The Gene of the Ancients (Rogue Merchant Book #2): LitRPG Series Roman Prokofiev (top ten books of all time .TXT) 📖

“Hi, Cat. Have a drink with me.”

He passed me a wineskin that was already far from full. I took a sip of a flavorful wine, recognizing the taste of the Order’s Crimson. It was pretty good.

“Hey, Khaman. I’ve heard rumors you’re leveling up Jewelry.”

“That’s right. I’m a rank seven jeweler,” the veteran told me with a measure of pride. “Just a little bit left until rank eight.”

“How is your Gem Insertion?”

“It’s a skill from the same branch. What about it?” Khaman grew alarmed.

“Could you remove a gem from an item?”

“Depends on the item and the gem. I need to take a look at it, the chance is not one-hundred percent.”

I handed the Watcher the Succubate’s crown.

“A Transformation Gem?” Khaman gasped as soon as he recognized the huge shining gem in the center of the band. “From a faction crown? That’s a hell of a task. Are you sure?”

“So can you do it or not?”

“I can. The chance is seventy-eight percent,” the jeweler said, concentrating on the socket and feeling it with his sensitive fingers. “I even have a toolkit on me. I’d even wager to say I’d love to try. The only way to get skill points at rank seven is working with epic items, and it’s a real live legendary, enough to reach rank eight... But it’s your choice — one chance out of five that the gem will break.”

It didn’t take long for me to decide.

* * *

“A gem? Which gem? We only talked about the crown, darling,” I retorted lazily. “You got the crown, the contract’s fulfilled. Let’s say our goodbyes.”

Mara delivered an animalistic roar, baring her fangs and hissing like a giant cat. The resemblance was further augmented by her protracted claws and barbed tail, furiously beating at her slender hips.

“You wretched worm! You (censored), how dare you!” A stream of profanities poured out from her mouth. I had no idea that local NPCs could swear so profusely. I even picked up a few choice words.

“All right, that’s enough. You’re starting to repeat yourself,” I interrupted her verbal diarrhea. “All terms of the agreement were fulfilled on both of the parties’ behalf. Once again, let us say goodbye.”

“We’ll meet soon, and you’ll know what pain feels like!” Mara said through her gritted teeth. “Just. Three. Days.”

“I’ll be holding my breath,” I snickered in return. “And now, scram!”

They couldn’t defy the terms of our contract. Glaring at me, the new Mistress of the Succubate disappeared in a small pentagram that flashed beneath her feet. The rest of the demons followed suit, giggling, shrieking, and screaming as they vanished.

I breathed out. So to draw up my balance sheet, I was down two useless legendaries and up three, one of them extremely dangerous for its owner. Plus, I obtained a Transformation Gem and one more sample of Supreme Demon Blood. All in all, it didn’t seem like a bad bargain.

Interlude. The Goddess

THE ALTAR was cold and silent. Yet another magic stone that Tao dropped on its surface rolled down with a thud and stopped next to the rest of them. It didn’t disappear, didn’t vanish into thin air. The offering was not accepted. The goddess wasn’t answering. She didn’t want to talk to him. Had she grown cold to him because of how long the invasion of Eyre was taking?

Tao didn’t know that. He wasn’t a disciple or a priest of Ananizarte, and his reputation with the goddess and the House of Darkness had been earned in the way that he preferred to forget. Having lost hope to draw her attention with gifts, Tao pulled out a jade figurine of his “pet” and squeezed it in his fist, rousing it to life.

Ramin, the Harbinger of Darkness, appeared by his side, as nonchalant as ever, clad in armor of blue steel with the emblem of a five-pointed crown.

“My lord,” he said with a short bow.

“Ramin, the goddess doesn’t accept my offerings!” Tao said instead of a greeting. “What should I do? I have important information for her!”

The Harbinger of Darkness glanced at the altar and the magic gems scattered on it. An almost imperceptible smile crept over his lips and disappeared in his short greying beard.

“She might be busy, or in a bad mood,” Ramin replied. “It’s dangerous to insist, my lord.”

Tao stared at him, unblinking.

“There is a way, my lord,” the knight said with his head bent. “She will be angry, but you will draw her attention. Blood.”

“Blood?” Tao couldn’t believe his ears. “A sacrifice? But it will desecrate the altar!”

“No. Your blood. You are anointed.”

Thick drops quivered as they trickled down the tattooed arm of the PROJECT leader painted with carmine snakes, falling down on the black obsidian, merging into rivulets as they reached the ridged symbol of the Lady engraved on the stone. Tao waited, ignoring pain and the bleeding debuff. He watched the altar.

When blood filled the image of the five-pointed crown, the crimson drops sizzled, disappearing from the obsidian surface. A magical glow covered the altar plate, and Tao was hit with a powerful aura of presence.

“HOW DARE YOU!”

The booming voice was coming from everywhere at once, inflicting Tao with Wrath, a debuff that decreased his stats by three quarters.

“I have...important information!” Tao groaned. “Hear me out!”

The darkness swirled, and he found himself in an empty dark hall next to a pool, stars reflected in its black water. Ananizarte appeared next to him. A silver bracer flashed in her hand, and Tao felt the overwhelming cold of an invisible blade touch his throat.

“I would have turned you inside out with the Eye,” the goddess said with an icy tone, “looked within and put you back again. Fortunately for