Ink a first thought was the suggestion that a dream ... is, after all, just a dream. There is no conspiracy, no strange coincidences, nothing too complicated ... The voice of reason allows you to understand others without words and even read thoughts with sufficient skill.

"Could I accidentally dissolve the strands of the mind in an unconscious state? Ink asked himself . - Then a dream was created on the basis of randomly overheard conversations and general depressed mood ... This is possible. Just do not believe in such a scenario. "

The vision ended, returning the image of the room. Ink wanted to lie still a bit, but a feeling of hunger made him rise and try to find food. In the corridor, a crazy thought occurred to him that asking for food from enemies or, at least, just unpleasant people was somewhat humiliating. He reassured himself with the thought that this would be an attack on their stockpile.

"This, it seems, is part of a joke ... It must be ridiculous," the feelings were far from joyful. - I do not remember…"

All the time since awakening in the white world of reflection, Ink was quite optimistic, cheerful. He was driven forward by curiosity, adventurism, faith in the best. After an incident in a small world - as Ink now understood , due to the influence of the self-made transformation skill from Arsi - the scrapes in his mind were affected. They were used not only to restrain certain memories, but also as limiters of his personality. Ink tried to force himself to feel anger, hatred, fear, sadness, joy, enthusiasm and other emotions. Something turned out, something not. Parts of his mind were deformed at the same time, sometimes resting against the braces. He could not be angry for long. He was simply not capable of despondency. Before. Now sadness balanced this expression and thoughts seemed more rational.

"Greetings," Ink greeted the familiar "auctioneer." "Glad you're feeling better." Come, I will pave the way to the dining room.

- What a strange expression.

"Your speech seems the same to me," the old man nodded with a stern look. - Mental speech does not perfectly convey meaning. Another problem is that a completely unfamiliar language is heard. A conversation in the head is built according to the rules of native speech. Differences naturally arise.

- How did you know that I woke up?

The old man silently pointed up and to the side. There was a small black hemisphere - a surveillance camera.

- In your room they are not installed, but in the corridors - more than enough.

Ink have had only to nod. The auctioneer led him through an inconspicuous door, but behind it was a much more decorated corridor. Vases of various sizes, gilt candlesticks, tapestries. One of the latter was particularly interested in Ink A.

- What is it? He asked the auctioneer, stopping next to an embroidered picture of two monsters. They resembled cats, but the five-fingered forepaws resting on the ground looked like human palms. There were thorns on the bodies. One has a lot of subtle ones, the second has only a few and more massive ones. The first was covered with bluish reflections and lightning discharges, the second with scarlet reflections of lava. And complex bone masks covering the upper part of the head, enveloping the elongated muzzle so as not to interfere with the lower jaw. In a word, these were larger and more predatory versions of a small dinosaur that settled in Ink a.

- Illustration for the parable. While the two are running for power in battle, the one who sells them power will ultimately absorb both. In short.

- No, I'm talking about this creature. What kind of monsters are these?

"It's not quite right to call liers monsters," the auctioneer explained patiently. - This is the same rational race as ours. They just need more time to ripen. I think you have heard something about this race.

"Yes," Ink frowned . - They love gold and are very lascivious ...

"Indeed," the auctioneer smiled. - It is rare to see someone who understands the Liers race well. No wonder you are fooled too. Come along. I will talk about the leirs along the way.

Ink nodded and followed the old man along the magnificent corridor.

- A mature representative of the Liers race became one of the founders of the Trade Union, and I'm not talking about a branch in the zero world. These creatures are very intelligent, but they have a very specific organism. Every living creature consists of a physical and subtle body, but lyrs do not have their own flesh - they are energy creatures. They ripen in the sea of ​​consciousness of the carrier, gradually turning it into their likeness. A person, or a representative of another species, becomes stronger, faster and survivable, but the pay for it is also considerable - in the end he becomes the embodiment of the lyrs and his consciousness is devoured. So this people is ripening. They are embodied in someone, change the flesh, devour the mind, live in a physical shell, and when they are killed - again they cuddle in an egg in anticipation of a new carrier. The cycle repeats until parts of the devoured hosts allow the lyrs to develop their own full-fledged self. Then they are considered adults. Their influence on the wearer is such that all abilities are enhanced, and the body takes on a form with these features in mind. Therefore, in each incarnation, the lyrs will look different, with the exception of the bone mask. For them, this is a kind of fingerprint - a unique feature.

