The Gene of the Ancients (Rogue Merchant Book #2): LitRPG Series by Roman Prokofiev (top books to read TXT) 📕

Atrocity. An imposing name. I had long understood that Pandas thought themselves the “bad guys” and did their utmost to hold up to this title. The castle truly was impressive, however, worthy to serve as the abode of a demon lord, its gates shaped like an open dragon maw.

Crimson fires flickered in the holes of the arrow-slits, and five juggernauts hovered above its spires enveloped in the bluish bubbles of Domes. Smaller Pandorum-owned ships moved around the Shard, and I could see packs of birdies.

The Stormbringer was the sixth to moor, casting its monstrous anchor. Roa, my guide/guard for the day, summoned a protodragon and gestured toward its saddle.

Upon approaching the Shard, I got an unusual message in the log. Apparently, its aura corrupted active effects and applied new ones.

You entered the abnormal zone of the Astral Plane! Attention: attributes changed! You might experience loss of current archetype! Spells and skills are unstable!

 

Resistance to all types of magic increased by 22%.

 

You are under the effect of Dread: -20% to all attributes.

 

Cooldown of Dark spells decreased by 50%.

 

Cooldown of Light spells increased by 200%.

 

Random spell transformation chance increased to 10%.

 

After seeing the Panda stronghold from the inside, I realized why Jerkhan had vouched for me. If not for him, I would have been killed there — maybe accidentally, but most likely, simply to get a fresh frag. Still, as an ally of Pandorum, all I got were curious silent stares. The fortress’ corridors were buzzing with English and German speech: the bulk of Pandas consisted of Australians and Europeans, Germans, and people from the Northern Alliance. The Steel Guard were the only Russians of the twelve clans.

I was escorted by four members of Jerkhan’s squad, including Roa and the man himself. For a while, we walked along dark passages, leading down, and finally found ourselves in a big, dimly lit hall. In its center, there was an odd contraption that looked like a canary’s cage, only many times as big.

I only recognized the respawn point by the distinctive ornament engraved on the edge of the round platform. It was covered with a steel grate. Upon closer examination, I noticed lots of sharp spikes pointing inward and a closed door. A few bored Pandas armed for battle kept watch at the resp point. The “cage” was surrounded by a line of weird lanterns that consisted of thin metallic fixtures with three-fingered claws holding amber magic gems. Those stones were pulsating pale yellow light.

“Come up and place your Soul Eater on a glort!” Jerkhan bellowed, pointing at the nearest lantern. The Pandas around the resp point livened up and lazily cleared the way. It seemed that they knew the procedure well enough.

After making a few steps forward, I carefully touched the amber gem with the blade. Nothing happened. I turned to Jerkhan, confused.

One of the Pandas barked something in English and laughed. The second one joined in. I got the gist, no need for a translator. I opened the sword’s interface. True, there was a new option: Release Absorbed Souls. When I removed the blade from the gem, it disappeared. I returned it, and it was back.

Attention! No Soul Well found! Released souls will be transported to the nearest respawn point. Are you sure you want to do it? Yes/No

 

And the nearest point was here, in the cage, under the Pandas’ watch. An interesting idea. All right, then. Time to finish this business.

The flaming sword flashed blue, and lines about NPCs released from the sword filled my log. A stream of ghostly shapes poured out of the blade, scaring me, and I couldn’t make out any details. Having left their prison, they flew around the hall in a mad dance, and the respawn circle sucked them in, like a whirlpool. The whole process took less than a minute, and at last, all ghosts were caged. I looked at the sword’s stat block. It had zero souls inside, all of them gone.

So, that was it. But when I turned back to the Steel Guards, I was met with a reddish flash. Blinded and dazed, I completely lost my bearings. Where was up? Where was down? An instant later, I felt a stab of pain in my stomach.

Jerkhan cast Stun on you. You are stunned and dazed for 10 seconds!

 

Roahildorn dealt you 313 damage! Roahildorn dealt you 247 damage!

 

You are dying! 60 seconds left till final death! 59…58…57…

 

The effect of Stun dissipated, and I saw Roa and Jerkhan standing above me. The girl shook off blood from the blade of her katana and said, disappointed, “Is he made of cardboard? It took only two hits! Hey guys, are you going to join in for the kill?”

You are dead.

 

You lost 6610 XP. Current XP: 59492/150000

 

You lost Fine Leather Vambrace. You lost 23 gold 74 silver coins.

 

You are under the effect of Death Penalty: -10% to all attributes, duration: 10 minutes.

 

Do you wish to respawn?

 

I found myself inside the respawn circle, in the cage, among the spectral NPCs I had just released from the sword, and immediately stared at the Steel Guards who came up to the bars.

“Nothing personal, HotCat,” Roa said, grinning.

“Now, we’ll talk!” Jerkhan roared, baring his teeth.

Chapter 3

Your reputation with Pandorum Alliance was decreased to Enemy.

 

SONS OF BITCHES. Although, no need to offend dogs. My first thought was to contact the Watchers. After all, it was their task I was handling, let them sort it out. Still, I discarded that idea. I didn’t want to run crying for help, like a baby. And what would the Watchers do, anyway? I was in the Astral Plane, inside the stronghold of the most powerful alliance of Sphere. They couldn’t help me.

I tried using a