Twisting the staff between his fingers, the old man set off down the spiral road at a leisurely walking pace. For a moment, Tobius had a burning desire to hit him in the back with something explosive. Wizardly vengefulness demanded blood for the insult, and his fingers were already twitching, almost starting to weave a battle spell, when the Gray Master pulled himself together. To kill an old man, even such a mighty one, to kill in the back is meanness. The magician's code of honor did not forbid such actions, the authors of the code were entirely misanthropes, but Thobius had his own conscience, and guilt too, but it did not tire of reminding of itself.- Get it, man. And don't slow down!Tobius caught his staff and continued to follow the old man with a sigh. So they went down thirteen tiers, where the impudent escort stopped near a rather unusual building by local standards - a round one. All other structures were either square or rectangular, a kind of ice boxes, or were cut into
The magician finished the paragraph and let his tired hand rest.Why didn't you build cities in your homeland? People began to unite, obeying the natural evolutionary instinct. It is our nature to unite from small communities to large ones ... although if you carry the burden of knowledge and memory of all your ancestors, it must be terribly difficult for you to change something in your life.'We don't like change,' Harul confirmed succinctly.So, who did you meet when you got here?— With many. As homeless as we are.What about the Dalians? Have you seen them?- One.The conversation kind of died. The wizard was patient, and the Majidani were in no hurry to continue.- AND?— A terrible creature that passed by. He did not even see us, but we all felt then that we could die at any moment. Just if this terrible creature wants to kill us. Many fears have known the Majidani since that time, but we remember that fear especially clearly. Worse than dragons.It was a serious statement.- Hm
Thunder from heaven deafened the magician, and he stopped hearing his own thoughts. Trembling with all his being, Tobius raised his head and saw how in the dense dark gray sea of heaven, like a huge whale, a whitish silhouette swam. Spreading his fins, he let out another roar, and Tobius yelped as he fell to his knees. The carcass of the jormundar descended below the level of the clouds and continued its slow, majestic flight. Such a huge, such a heavy beast - seventy tons of bones, muscles, scales and impenetrable bone plates, with a wingspan of about one hundred and seventy-five yards. His roar once again split the world.“The Lord, great and united in the Armory Halls and near the Heavenly Forge, have mercy on Your humble servant and protect ... protect ... oh ... protect ...The dragon turned to the east and went at an angle, looking for prey. The plateau was for him like one huge tray with several moving snacks - oromu did not have time to hide. Thobius could still see the rece
And now I have to fight you? Tobius was worried.- Undesirable. Archivist Shangrun at your service, enchant.- Who are you?- Not "who", but "what". A behavioral imitation algorithm artificially created with the help of magic, which has at its disposal a complete list of documents stored in the annals of the Shangrun Book Depository.“So you are… the attornak who controls Shangrunn?”“I am Shangrun. Do you want to receive the document or do you want to keep the document for storage?- Get! Get Document!- Name?— Athebian scrolls!- This document is present in the annals of Shangrun in the amount of one copy. Follow your copy.- What? And will you give me the scrolls?- Yes.- So simple?“Char, Shangrun's archivist is limited in his ability to discuss various topics and may refuse to work correctly when using inaccurate wording. Please be more precise.“I wanted to ask, is the procedure for removing documents from the annals really going to be so simple?— In the case of the Athebian
A smooth blue crystal without sharp edges, very narrow and elongated to the height of a man, stood on a golden floor stand and was surrounded by other smaller blue crystals, mounted on thin golden twigs. The whole device resembled a model of the universe, which magicians had long known and accepted, but which the Church steadfastly denied, that is, the luminary in the center, and the spheres of matter revolve around it. Only instead of the sun there was a large narrow crystal, and instead of the rest of the celestial bodies - smaller crystals and different shapes. Teleportum, an artifact that was an analogue of the Teleportation spell, only capable of transferring matter to much longer distances, with a much more accurate "sight" and in much larger volumes.- Did they use it?- Officially, no. But I can't say for sure, since the teleportum is not part of my network of enchantments and spells. This is a separate artifact with its own energy generators and devices that focus the flow of
- You came.The voice came from above, and the wizard quickly took up a defensive stance with his staff like a spear.“I didn’t notice the beam in my eye,” he breathed, “well, you’re healthy, brother!”A giant was sitting on a cliff under a sheer cliff. Tobius simply didn't notice this huge monster hiding in the shadows, because he was looking for someone much smaller. The wizard had never seen anything like it before, or even heard of it. This ogebo had a body clad in a turtle shell, long sinewy hands with four-fingered webbed hands, and equally long frog-like legs tucked under the torso. On a relatively short neck sat an elongated bony head with yellow toadish eyes, small straight horns and a powerful beak-like growth above the mouth. The giant's skin was dark green, with brown spots, he looked like a gigantic cross between a turtle and a frog.Are you Kerubales?Are you Tobius?- Apparently, yes. So you are my ogebo. I thought you'd be smaller. That orange one with the flute told m
