Sleeping Player (Project Chrysalis Book 3) by John Gold (novel24 TXT) 📕

I’m absolutely sure Anri isn’t stalling. There isn’t anyone invisible in the room, and I can’t see any spells or strong mages nearby, either. Did the archmage really get rid of them all?

“Thanks for the offer, though I’m afraid it’s going to be a while before I see you again. I have a very long and dangerous trip ahead of me, and any skill, spell, or ability I can get my hands on may be the one that saves my life.”

“That’s a smart choice, my dear student. I knew you’d make the right one. Okay, you have three abilities available to you right now, and you can select the same one twice if you’d like.”

Ability available: Patikrad’s method

Patikrad, a great healer, unlocked the ability to heal groups of up to five people 150% more effectively.

Effect: +50% effectiveness for Life Magic spells used on groups of up to five people

Accept: Yes/No

Ability available: Lazy bastard

The ogres had a legendary shaman named Grugal the Lazy who was famous for using the spirits of his totems and his pets to conduct magic energy. That let him heal up to five people at a time.

He didn’t even need to see the people he was healing. As long as one of his spirits or pets was nearby, he could heal them. He earned the second part of his epithet by using this ability poorly.

Effect: Pets and spirits can heal you and your allies. For group healing, you’ll need an area spell. All you have to do is give the command to the spirits.

Limitation: No more than five spirits at a distance of no more than 50 meters

Accept: Yes/No

Ability available: Mark of Samarus the Bloody

The elves in the Summer Forest have a legend about Samarus the Bloody. He was a druid who fought in hundreds of battles during the Global Turmoil, and it was only on his deathbed that he revealed his secret: he used a blood mark to pool his health with trees and boost his survivability. Of course, only the trees he grew himself agreed to share his fate.

Effect: Lets you combine your health with the trees you grow. Cannot be done with more than one tree, and the effect is only within and under the crown of that tree.

Accept: Yes/No

The mark of Samarus the Bloody is the only useful ability. It’s similar to my friend of the forest, only I don’t have to physically fuse with the tree. The others aren’t for me—I’m a solo player, and I don’t have a problem healing Fem.

By doubling up on that last ability, I boost the number of trees I can use to two.

Anri says that I made exactly the choice he expected me to.

“You, young man, are too similar to Samarus the Bloody. He was a life mage deep in his bones, and he only fought when someone attacked him or his lands. A quarter of the druid and plant-care spells we know were discovered after his death based on his notes. The elves try to hide that, but Life Magic specialists all know his work like the back of their hands. He never shared his spells with the schools, he was self-taught, and he achieved the highest level of mastery. It’s rare, but sometimes people appear who are so unique they can discover new spells.”

Anri tells us about the five-tome biography of Samarus’ life and a couple of Life Magic projects that were put together based on the great mage’s notes.

“You may be right. Hey, as a life mage apprentice, do I have access to chimerology books?”

He smiles, his every emotion screaming at me how incredibly happy he is. In fact, he laughs so hard that his robe starts bouncing around on his round stomach.

“You had access to them back when you were a scholar. But you aren’t a chimerologist, and you don’t want that class—what do you want with the books?”

“I’ve seen what battle chimerologists can do, what with their armor, pets, defense, attack, and body empowerment. I need to know who my enemies are and how I can fight back against them”

“That’s smart. There have been a lot of people asking about you the past couple days, young man.”

We leave the reception area and pick up the biography of Samarus the Bloody from the academy library. In order to check out the books on chimerology that I have my eye on, I have to sign for them and hand them a guarantee of equal value. I don’t have much choice but to part with a few tomes from my personal library of forbidden books.

I still owe Proximus, the supervisor of the Space Magic department, a report on the results of his magic space teleport.

The trim old man is just finishing up an introductory lecture. Our conversation takes place in the empty auditorium afterward, and I give him some advice I’m going to be following, as well, as I hand him my notes.

“You should burn these when you’re done reading them—people will try to kill you for knowing this. Proximus, this isn’t conjecture or random thoughts; I’m absolutely sure of everything on these papers. It’s a direct threat to the gods, the demigods, and the global security system. The spell ignores antiportal fields and lets you go anywhere in the world without leaving a trace.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” The mage grins and burns the papers right in front of me. “Let’s do this. When you tell me it’s safe to use the spell, I’ll publish it. I know who you are, and I know that you mean what you say. I want to live more than I want to be famous, so I’ll wait for you.”

There’s one more person at the academy who can give me the information I need: Vaziri Anu, the supervisor of the Mind Magic department.