End of an Era (Project Chrysalis Book 2) by John Gold (popular books to read .TXT) 📕

a global message about how the dwarf mountains were open to the world. That meant the job was done. Leon, overjoyed by the news, quickly got in touch with the league and asked them to invite the players themselves so he could reward them personally. You can’t miss recruiting warriors like that.

The information about Leon, thanks to whom the dwarves had opened their cities to humans, was released to the public, and there was a huge crowd on hand that evening looking to thank the players responsible. There were people also looking to recruit them, reporters, leveling -up experts, and gladiators looking for opponents.

But the appearance of the players sent everyone into a tizzy. The applause died away instantly. Nobody could figure out what was going on. Only five figures emerged from the portal. The killers instantly went invisible, leaving just two little girls, one scarier than the other. A ripple ran through the crowd. They were just kids.

One of the girls was wearing expensive black armor that reeked of forbidden magic. The gods could sense things like that even without touching them. Her face was hidden behind her visor, and it was just the long red hair that gave away her gender.

She was carrying a second girl on her back who was wearing a dress. Her golden hair peeked out from under her hood. Leon’s magic vision told him that she was covered in blood from head to foot, enveloped in a terrible red aura and that she had all kinds of forbidden items. Why couldn’t he see under her hood? Why was she being carried? Where was everyone else from the raid?

Nobody applauded. Only whispers were exchanged as the procession of the “heavily wounded from the front” made its way to the spot where they would be rewarded. The killers turned visible and covered the two kids from every angle. But where was the mage?

“Hello, my good Hunters. I, the god Leon, thank you for the bravery you have displayed.”

The gold-haired girl started and looked him dead in the eye.

“Your actions have paved the way for humans to begin working with the race of dwarves. It can now be chosen when creating a character or after going through the rebirth ritual, and you are more than welcome to join the Golden Hand. We have a special division for warriors such as yourselves.”

“Thank you for the offer and your kind words, Leon.”

The knight girl was apparently the group’s spokesperson. The killers didn’t say a word.

“Why are you carrying that girl?” Leon wanted to figure out what was going on.

“She’s overloaded because of the death debuff, and she doesn’t want to throw anything away, so I have to carry her,” the spokeswoman laughed.

“I can remove the debuff. Why should you have to carry that kind of load?”

That would reveal the player’s name too. She might be the mage.

The golden-haired girl looked directly into the god’s face, gloomy darkness beneath her hood.

“No, this is my debt, and I must pay it. That’s my path, Leon.”

“Up to you. As a sign of my appreciation for the dwarf race, I would like to give you a yearlong buff.”

You got a buff: Great divine blessing

Effect: All your main and derivative attributes are boosted by 10%.

Duration: 365 days

All five got the message about the buff, but the odd part was that nobody accepted it. The girls glanced at each other, the one in the armor replying.

“Thank you for your generous gift, but we can’t accept it. Hunters rely only on their own strength.”

“You all wish to decline such a meaningful gift?” The killers just nodded, and the knight had spoken for both girls. “All right. In that case, accept some gifts from the Golden Hand.”

A magnificent procession headlined by five gorgeous women stepped up to hand each of the Hunters a gift. The first girl took the gifts for both of them.

“Thank you, Leon.” She bowed, and the killers followed her example.

“I thank you once more for the service you have rendered and invite you again to join the Golden Hand.”

“That is appreciated, but we already have a clan which we will be joining shortly.”

“That’s your choice.” He paused for a second. “Our portal will take you anywhere on the continent.”

“Thanks. In that case, we’ll be going. We haven’t had a chance to rest since the quest.”

The whole group quickly stepped over to the portal. As soon as its film swallowed the last Hunter, Leon gave an order.

“Nate, get over to the castle control room. I want the names of all of those Hunters right away.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Do we have anyone who can follow them?”

“Yes, I think our mage killers would work. We have one squad in the castle, so we can send them. What’s the mission?” Nate quickly pulled up his chat panel and started sending out a message.

“Information collection. We need to find out what they want, what they like, their habits, their responsibilities. Really, everything that could help us get them into the clan.”

“Ooph.”

“What? Did you do something wrong?”

“No. The group of mage killers headed after them, but the trail was already cold. They say they disappeared in less than ten seconds.”

When Leon got the list of names, he stopped to think. The name Sagie sounded familiar. On the other hand, with the number of names out there, they often coincided, and that was a girl, not a boy.

His feeling was one of light anxiety, but even that was enough to show how much there was left to learn about what was going on.

***

Back in No Man’s Land, one of the killers becomes visible and turns to us.

“Quick, we have to get out of here. There’s a squad of trackers coming for us. Meet twenty-four hours from now in the same