In the distance, a fountain of snow rising to the sky appeared, appeared and began to quickly approach. It was like a shark's dorsal fin sticking out of the water as it swims for prey. Only this "shark" was of enormous size and swam in the snow. With a guttural roar, the monster burst to the surface and continued on its way in long leaps. Tobius stood motionless, closely watching the approaching creature. Large, almost as huge as an adult oromu; the structure of the body is humanoid, with long powerful limbs, white matted fur is everywhere, a pair of crooked horns sticks out of the flat head, and the ugly muzzle is split by a crack in a wide mouth full of sharp teeth. Here it is, the horror that has made Oru tremble over the past years.Thirty paces from the wizard, the monster soared into the sky, making a dizzying leap, and would have fallen directly on him, if not for two Shield spells and the subsequent volley of Magma Spear after hitting them. Tobius learned this spell quite rece
- So?“He killed the beast,” the sorceress grumbled.- He? Is it true? May be…- It is he. All the rest suffocated.“Perhaps there is someone left?” The full lips of the warrior maiden twisted capriciously. — Orza, look how thin he is!“Smart and sloppy, yes, but he’s not with Stiggi and not with Erige. And also a mage. It will scare the others away.Tobius felt that something very wrong, dangerous, something that concerned him, but without his knowledge or permission, was happening. He decided that he needed to intervene immediately.“My Lady, may I remark that—”You weren't allowed to speak!- I'm sorry."Get up when I'm talking to you!"- Maybe a curtsy for you to portray?- What you said?- I have a brother who is barely alive in my arms, I'm wildly tired, I'm still cold, I'm hungry, and I don't understand why I should stand! I am a master! Why should I stand in front of the mistress of some God-forgotten piece of land, frozen, half-empty, hostile to everything human?! Tame your a
After Tobius Moth entered the Academy grounds in front of hundreds of wizards, everything went awry. After some time, many heard through the Astral the appeal of Tobius, in which he denounced the archmage Shivarius the Polyhedron, calling him a renegade, guilty of the war with the Zulans and sabotage of the Academy. After that, hours passed before the barrier that kept the magicians out of the campus began to lose stability, and they began to diligently hit it with all available spells, despite the constant interference in the form of the air element. In the end, the barrier was broken through, and, having risen to the top of the main tower, the magicians found the rulers of the Academy there in full force, alive and unharmed.The guilt of Shivarius the Polyhedron was confirmed by the words of the stewards, and the wizards of the Academy were ordered to immediately begin the search for the missing traitor. But neither Archmage Shivarius nor Magister Tobius could be found. They weren't
As the Polyhedron and the Free Gyenjoylin battled, Tobius chose the moment tensely. It was not easy, because, unlike himself, Shivarius effortlessly parried and counterattacked the magical creature. He was fast, deadly, masterfully interspersed with sword and staff strikes with magical attacks, pushing the gyanjoilin and lashing him with energy chains that appeared here and there from the air. Shivarius knew plenty of ways to inflict pain and injury on a creature that could disintegrate in smoke and reunite. The moment came, and Thobius did not miss it, dishonorably hitting the archmage in the back with the Ice Drill. The impaled renegade fell to the ground, and the Gyenjoylin immediately struck his chest with his blade. But instead of dying, Shivarius turned into a flock of asps that flew up to the ceiling, merged together, recreating the unharmed body of the wizard, and he collapsed on the back of the gyenjoilin's neck, plunging his sword into his unsteady flesh. Crying terribly, th
And Chaos."I'll tell you what, boy, let me out!" Let me out and I'll kill Shivarius! I swear I'll finish off this nasty bastard, I'll pop him like a stinky pimple and then lick the contents! Don't hesitate, I will! Of course, I'll kill you too, but at least your death will be quick... maybe... I don't know, I haven't decided yet! But you can believe me, I will make Shivarius suffer for a long time!“I came here for nothing.- No, wait, wait, let me out ... no, just loosen the fetters a little! Even a nobody like you can do it, come on, give me a little chance, buddy! Let's!- Never!— Like this, right? And you have no other choice! You can’t do it yourself, boy, the task is not up to you!I was hoping for advice!- What advice?! Do you hear yourself?! What advice were you hoping to hear, slug?! Do you think there is some workaround? Do you think there is a way for a nonentity like you to bring down a colossus like Shivarius?! You live in the real world, motherfucker! In real - not in
