I Tricked a God

Since arriving at the front, time seemed to pass faster for Kael.

Initially, Captain Morkroft had said there would be no need for him for about two weeks, but nearly a full month had already passed since the battle of Whitewater Fort.

Since then, Kael had not left the military camp even once.

But that did not mean he was of no use to the Doomgrin Squad. Quite the opposite—his contributions as an inscriber and alchemist were becoming increasingly significant.

Kael spent nearly all his free time training and developing his own mana.

Aside from the invaluable Horde’s Bone Tower, which was quite expensive to visit even with his contributions, Kael quickly discovered several other useful training zones.

One such place was called the Cauldrons of Dreams.

A separate stone building housed dozens of massive cauldrons filled with a special herbal solution, warm steam constantly curling above them.

And the true value of this place lay not in increasing one's strength.

The moment a mage immersed himself in one of the cauldrons, he would swiftly fall into a deep sleep.

A sleep so deep and restorative that in just one hour of rest, the body could recover almost as well as after a full night of ordinary sleep.

Upon learning about this place, Kael almost immediately made the Cauldrons of Dreams part of his daily schedule.

Thanks to the Cauldrons of Dreams, Kael's routine gradually began to look downright insane even by the standards of the front.

Before sunrise, he would head to the training zones, where he spent most of the day, sometimes devoting more than ten hours straight to developing his mana and honing his combat skills.

After that came a late lunch.

That was when Kael usually went to Grendy, helping the old man make healing elixirs, restorative tinctures, and various pills.

At times, the work dragged on until sunset.

Yet even that did not mean the day was over.

Once he was done with alchemy, Kael returned to the training zones before visiting the Cauldrons of Dreams, where a single hour gave him as much rest as an ordinary person would get from an entire night's sleep.

Only after all that did he head to Sierra's workshop.

Unlike most artisans, the girl preferred working at night, when everything around her grew quiet, so by the time Kael arrived, the ingredients, tools, and blanks for the next batch of talismans were usually already laid out across the tables.

And so another part of his day passed.

Helping Sierra with inscription, Kael gradually honed his own practical skills while continuing to subtly nudge the girl toward new experiments.

Sometimes Kael would voice “casual” questions or observations that made Sierra look at familiar processes in a new way.

And although most of the ideas ultimately took shape by her hand, the number of improvements to the production of communication talismans continued to slowly grow.

It seemed that in a single day, Kael managed to accomplish as much as most mages would need two or even three days to do.

Yet that was not even what surprised those around him the most.

What puzzled them far more was how, against all odds, he managed to maintain perfect focus on every task he undertook.

After hours of training, he calmly moved on to alchemy, and after alchemy, he practiced inscription.

And once he finished working with Sierra, he returned to training again, beginning a new cycle.

At the same time, Kael almost never looked tired or distracted.

It seemed that even if someone wanted to follow a similar schedule, their efficiency would dwindle to nothing within just a few days.

Over time, every member of the Doomgrin Squad began to notice this insane routine.

Even Morkroft regularly asked whether Kael was taking on too much.

But every time someone brought it up, Kael's thoughts and feelings were always the same: “Seven hundred years in the Divine Library instilled in me an immense interest in everything I had previously been deprived of.”

That was why, even if Kael's pace seemed downright insane to others, it brought him indescribable exhilaration.

Especially when another training session brought him a new understanding of his own mana, or another day in the workshop allowed him to become a slightly better artisan.

Gradually, Kael was beginning to realize that he was truly happy.

✦ ✦ ✦

At that very moment, Kael was in the alchemy workshop with Grendy.

Several large cauldrons were still bubbling away, filling the room with thick steam and the pungent scent of dozens of blended ingredients. From time to time, a bubble rose and burst in one of the cauldrons, sending slow ripples across the surface of the elixir.

But one of the cauldrons had already gone still.

Kael and Grendy—a short, red-haired old man with a long beard—were standing beside it now. They watched the reddish, translucent liquid closely, its surface only occasionally trembling from the lingering heat.

Without rushing to conclusions, the old man picked up a small silver spoon lying nearby and carefully scooped up some of the elixir.

Lifting his long red mustache with one hand to keep it from getting wet, Grendy brought the spoon to his mouth and slurped noisily.

