A" is to pretend to be a student and go with the crowd to the library. It didn''t work out. A month of watching the guards is a shambles," Solan thought. - I didn''t want to spend all the money, but I guess I''ll have to. Let''s move on to plan "B." Solan couldn''t explain to himself what "A" or "B" was, but he thought of these letters as extremely familiar symbols. Nightly digging led to the idea that the scrappy memories he received at the age of ten lay in a hidden corner in his head, where he could not climb. Besides, he often had dreams about a place that didn''t look like Vereden. No, not even two places. In the first one, people wore masks where there was smoke everywhere that couldn''t be breathed. In the second, the bloody sky led to madness, incomprehensible creatures tore each other apart with breathtaking cruelty and, most interestingly, Solan did not hesitate to repeat after them. - Solan! - Tom walked into the kitchen. Tom is Solana''s uncle. He looked like a good fat guy, but his character was really bad. Wiping sweat off his forehead and throwing dark hair on his side, Tom continued to displease his voice: - Where are you going, you lounger?! - I was out walking. - Did he go for a walk?! Tom took a wet, dirty cloth from the table and waved it over Solan''s face, and he immediately closed it with his hand. - Daddy! (Laughs) - Shut up! Tom waved a rag on Rosie, too. - You worthless bummer! Get to the store now! And I want you to wash it all up! Solan ran out of the kitchen and headed for the store under the heavy blows of a rag. There''s nothing to do but clean up, really. Neighboring forges sell goods better and cheaper, they even have a wider range of products. Solan had no desire to cool down in a stuffy store, but it was not a problem to refuse to work either. As much as I wanted to do my job, Solan was on Tom''s payroll, so he had to work. It''s time to close the store. Solan was sitting in a corner in the middle of the night and when he heard footsteps, he got up. - Oh, Rosie, you. The girl let her long hair down, which wasn''t considered very decent, but it was more like that. Bright summer dress emphasized the slender figure of a young girl, and Solan couldn''t help but notice to himself that he didn''t mind taking it off. - Uh-huh. Yeah. (Laughs) Well, is there anyone else tonight, too? - No one''s here. - Again..." Rosie took a deep breath. - It''s all fucking Nanson. He made a deal with someone to supply iron bypassing the guild and now he''s getting richer! They''re like glass! If they fall, they''re gonna crash! Who''s just buying?! - People are buying, Rosie. The rest doesn''t matter. Solan walked up to the gun stand. Except for a couple of swords and daggers that looked like knives, nothing happened. The shop survived only on household goods, while military production is too difficult to establish. - Yeah, but they break down in less than a month! What kind of iron is that?! - If they break down, they''ll buy a new one. Besides, you can forge a new one - it won''t take long. Solan picked up a dagger made by his grandfather. Lightweight and durable, it almost matched the standards of military weapons. - What kind of knife is that again? - Solan asked. - The dagger, not the knife," Rosie corrected. - Mercenary Dagger, standard grinding and forging. - How much is it worth? - Forty silversmiths. - That''s a lot, Rosie. Only a professional mercenary can afford it. If we want to sell this type of goods, we need to reduce the price. Learn how to make trash that can be afforded not only by a city dweller, but also by those who live in villages. In that case, the resellers will start to come into our shop not only to laugh at the prices. - Reasonable," Rosie agreed. - But where are we gonna get the materials? - Yeah... that''s the thing. The guild is breaking down such prices that we have to make expensive goods to pay for the production. Making knives like Nanson''s doesn''t pay off. - How did Grandpa Terrick handle it? - Percentages. - Percentages? - Yes. Our forge has taken a lot of debt, so we pay "interest" by buying materials at a higher price than it actually costs. We do not have access to the market, we are not allowed to deal directly with suppliers. In short, a couple more years and we''re gonna go bankrupt. - Solan, I don''t understand you," Rosie shook her head. - Where did you hear those words? - Doesn''t matter. I have to go on business. - What other things to do at night? - surprised Rosie. - Can I come with you? - she added right away. - You still have to close the forge. I''d rather go alone. - No, no, no, no, no, no! Wait for me at the apple tree. I''ll be right back! Solan put the dagger in his pocket, without forgetting to hide it in a sheath. He wasn''t gonna wait, let alone take Rosie with him. Plan "B" is dangerous enough to put yourself at risk? No, I''m not. Sneaking out of the store, Solan walked into his room. Got the necklace from the pillow that Adina gave him for his birthday. And a handmade mask. "Risks... if I get caught, I won''t get away with it. At best, you can move out with Tom, he still thinks I''m his family. Solan waited in a quiet place in the middle of