But over the past fifteen years, he had not taken a single visible step in the direction he needed. He had gained perfect knowledge in alchemy, medicine, and monsterology, at least by the kingdom’s standards, but that was not enough. Especially in the latter discipline. The knowledge of the kingdom’s scholars, as he now understood, was superficial, shallow. Yes, they had created a bunch of monster catalogs, but even in them, Valm found numerous discrepancies.

  “If you want something done right, do it yourself!” he increasingly recalled his father’s words. And silently agreed with them. If he wanted to achieve his goal, he could no longer delay. Time was the one thing he couldn’t buy with money, and it was running out. Valm was already twenty-seven… and among the other students, he felt like an old man.

  Finally, the bell rang. The last one for this course. The students immediately began to chatter loudly, scraping their chairs, and like a herd, headed for the exit. The professor smiled contentedly and pulled a thick cigar from its case. He did it as if performing a ritual only he was familiar with. He bit off the end of the cigar with his teeth, spat it on the floor at his feet, and comfortably settled into his chair. A bright flame appeared on his palm, and then plumes of blue smoke rose into the air. It became quiet.

  Valm sat and watched the professor, who didn’t notice him. And that annoyed Valm. Eighty gold. That’s how much this half-year course with the professor cost. A decent sum—an average household in the kingdom had an annual income of twenty gold. Valm realized that the course wasn’t worth it within the first two months, but he still attended the lectures, hoping to learn something new. And now Valm was pondering whether to call the professor a fraud or give him a punch in the face.

  Punching him was risky—this instructor had been an adventurer before, and a B-rank one at that… And just calling him out could have gotten Valm a punch in the face too. So Valm just sat silently in his seat. Finally, the professor noticed that one of the students was still in the auditorium.

  “Did you want something, eee…”

  Of course, he had forgotten the name. But… an idea arose in Valm’s mind on how to make those eighty gold not such a waste after all.

  “Yes, professor! I heard that you were once a powerful adventurer, the captain of a squad! You see, I want to study the behavior of monsters in the wild more deeply, but as you know, I don’t have the strength to do it alone. Could you recommend a team that could help me with this? I know I can leave a request with the adventurers’ guild, but there are so many frauds around these days, as you can imagine…”

  “Ha! That’s easy! My old team is still at the top of the league in our city, Tatan, just go to them!”

  “Then one last request, professor, could you write me a short letter of recommendation for them… Otherwise, I fear they won’t let me through the door…”

  The professor looked at the tip of the smoldering cigar, now covered with translucent ash, with a serious look.

  “Ah, youth! Can’t do anything without us, the old guard!”

  He took a piece of paper and spent a couple of minutes writing with sweeping strokes.

  “Here you go! he said, folding the letter in thirds, The ‘Silver Dragons’ team! I hope you can at least find their headquarters on your own?”

  “Thank you, professor!”

  Valm didn’t bother answering the question, recognizing it as rhetorical. So he simply bowed, took the letter, and left the auditorium.

  Well… it was time to implement the plan that had been brewing in his mind for several years. This useless course with the professor had just put the final punctuation mark on it. He tucked the letter into his inner pocket and walked briskly toward the exit of the academy.

  No, he didn’t go straight to the “Silver Dragons” headquarters; that would have been a waste. First, he had to prepare a place for his scientific research. Remote. Quiet. And sturdy. A place where he could keep monsters alive for experiments, without disturbing the city’s residents. Everything else he needed had long been waiting for its time in the ring-shaped vault on his left hand. The last thing Valm wanted was to get into trouble with people. So, he headed to his small rented apartment.

  Yes, by the kingdom’s standards, Valm could be considered a wealthy man—very wealthy, even. And if the people around him found out about his money, they would have called him nothing but a miser. But for Valm, his wealth was simply a tool for achieving his goal, and nothing more. “What difference does it make how many bedrooms your house has when you only sleep in one?” he reasoned with himself, and his whole life followed that principle.

  With great enthusiasm, Valm began his search for a place where he could set up his laboratory, to the point that he didn’t even go to the academy the next day for the monsterology graduation ceremony. That useless piece of paper didn’t interest him at all. He absolutely had to take this first step, even for himself.

  Finally, he found a rundown workshop of the craft guild a few kilometers from the city. The location itself wasn’t safe—outside the city gates, it was easy to run into unsavory characters even during the day, let alone at night. But he had no other choice, as he couldn’t bring live monsters into the city… So, he decided that he would simply have to invest more in securing the building, not only from the inside but also from the outside. The only thing left was to buy the place.