For several seconds, he said nothing.

He merely rolled the liquid over his tongue, frowned, then sniffed once more at the steam rising from the cauldron.

Kael, carefully feigning a mixture of anticipation and concern, finally couldn't stand the suspense any longer and asked, “Well?”

Grendy's bushy eyebrows slowly crept upward, and his eyes bulged slightly.

Still holding the spoon near his mouth, the old man looked at the elixir in the cauldron once more.

“Come on! Don't keep me in suspense, old man!” Kael finally burst out.

Grendy immediately slapped him on the back and roared, “Don't call me old man, you damn brat!”

Wincing from the blow, Kael unceremoniously smacked him on the back in return.

“Then don't call me a brat!”

For several seconds, they glared at each other.

Then Grendy merely snorted and, giving Kael a much gentler pat on the shoulder this time, held out the small silver spoon to him.

“Try it yourself,” Grendy grumbled.

Kael carefully took the silver spoon, scooped up some of the elixir, and brought it to his lips.

But while he might have looked slightly nervous to an observer, in truth, a sly smile was already beginning to spread across Kael's face.

“I don't even need to taste it...” he thought, looking at the reddish liquid. “I already know the recipe I modified is better.”

Slurping the elixir and feeling its rich bittersweet flavor spread across his tongue, Kael almost immediately turned to Grendy and declared, “The concentration of active substances is several times higher.”

Grendy reluctantly nodded.

Stroking his red mustache, he looked into the cauldron once more, then muttered with dissatisfaction, “I didn't think this was possible...”

Narrowing his eyes slyly, Kael immediately asked, “What exactly?”

This time, the old man did not answer at once.

Still staring at the surface of the elixir, he remained silent for several seconds before finally admitting, “I never thought healing alchemy would ever interest me.”

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The words sounded as though he himself were displeased by the discovery.

Turning his gaze to Kael, Grendy grimaced slightly and added, “But your theories and hypotheses... really made me think.”

Shaking his head, the old man added much more quietly, “And I even enjoyed it.”

Kael gave a satisfied grunt and, setting the spoon back on the table, asked, “What's next?”

Grendy thoughtfully stroked his red mustache as he replied, “We'll make several more batches to confirm the result.”

Picking up the recipe notebook lying nearby and reviewing the entire preparation process, he continued, “If there are no mistakes, we'll write down the new recipe and ask Morkroft to pass it on to the army's command.”

Hearing this, Kael chuckled happily and replied, “I can't wait for the bonus. I'd like to visit the Horde’s Bone Tower more often.”

At that, Grendy merely raised an eyebrow.

“Quite the appetite you’ve got, kid.”

Flipping through several pages, the old man shook his head.

“You’ve only been here a month, but you’ve already been there twice. Other newcomers can only dream of that.”

Sealing the cauldron tightly with a heavy lid and then activating the protective inscription runes to keep the elixir from losing its properties, Grendy spent several seconds fiddling with the runes before glancing sidelong at Kael.

It looked as though the old man wanted to say something, but for some reason, the words just wouldn't come.

“Brat...” he finally muttered.

Grimacing slightly, Grendy rubbed the bridge of his nose and added, “I hope you keep your promises... Well... I mean...”

Seeing the old man start hemming and hawing again, Kael merely rolled his eyes.

“Grendy, just say it already,” he blurted out irritably. “People usually struggle this much when they’re about to propose.”

Then, without giving the old man a chance to get a word in, he immediately teased him even more sharply, “If that’s what this is, I’ll have to turn you down right away. I like wom—”

But before he could finish, Grendy spun around sharply and barked, “What the hell are you talking about?! One more word and I’ll boil you in a cauldron!”

Kael immediately raised his hands in a placating gesture and said, “Alright, alright. Then what is this about?”

Blushing slightly beneath his red beard, Grendy frowned for several seconds, as though he himself did not know how to begin this conversation properly, before finally blurting out, “You promised I’d choose the next recipe.”

And after a brief hesitation, he added, “I need your hel—”

But he immediately cut himself off and, grimacing at his own words, quickly changed his tone, declaring far more firmly, “You’re going to help me perfect the explosive mixture!”