the night and put a mask on his face. Also, just in case, he''s changed into another dark clothes. It was not forbidden to walk at night, but the guards did not hesitate to ask questions and remember who they met and where they met. The crime in Vereden outside the central quarter was at an adequate level, and the chance of meeting another criminal was even higher than that of detention. Climbing the roof of one of the houses, Solan got a black package. The cloak, the other mask and the triangular crystal. Quickly unpacked, he climbed over the fence and headed to the River Face Guild, one of the branches of the Guild of Thieves. Solan stopped at the door to the basement of the abandoned house and gently knocked four times. Solan''s been here many times. Two years ago he had a strong desire to get an education, but he needed gold coins. To take their honest work was too impossible, so he plunged into the search for a guild of thieves, which was a lot of rumors throughout the city. He needed the initial capital to pass the test, and then he planned to find a mentor and try to make money through him. I didn''t want to become a thief. - A transparent waterfall," I heard from the door. - Fell into the light wave. - A pine needle," Solan replied and put a triangle in a special shape on the door. Finding the block where the entrance is is is a challenge. I had to digest a lot of rumors and draw a map of the city in my mind. There were also difficulties with night sorties, because someone could have seen him, which is why Solan made a mask for himself. Then the guild of thieves, even though it''s another branch, found it herself. Luckily, the young thief found a crystal triangle in an abandoned house four years ago when he fell and got hurt badly and did not know what it was, he kept it under his bed. When Solan tried to find information about the guild of thieves, he found out that the crystal triangle is a symbol of the guild of "River Face" and therefore always took him with him. He was lucky that the thieves of another criminal guild took him for a stupid newcomer, who decided to climb into someone else''s territory, and after a sincere apology, as well as an oath that he joined the guild "only yesterday" and has not yet figured out what is here, nicely explained that the territory of the guild is strictly divided into blocks, and he already has a southern one. Of course, Solan thanked them and went back to his own place, already knowing where to look for the right place. Meanwhile, Solan went into the basement. There was no one outside the door. Voice is a magical defense. The password changes every month, and Solan overheard it. The River Face Guild had a bad reputation, but if someone needs to sell stolen goods, this is the place to go first. Walking down the dark stairs, Solan couldn''t hide the excitement. Torches with magical light illuminated the whole way, the teenager has never seen so many magical lamps. When he went out into the wide room, he was even more surprised. Dozens of people went to the basement on business, there were doors to some rooms in the corners. "Apparently, it''s where the stolen goods are handed over," Solan decided and headed for the nearest one. - Hey, I haven''t seen you here before..." I heard a voice on the right. Solan turned around. He was looked at by a mask with a crooked pattern similar to a dog, and looked at from below. As a teenager, Solan couldn''t boast of being taller, but the creature was even lower. "Some dwarf." - So do I," Solan replied, trying to change the voice to make it sound more rude. After a little silence, I heard a laugh and the dog masked man left. Solan shuddered, and it became clear to him that his identity was either revealed or strongly doubted. "We need to sell the necklace faster!" - a teenager walked into one of the rooms in quick succession. I immediately hit my nose with a nice floral smell. It became clear he was in the alchemist''s shop. Many elixirs of various colors lay on the stands, and the ingredients under the transparent barrier. It gave me the creeps when he stepped on the magic stove. - Welcome, welcome! - was sung by a saleswoman. She had a strange face on the mask and Solan thought that such a pleasant voice would be perfect for a drawing. The rest of the body was hidden behind dark clothes, it was possible to understand, except for a tiny figure of the saleswoman. - I recommend you take the amateur flowers, fresh, brought this afternoon! - Uh, no, it''s different," Solan said, and I was embarrassed at the counter. - Here you go. (Laughs) I''d like to sell this necklace. Can you tell me who could have bought it? - Well..." the girl got upset. - It''s not for me. Maybe the squirrel will buy... though... come on... The saleswoman took the necklace and started to look closely at each segment. She was particularly interested in the strong chain ties, like the ringlets. Trying long fingers, she seemed to count them and almost sniffed. - Gilt... Okay, how much do you want? - Golden. - Did it fall off the oak tree? I''ll give you the silverware. - Solan grabbed the necklace, but the saleswoman wouldn''t let go. - Two? No, three? - Fifty. The