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

little sacrifice bought them exactly that. But at what cost! After the battle for Airis Castle, he couldn’t sleep for almost a month. The doctors had to force him into it. The other young gods had the same problem, all of them terrified that Sagie would kill them and take away everything they’d achieved in the game. The prospective was so horrifying, in fact, that they all used any means they could to look for Sagie in real life. Rebecca Ruzh was grilled for three days straight in an attempt to find out every last detail she knew about the boy. They even hypnotized her in their effort to build a psychological portrait. The information they gained was passed on to the Union of Gods, which kept track of Sagie’s movements around the world.

The portrait was matched up against every database they had, spitting out about a thousand possibilities. None of them worked, however, as none of them had a character named Sagie. Some died, and others refused to cooperate, but in the end, they checked all of them and still couldn’t find the boy. The optimists among them said he’d walked away from the game, though the young gods thought that was a scary option. Nothing much could be worse than knowing there’s a person in the world who can stop by, take everything you have, and disappear.

“Did they interrogate him?” Leon asked Nate, who was personally in charge of the hunt for the boy.

“No. He left the Coliseum and hid in the sewers. Nobody’s seen anything of him since then. There aren’t any tracks, and we don’t have anything for the seeking spirits to latch onto.”

“Announce a reward in the headhunter guild for their heads and send a request to the League of Hunters.”

“Got it.”

It had been nine years since the beginning of the project. An incredible amount of effort and money had been poured into building the foundation, and the plan was only 13% complete. Only people like Leon could cope with such a labor-intensive job, one that demanded they step across the bodies they left in their path. He forewent principles, declined morals, and sacrificed the idea of having a family in favor of his goal. And they were just 13% of the way there. Nobody had yet gotten to Tanatos.

***

After the lecture, I go back to my seat and wait for the next one, the one about body modification. It’s already late in the evening, the sun has set, and a light snow swirls around the window. There’s no point going outside when it’s warm in here, so I drift off.

I wake up when a mage walks in. Judging by his clothing, he’s a life mage. My view is partially blocked by the bush, however. Wait, what bush?

“You’re also a life mage, I see.” It’s the kolobok from the administration desk. “And you’re strong enough to get your desk to sprout.”

A minute spent swearing like a sailor later, and the bush is gone. I drop the remains carefully in my bag.

“I’m sorry, it was an accident. It won’t happen again.”

The kolobok smiles happily. Apparently, he likes the bush more than the fact that I cleaned up after myself.

“Anri Diuval, dean of the Life Magic department. We met at the administration desk today, though you weren’t a mage then. It’s just odd that a person with your Life Magic skills is dressed so…modestly.”

Human, Anri Diuval, Level 514

I look like a kid from a very, very poor village family. Actually, that’s exactly who I am, but the point is that people like that don’t draw much attention in the city. Players think you’re a local beggar dropping in on the lecture to warm up. Even the lecturer stammered when he offered me my class.

“I have very modest skills. My strength isn’t that good, either.”

Anri smiles slyly. Now, with my advanced perception, I can sense the distortions in his aura. To be more specific, I can see that it’s the illness in his body that’s creating the aura. I’m looking straight through a sick man.

“The desks are made from petrified Gvish wood, which grows in the troll lands. They’re also enchanted to make sure they don’t sprout.”

“This one’s broken.”

Anri’s smile widens—even from thirty meters away, I sense his emotions clearly. He’s having fun.

“Perhaps you’re a broken mage.”

Diuval puts his papers on a desk and sits down. There’s still some time before the lecture starts, so he closes his eyes and waits for the attendees. The hall slowly fills with people. As they take their seats, I notice that most of them are accomplished, high-level mages with great equipment. Half an hour later, Anri opens his eyes and begins talking.

A pair of sprouts appear on his chair, the same as the ones that grew out of my desk.

“Good evening, colleagues. Today, I would like to talk about body modifications for living beings,” the professor says, casting his eyes around the room. “We’re all mages, so that’s where we’ll start. As you know, our apprenticeship is divided into ten levels and five grades, from apprentice to grand master. The first ten levels establish how well you can modify your own body. You can, for instance, create a hybrid with a diamond golem or a fire elemental. The modification effect depends on what level your skills are. Earth, Fire, Water, Air, and Life are all different ways we can change our body materially or semi-materially. Magic grades offer access to special abilities that change the character of the modifications. For example, a fire mage with a lava body needs to walk around naked, as any clothes he might be wearing would instantly be destroyed. Indestructible clothes are dumped into your inventory. Because of that, mages in that state are highly vulnerable to physical damage, as they no longer have access to the attributes their clothes offer.”