  The head of the craft guild’s branch did not share Valm’s enthusiasm, and the negotiations… well, let’s say they went slowly.

  “ Young man, it seems to me that your joke, and I can’t call that offer anything else, has gone too far! It is impossible to seriously offer the guild one silver coin for an industrial property! Even if it is a bit neglected!”

  The head of the guild, a middle-aged man who was once strong but now struggled with excess weight, clenched his fists. Valm’s words had angered him so much that even the deep bald spots on his head turned red and were covered in sweat.

  “Mr. Mahur, — Valm did not back down — look at this more broadly, as a comprehensive deal. I’m not only freeing you from a loss-making and illiquid asset, which costs you a lot in annual taxes, but I’m also offering you a profitable contract for the reconstruction of this property! Of course, through a tender, but your offer will be a priority! And if you don’t see any profit in this, then I doubt I came to the right person!”

  With each of Valm’s words, Mahur’s face turned redder. He truly understood the young scholar’s calculation, but for him, the head of the guild branch, to be treated like this, with a slap in the face—this could not be forgiven. But keeping that property on the guild’s balance sheet any longer would be unreasonable…

  “ Priority! I’ve remembered your words, Mr. Valm!”

  Mahur extended his hand to Valm to confirm the agreement. Valm, in turn, smiled sincerely and shook it.

  “I’m glad we’ve come to an understanding! I look forward to our continued cooperation!”

  From that moment, one could say, Valm’s path of revenge began. And so did the headache of many city dwellers. The first to feel it were the architects, whom he approached with a technical assignment. Two of them immediately refused when they heard that the future building had to safely house monsters up to the fifth class, and withstand a possible long siege from the outside. They even twirled their fingers at their temples as Valm walked out the door.

  However, the third one, a short, thin man with graying hair, after carefully listening to the young scholar, agreed. He spun the magical sketch-projection, which Valm had created himself, above the table, leaning back in his chair, and said:

  “Your wishes are our work, esteemed client! And my office will gladly take it on.”

  “And… when will you be able to start working on my project?”

  “Immediately, Mr. Valm, just immediately! And believe me, our quality and our prices will pleasantly surprise you! I think the entire project documentation will be ready in no more than a month!”

  The young scholar thought for a moment that they might be trying to trick him, but he quickly brushed that thought away. There was no point in being picky now, as this was the only architectural office with a good reputation in the city. If he couldn’t trust them, then who else?

  “Can I visit you about twice a week during the process? Perhaps you will have questions for me, or I may want to make minor changes?”

  “ Of course, Mr. Valm, what’s the problem! You can come whenever you like and change anything. Some stages of the design may entail additional costs, but everything will be within reason, I promise you!”

  Valm didn’t even realize how he signed the contract that had unexpectedly appeared under his nose, and then found himself outside, near the steps to the architectural office. “They really are professionals… at swindling people for money…” he thought as he stuffed his now lighter wallet, after paying the advance, into his pocket.

  It was still too early to return home, so he decided to head to the crafts guild to finalize a deal for preparatory and auxiliary work on the old workshop he had bought from them. Valm wanted to clear the construction site to walk on it himself. Maybe some new ideas would come to mind. It wouldn’t hurt to try his sketch on-site as well.

  There was another problem he had to solve. Valm usually traveled on foot through the streets of Tatan—his rented apartment was only a few hundred meters from the academy. But now, with so many things on his plate, this mode of transport was wasting too much time. Spending two or three hours a day this way was completely inefficient.

  This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  His options were limited — he could buy a mechanical means of transport from the crafts guild, a magical device from the mages’ guild, or a riding animal from the stables of the trade guild. The magical device was immediately ruled out—given Valm’s mana reserves, it would be easier for him to walk. A riding animal was also an option, but he was too weak to ride a domestic monster. So, only option one remained.

  This time, Mahur greeted him like a close relative, especially when he heard the word “contract.” He even gave him a discount on transport, which Valm immediately bought. The vehicle resembled a gray oval capsule on four wheels, powered by the cores of monsters. Although it moved quite slowly compared to other means of transport, it turned out to be convenient and easy to manage. After agreeing that the work would start the next day, Valm said goodbye to the head of the crafts guild.

  For the next few weeks, Valm walked around in a cheerful mood. He was pleased to see how easily and without problems everything he started was progressing. Occasionally, in the evenings, a bit of melancholy would hit him when he remembered how much time he had wasted. But it quickly passed as he returned to the present.