saleswoman released the necklace and crossed her arms. Her "buyer" is asking for too high a price for a trinket. - I''ll give you 30. No more than that. - Okay. Okay. After leaving the store, Solan immediately went up the stairs to avoid tempting fate. Originally he planned to sell necklaces for gold, because Adina''s father was selling something similar for three or even four, but it turned out as it happened ... He jumped the idea to sell the necklace officially in the market and it does not matter that it was a gift, but he refused it. Adina''s father despises Solana, and if he gets the rumor that his unsightly daughter gave him such an expensive gift, there is a great chance of consequences. Maybe three gold pieces are worth nothing to Adina, but for Solan it is a decent amount and he is sure that the girl''s father will not want to throw money around. However, thirty pieces of silver will be enough, given that Solan has his own small savings. Solan was at the Feather and Wind Guild this morning. He came here last year to see if he could find a mentor. The guild is specialized in all kinds of education: magic, martial arts, natural science, politics. Some kind of intermediary and a mentor association in one person. The building itself looked like a large and long mansion, only with small windows with flowers. On the third floor the guild emblem was visible: a bird with a thick feather in its mouth. No one was guarding the entrance, so Solan could easily get in. There were almost no visitors. The enchanted floor, which automatically removes dirt, surprised Solan a little bit, but he already realized that the central quarter is full of fascinating things. - Hello," Solan said, coming up to the counter. - Can I take a magical predisposition test? - Left and to the end of the hall," the young man answered him without looking. When Solan got to that point, he saw a well-nourished man talking to a girl at the bar. In one hand, he held an iron mug, and the other showed incomprehensible gestures, visible to the conversation. - Good morning," Solan said, coming up to them. - Can you tell me where I can take the magical talent test? - "Here," said the first one who was well nourished and left. - Uh, the girl was confused for a second. - Price for the ritual of fifty silversmiths. - Here you go. (Laughs) The girl looked disapprovingly at the little silver bag and the huge one with the brasses. Good thing they''re not forbidden to use magic to count coins. "Another poor man dreaming of magic," the girl decided to herself. Quickly checking for the necessary amount, she took the crystal and handed it to Solan. After which she said: - You need to see Mr. Gregory. You''ve seen him before. Go to the right, then turn to the second door. It''s got a circle on it. Tell him the crystal. - Well, thank you," Solan thanked and went looking for a mentor. "Strangely, too well-bred for the poor. "Maybe a poor nobleman who''s impoverished?" the girl said, looking into Solana''s back. There were no windows in Gregory''s office, just a dimmed light from magic lamps. There were documents and crystals on the table in a chaotic order, a couple of coins. When he saw Solan, he greeted him and asked him to sit on a chair with a run-of-the-mill circle around it. Crystal was pre-taken by throwing it on the table with the others. - Don''t move," Gregory said in a serious voice. - I''ll tell you when we start. Solan was sitting tight and watching Gregory prepare for the test. Ten minutes later, he realised that the mentor was just shirking his way out of work, doing something nonsense. - Mr. Gregory, when do we start? - Yes, now... and tea is not allowed to drink in peace," complained Gregory. When he walked up to the runoff circle, he put his hands in a prayer gesture and closed his eyes. His tongue was whispering silently. In a moment, he opened his eyes and spread his arms forward. The light came out of them and rushed into a run-of-the-mill circle to drink it. - What do you see? - asked Gregory. - Nothing..." Solan answered. - Take a good look. Solan looked into the rapidly approaching darkness. The vision gradually began to catch small particles of different colors that flew all over the runoff circle. The variety of colors was striking, some Solan couldn''t even name them, as if they had two instantly shimmering colors at the same time. - I see some... Solan didn''t know what to call it. - Sparks. A lot of different colors. - Great, - Gregory canceled the magic and sat down at the table. - You have a magical gift, congratulations. Dismissed. Solan didn''t dare to get up. Actually, he was counting on an invitation to study, not "free." Or at least to help you find a teacher. Any chance you have to get out of this family''s misery. Magically gifted people are rare and valuable, aren''t they? At least that''s what he thought before. - Mr. Gregory... can I be your student? - Oh, yes, of course! - Gregory answered easily. - I liked you, I''d love to be your teacher. - Oh, uh..." Solan was surprised to hear such a sudden response. - Ten. - What''s that? (Sighs) - Ten gold coins a month for me, plus twenty for joining the guild. Paying for it there, too.