Glaring at Kael, the old man reluctantly added, “Your mind works in strange ways—and I mean that in a good way. If you spotted so many possible improvements in a simple Elixir of Scarlet Blessing, then you’ll be useful in other research too.”

Hearing this, Kael pondered for several seconds before his lips slowly stretched into a sly smile.

“Just admit you liked working with me.”

“I didn’t,” Grendy immediately grumbled.

“You did.”

“I didn’t.”

“You did.”

His frown deepening, the old man opened his mouth to object again, but Kael beat him to it, continuing with a perfectly serious expression, “Don’t worry. I won’t tell anyone about your feelings.”

At those words, Grendy choked with indignation.

“Damn you...”

Yanking an empty ingredient pouch from his belt, he immediately hurled it at Kael.

Easily dodging the throw, Kael merely shook his head and said with a perfectly serious expression, “At your age, you really need to take things easier. You worry far too much about little things.”

Grendy immediately scowled and opened his mouth, clearly about to grumble something in response, but Kael did not let him get a word in.

“I promised, so I’ll help however I can,” he continued calmly, giving a slight shrug. “Until we improve your explosive mixture at least a little, we won’t work on anything else.”

And the moment Kael gave him that reassurance, Grendy’s mood seemed to change instantly.

The old man visibly perked up and, proudly puffing out his chest, even seemed to grow several centimeters taller.

“Well, at least you keep your promises, brat...” he muttered, doing his best to maintain his scowl.

But the satisfied gleam in his eyes gave him away completely.

Seeing this, Kael merely smirked.

“You look like you just got a new toy.”

“And you look like it’s been too long since someone knocked you on the head,” Grendy shot back without missing a beat.

Then, already heading toward one of the ingredient cabinets, he added, “Since you agreed, we’ll start today. I’ve already got several ideas we need to test.”

But before Grendy could take even a single step, the workshop door opened, and Morkroft walked in, adjusting his long turquoise hair.

Seeing the Captain, Kael and Grendy greeted him almost simultaneously, “Greetings, Captain.”

Grendy immediately frowned and asked, “Why are you here? Did something happen?”

“Nothing happened. I just need Kael,” Morkroft replied calmly, then added with a sly grin, “But I decided not to interrupt and waited until you were finished.”

At those words, Grendy instantly flushed.

“Captain! Were you eavesdropping?!”

But by then, Kael was already heading toward Morkroft, waving to Grendy as he went.

“Lighten up, old man. See you tomorrow.”

Morkroft merely laughed and, turning back to the red-haired alchemist, said, “I’ll give you the same advice, Grendy.”

“Oh, both of you can go to hell...” came Grendy’s voice from behind them.

With a chuckle, Kael walked past the Captain, and together they calmly stepped out into the main corridor, closing the workshop door behind them and leaving Grendy behind.

But as soon as the noise of the alchemy workshop was behind them, Kael grew somewhat more serious.

Straightening his back and looking at Morkroft beside him, he asked almost immediately, “Are my carefree training days over, Captain? Am I finally going on a new mission?”

Morkroft narrowed his eyes slightly and, continuing his unhurried pace down the corridor, replied, “I certainly wouldn’t call your training carefree.”

Glancing sidelong at Kael, the Captain snorted and added, “Yesterday, Sierra told me that the two of you had substantially reworked and improved the process of creating communication talismans. In a few days, she’ll provide me with all the reports and the new production method.”

As he spoke, he thoughtfully ran a hand through his long turquoise hair.

“And now Grendy too...”

The Captain cast a brief glance back at the closed door of the alchemy workshop behind them.

“Today I heard that I can expect an improved Elixir of Scarlet Blessing soon.”

Turning his gaze back to Kael, Morkroft shook his head slightly and said, “To be honest, I’m already starting to worry about the other artisans in our squad. Another month at this pace, and you’ll make them feel like slackers.”

Kael merely shrugged, making no attempt whatsoever to evade the subject.

“Sierra and Grendy did most of the work. As for me...”

He paused for several seconds, deliberately choosing his words so as not to trigger Morkroft’s intuition.

“My mind works a little strangely...” Kael finally continued. “It’s full of unconventional ideas and scattered but useful bits of knowledge.”