  The architects truly did not disappoint — as agreed, the project was ready in a month. All the necessary drawings with an explanatory note of a hundred pages, as well as a three-dimensional holographic model of the Citadel. That’s what Valm called this object — the Citadel.

  And the construction object truly lived up to its name — incredibly strong natural building materials combined with protective and defensive magic made this building even more impenetrable than the royal treasury. And it cost no less, Valm thought sadly as he handed over piles of gold coins to Makhur, the mages, laborers, and various other contractors.

  The construction went quickly, and within two months, the outlines of the Citadel could easily be recognized by the forest of scaffolding. At the same time, inside, massive steel cages for monsters were being built. Another month later, the laboratory deep within the Citadel would begin to take shape. Medical and alchemical equipment, which had been ordered earlier, also started arriving from various corners of the kingdom.

  The most valuable part of the entire construction, the laboratory, was somewhat special. It stood like a heart in the Citadel and could easily be removed from it and transferred into Valm’s ring-vault. It was here that he intended to conduct his experiments on monsters and would protect it at all costs, under any circumstances. And that’s why he made it mobile.

  But that was still a long way off, so Valm was on a hill near the construction site, practicing his alchemy skills while occasionally watching the contractors. Nearby, a large alchemical cauldron quietly bubbled, its contents gradually changing color from gray to light pink.

  Valm suddenly remembered how his journey into alchemy had begun. His teacher had been a stubborn old man who couldn’t stand young people, considering all young men to be good-for-nothings without brains or a drop of intellect. His first task was to prepare a duck. That’s right — he threw a headless bird at Valm’s feet on the very first lesson and told him to cook it.

  When the boy asked how a dead duck could be related to alchemy, he received curses mixed with a long sermon that every alchemist is a cook, but not every cook is an alchemist. Eventually, amidst thousands of those insulting words, the whimsical essence of the monologue emerged: how could you handle hundreds of magical and alchemical ingredients if you can’t even deal with regular meat?

  Then, Valm’s first attempt flew straight at the teacher’s head as soon as the teacher sniffed the cooked duck. As did the second. And then the third. At that time, Valm didn’t understand that he was learning to control magical fire under the cauldron, and also training his sight and sense of smell as he carefully monitored the transformations that the bird’s body underwent in the alchemical cauldron.

  Valm smiled at these memories. His teacher tasted his culinary attempts a week later. He spat for a long time, shouting that dogs are better fed than he was treating his teacher, but this time nothing flew at Valm’s head. And for the next six months, Valm studied how different temperatures affect proteins, fats, carbohydrates, fiber, and other compounds and individual chemical elements. Only after mastering that did the teacher begin teaching him real alchemy.

  Three years into his studies, his teacher died of old age. He hadn’t managed to pass on all of his knowledge in that short time, but Valm bought everything related to alchemy from his foolish heirs for a pittance and continued his studies alone, relying on the numerous notes of the old teacher. And the old man had been meticulous, carefully recording each of his experiments.

  And now, standing on the hill, Valm was brewing a third-class restoration potion without any strain or chaos in his thoughts and movements. Calmly and precisely, as if he had decades of experience brewing this very potion. He knew that if he wanted to take the guild of alchemists’ exam, he could easily earn the ninth, highest class in this discipline. But it wasn’t necessary for him.

  Valm extinguished the magical fire formation under the cauldron and put the monster core of the sixth class, which had powered it, into storage. He opened the cauldron and looked at the slightly pink, transparent liquid, from which white steam was rising. He inhaled it through his nose. Excellent! The trade guild would snatch up such a product without even debating the price.

  Valm took out several dozen glass vials, a long-stemmed funnel, high-density paper filters, and began pouring the potion into the vials. The last one was slightly incomplete, and Valm frowned. He had done everything correctly, it was just that over the past decades, alchemists had reduced the vial sizes for potions to increase their profits, and now this resulted in an excess when an alchemist was following old recipes. For example, according to this recipe, Valm should have gotten fifty vials of the old size, but with the new vial sizes, he received fifty-six full ones and this one incomplete misunderstanding. Plus almost thirteen percent extra. And how can one not call modern alchemists frauds? But he didn’t want to fight against the new order, so he just did as everyone else did and took his extra percentage. A bonus for silence.

  Valm noticed Mahur walking towards him, breathing heavily. It was not easy for the fat men to walk uphill… Valm put his equipment away in storage, leaving just one incomplete vial in his hand.