— Eishubeihwan.“Master wishes to give me a new name?” the gyenjoylin asked in a leaden voice.- The owner wants to give you this polyhedron. Take it somewhere where no one will see it, throw it as many times as you like - and put the fallen signs into your new name. By doing this, you will become your own master.The tiny wooden craft was in a wide palm, and the gyenjoylin stared at this priceless gift in disbelief.- Can't be…“I am an honest wizard and I keep my word.“Oaths given in the name of the Mage of Mages do not have to be kept before those whom he commanded to rule.“I have always fulfilled my oaths, to whom I gave them, to the king or the goldsmith,” replied the gray master.Gyenjoylin hid the ball in his belt and, materializing the sheath, hid the blade in it.“Shivarius will kill you if he catches you. Hide somewhere else... I don't know how you could beat him."Even with your help?" Tobius slid along the edge of the abyss. - I do not intend to change my decision, altho
The danger was warned by a sharp gust of wind, which was nowhere to be expected in a room devoid of windows or a second exit. Tobius jumped back just in time to avoid being hit by lightning. Directly under the ceiling, on huge bright wings, a giant butterfly soared, fanned by a halo of iridescent glow. This beautiful creature would become an appropriate guest in innocent children's dreams, if fireballs, lightning and deadly ice arrows did not rain down from its delightful wings, from which the wizard had to leave insane zigzags.He blocked part of the attacks, diligently answered, attacked, maneuvered, defended himself, attacked again, but the butterfly flew quickly, beat accurately and accurately and did not know fatigue. It was Bambaleska, one of Pongemonius' beasts, summoned to Valemar by Shivarius the Polyhedron. Saturated with her master's magic like nectar, she set up an ambush near the ipspiroch and patiently waited for the stupid young wizard to reach for the artifact. Fightin
Tobius tossed all three blueprints forward, energized them, and trapped the spirit in a triangular trap. Boards with luminous lines revolved around the pascantes, held together only occasionally by discharges of magical power running between them. Thobius cast a banishing spell, using the sharp knob of his staff to draw a polysyllabic drawing in the air with a septagram at its base. Pascantes pounded with his fists on the barrier that stopped him; He tore through the Gray Wall fairly quickly, but the second trick really gave him trouble. The revolving blueprints contracted as Thobius cast the spell, and the gray magister had only to “squeeze” a little to throw the pascantes somewhere in the area of the Arimead archipelago, when the spirit nevertheless split one of the typesetting wooden plates and freed itself.The magic system could not exist with less than three reference coordinates. The next blow knocked the spirit out of Tobius, he flew off into the open interior of the cabinet
— Open it, there is a lot of interesting things in this book, but the most important thing for you is now on the flyleaf. Come on, open it up and try to read it.Thobius obeyed, opening a sheet of the thinnest parchment, which had yellowed with time, and saw on it an even line drawn in blue, barely distinguishable ink. On a hunch, he touched the badges, pouring a drop of his magic into them, and they shone as if filled with blue flames.Jassar... Ansafarus? Something quivered in Tobius's soul and exploded.“I remember what it was like to hold for the first time something that Jassar himself once held before me. And not just holding on. He created this book, created the matter of which it is composed, inscribed everything in it, from the first to the last character. It's Jassar's book, Tobius. I went through the arms of death and great torment to get to it, entered the Wild Land with a dozen faithful, experienced, proven associates, friends whom I loved like brothers and sisters ... an
"What does that mean, charm?!" - the officer shouted, trying to block the screams of the indignant crowd.“It’s just that sometimes people need a little help to be human.But no one heard him. The guard held back the indignant, flying from everywhere, but rotten vegetables and insulting words did not reach; the irritated city fathers hurriedly retreated, accompanied by guards - they, too, could have been punished for a disrupted performance, although they were not to blame for anything. Tobius, on the other hand, looked around carefully and thought - people deliberately save rotten meat until better times, so that later they can throw it at someone, or some quick-witted hawkers go through the crowd and sell spoiled food for everyone, before some drunkard is wrapped in pads and it will be possible to use the sufferer's face as a target?The magician struck the ground with his staff, and his voice sounded like thunder, reaching the ears of all those gathered:It was my prisoner! I fough
He walked around the building, as he had done on his first visit. The walls of the inn were protected by prayers that warded off not only evil, but magic itself as it is. It was impossible to get inside, but Tobius was not used to looking at the world from the height of a chicken perch, he looked wide and far, like a soaring eagle. Mainly because he had a flexible, inquisitive mind, but the ability to fly also helped.Soaring on the Wings of an Eagle, the wizard climbed to the very top of the tower, to where Marin had an office. Having looked into the windows that had not been washed for a long time and making sure that the holy grace does not protect them, the gray master broke several glasses and got inside.Despite the fragments that scattered on the floor, the former office did not begin to seem any more dirty; a mess, mixed with desolation, already reigned inside. There was no doubt that someone, most likely experienced "sniffers" of Investments, climbed the premises far and wide