With a slight smirk, Kael added, “Sometimes those ideas turn out to be complete nonsense. But sometimes they hit the mark.”

Morkroft narrowed his eyes slightly.

For several seconds, he walked silently beside him, as though considering what he had heard, before calmly replying, “That’s called being a visionary.”

Clasping his hands behind his back, the Captain continued, “Not every discovery is born in the hands of a master. Many of them first take shape in the mind of someone who dares to question what is familiar.”

Turning his head toward Kael, he smiled slightly.

“Sierra spent years working with communication talismans. Grendy has been brewing elixirs for decades. But it was you who asked the questions that made them look at their work from a different angle.”

With a snort, Morkroft added, “You are undoubtedly a genius. But don’t let pride get the better of you, for anyone can die in war.”

At those words, Kael merely nodded, fully accepting what Morkroft had said. Not daring to say it aloud, he answered in his thoughts: “I have seen the accomplishments of one of the strongest Gods, Captain. Even if I were the strongest in the Human Dimension, that would still be far too little reason for pride.”

At that moment, Morkroft unexpectedly placed a hand on Kael’s back and, gently urging him forward, said, “But back to your question. Yes, a new assignment is already waiting for you. Though it’s very different from your first mission.”

Kael merely looked up with interest.

“Do you remember the prisoners we captured almost a month ago?” Morkroft continued.

“Of course.” Kael nodded. “Did you manage to find anything out?”

“Yes, but not enough,” the Captain replied somewhat grimly. “The beastfolk forces have become more active lately, and they’re clearly up to something. We need more information.”

Glancing at the Captain as he himself began to suspect where this was going, Kael grimaced slightly and asked, “You want me to take part in the torture?”

But Morkroft merely shook his head and replied, “That’s useless. We’ve already gotten everything out of them that we could through torture.”

Casting Kael a sharp glance, Morkroft narrowed his eyes slightly and added, “Your report said that during the attack on the Capital, you managed to decipher the Horde spies’ unique dialect. Is that true?”

Kael thought for a moment and answered somewhat more cautiously, “I’d say I understood the general context well...”

Morkroft merely nodded in satisfaction and replied, “Excellent. If it’s the same dialect, we’ll be very lucky.”

“What do you have in mind?” Kael immediately asked.

“I put your name forward, but the idea wasn’t mine,” Morkroft replied, slowing his pace slightly. “The prisoners are being held in the dungeon now, and from time to time they talk among themselves, fully aware that no one here knows their dialect.”

After thinking for a moment, the Captain gave a slight snort and explained, “According to the interrogators, sometimes they start speaking much more openly when they’re certain no one around them understands. Sometimes they even argue about something.”

Turning his gaze toward Kael, Morkroft added, “Anyone well versed in beastfolk languages would have to be quite powerful. The beastfolk definitely won’t say anything they shouldn’t in front of a guard like that, even in their own dialect.”

“You’re sending me into the dungeon posing as just another guard?” Kael immediately guessed.

Morkroft nodded in confirmation and said, “Given your age and level of strength, they definitely won’t suspect anything.”

At those words, a sly smile appeared on Kael’s face.

“Good idea... So I just need to eavesdrop on them?”

Morkroft merely snorted.

“Don’t celebrate too soon. You don’t even know whether you’ll be able to make out their words at all.”

Continuing down the corridor, the Captain waved his hand and pulled a uniform of a slightly different cut from his spatial artifact before handing it to Kael.

“Your shift starts in an hour. Change into this and enter the dungeon.”

Taking the uniform, Kael thoughtfully turned it over in his hands and asked, “What if I don’t understand them?”

“Nothing,” Morkroft replied calmly, shrugging. “We’re not expecting much of a result anyway.”

With a smirk, the Captain added, “Besides, I have other assignments for you as well.”

Looking ahead down the corridor, he continued, “There are several small barriers we want to destroy. So your unique abilities will soon be needed on the battlefield again.”

At those words, Kael merely nodded and calmly replied, “Then I’ll try not to disappoint you.”

“Try not to disappoint yourself first and foremost,” Morkroft snorted.

Continuing their conversation, they left the residential section of the camp and headed north, toward the military facilities, warehouses, and dungeons where particularly valuable prisoners were held.