  “Good day, Master Mahur! I hope you bring me good news?”

  The head of the guild remained silent and stubbornly walked uphill. As he approached Valm, he bent over and began coughing violently and wheezing from the effort.

  “ Ohhh, you’ve made this hill so high, Master Valm! I’m no longer in shape for such walks!”

  That he was out of shape was obvious; he was just saying extra words.

  “Master Valm, all the external work is finished, and tomorrow we’ll start removing the scaffolding, after which the mages can activate the Citadel’s protective formations. I believe all internal work will be completed in a month, including setting up the laboratory equipment. I hope you’re satisfied with everything?”

  “Excellent, Master Mahur, just excellent! These are the very words I was hoping for! By the way, this is for you.”

  Valm hid the incomplete vial and pulled out two new ones, handing them to Mahur.

  “ Thank you, but what is this?” Mahur asked, accepting the gift.

  “Oh, just a little something. A third-class restoration potion. Drink one if you want to feel young and full of energy again. With your physical condition, I think it will last about a week.”

  “ Third-class?! And you made it yourself?! This is incredible, Master Valm! But I’ll save it for a better occasion, if you know what I mean! And thank you for the gift. By the way, I have another question for you.”

  “Go ahead, Master Mahur.”

  “If you need workers after the construction is finished, or housemaids, feel free to ask my wife, she will find the best options for you.”

  “Hmm, I haven’t thought about that, but thank you for your care. If the need arises, I’ll definitely use her services.”

  Valm indeed thought about it when Mahur left. He remembered that in his childhood, his family had both house workers and many others. And they all perished along with his parents. Since then, he had lived alone and learned to do everything on his own. But the Citadel… It was too big, and the damn chores would eat up all his time, leaving him no chance to work on what he truly desired. Well… maybe, at the right time, he would ask Mahur’s wife for help. But not now.

  Valm sat in his transport device, which he simply called “the capsule,” and headed to the trade guild. The amount of potion he had just brewed was completely unnecessary for him. The guards at the city gate waved to him in greeting and let him through without any further checks. Over these months, each of their shifts had gotten used to the fact that the young scholar left the city every morning and returned after lunch.

  The small square in front of the trade guild gates was crowded and noisy, so Valm had to leave his capsule a little further away and walk through the crowd. Ahead, there were loud shouts, squeals, and the sound of a whip cracking.

  “You filthy bastard! Decided to disobey me! Shall I teach you again?!”

  The screech of a woman’s voice rang out over the square, and the sound of the whip hitting was repeated over and over. Valm walked a little further, to see a short young woman beating a rat-man. He was already bleeding and rolling on the cobblestones, trying to avoid the heavy strikes.

  “What’s going on here?” Valm asked the onlookers.

  “The mayor’s daughter is beating her servant again.” a man said indifferently.

  The rat-man squeaked quietly as the heavy whip struck his skinny body. Valm thought he could easily escape and hide in the crowd, but he didn’t do that. And the alchemist didn’t understand why he didn’t. He also didn’t understand why the trade guild guards weren’t intervening, even though this foolish woman had blocked the entrance to the guild, where Valm was headed.

  “ Enough, woman, you’re disturbing the people!” he said unexpectedly, even for himself, and stepped forward.

  Not that he felt sorry for the rat-man, but he didn’t want to stand here uselessly. The woman waved her hand, and a loud crack of the whip rang right next to Valm’s ear.

  “And who are you, freak? Dare to stop me?!”

  “It doesn’t matter who I am, you’re causing a disturbance, and…”

  She didn’t let him finish. The lash of the whip stung Valm right in the chest, tearing his clothes and skin. He hissed in pain and tried to press his hand to the wound while pulling a healing pill from his storage with the other.

  “ That’s right! It doesn’t matter who you are! And since you dared to interfere with my business, you deserve punishment!” she screeched louder than before.

  Valm couldn’t have imagined that just a few words from him would provoke such a reaction. The whip’s lash, braided with the thin tendons of monsters, struck his back once more. Valm wasn’t used to physical pain and screamed as the lash easily cut through his skin and scraped against his bones. Alchemists were indeed physically weak, and Valm was no different from them, that was true. But it was also true that any warrior, regardless of their strength, would want to maintain good relations with alchemists. A pill gleamed in Valm’s fingers.

  “ A fifth-class restoration pill to the one who breaks that crazy bitch’s arms!” his shout echoed over the square.