The old man stopped the story before entering the dining room. The room was crowded with a group of small round tables. Having brought Ink, and to one of them the old man gave the servant a sign and continued to talk about the leirs.

- The love of gold is natural for representatives of this species. It is important to understand that they do not need the gold itself, but the subtle energy that accumulates in this noble metal. After complete capture of the carrier's body, the lyrs with great joy devour gold and store it in their bodies. They empty the subtle energy in gold, wait until it accumulates and eat again. Liers - walking gold vaults. After death, their bodies are used to create a wide variety of objects, and precious metal is extracted.

"Are they like dragons?" - clarified Ink .

"Rather, gold-hungry dragons, like a lyrs." It was from them that flying lizards were transferred the ability to absorb the subtle energies of gold, albeit in a weakened state. Lirs can move into any creature, including a dragon, and during the restructuring of the body a large number of various hormones are released, hence the rumors about lust. This is not part of the character of the lyrs, it is a manifestation of the result of their introduction. Of course, in the process, the carrier genome also changes somewhat. Its descendants can inherit a craving for gold and, in rare cases, the ability to absorb subtle energy from it.

"You're a lot nicer than before," Ink stared at the auctioneer with interest.

"This is because I want to live," the old man admitted in an even voice. - Remember the tapestry with the illustration of the parable? She talks about two warriors who longed for victory to defeat each other and get the title of the strongest master. After using a variety of methods, they ventured to swallow the lyrs' eggs, put their lives on the line for the coveted title and victory. As a result, both turned into huge monsters, without having determined the winner. The true winners were not even the Lyrs who captured their bodies, but the merchants who supplied the soldiers with weapons, materials, knowledge. These are the principles of the Trade Union. We do not interfere in the affairs of others and simply trade. With everyone. We do not breed hatred with any of the forces, even the weakest, because already tomorrow the situation can radically change. My actions towards you were a gross violation of the rules of the Trade Union. Between the head of one mortal and the end of hostility with a potentially significant figure for the entire buffer, the choice is obvious. I can accept death, but I would like to avoid it and make amends to the best of my modest capabilities.

"That's how it is," Ink nodded . - Understand.

They brought a set of dishes and it took time to eat them. The old man all this time modestly stood beside him, preparing to react to any whims. Ink did not try to somehow humiliate the auctioneer , but he did not show any politeness to him.

- Gold. This is one of the five elements, right? Therefore, does it store energy in itself? - Ink inquired , sipping fragrant flower tea.

- No. There are subtle energies in any material, but the more often the structure of a substance changes, the more unstable its contents are. Gemstones and precious metals for a long time remain the same in their structure, so the strength inside them corresponds to some standard. If we talk about the system of the five elements - this is only one of the methods of encrypting science from mortals.

"Not magic?"

"Magic and obscure technology are not too different for mere mortals." At first there was chaos, then yin and yang appeared, which gave rise to the five elements. From one to two, from three to five. Only eight. This is considered a great magic number. In fact, this is just an illustration of the microworld of matter. Proton - metal, neutron - earth, electron - wood, photon - fire and graviton - water. Lightning discharges resemble trees, neutrons and protons fasten atomic nuclei into a single solid structure and therefore bear such names, the absorption of photons is responsible for the increase in the vibrational force, and hence the temperature, therefore it is the force of fire, and the graviton is a substance between particles, elusive and invisible, therefore bears the name of water enveloping all other particles. Yin-yang is the force of electromagnetic interaction, and the initial chaos is unstructured energy that can change the metric and even generate it. Some consider gravitons not as water, but as an elusive wind, while others deny their very existence. Such a classification operates with four elements. Adherents of this direction deny the existence of a graviton or ether, but they remove the metal from their scheme, emphasizing its redundancy, because the crystal structure is enough to be described only by the earth, and the tree is replaced by the wind, because the electrons move freely around atoms and in the metal lattice. In some ways they are like the wind. Each cipher had its own definition system. Even Empedocles in Ancient Greece tried through his works to transmit this knowledge to mortals, Aristotle and Plato followed his example. They regarded the fifth element with some doubt, therefore, most are familiar only with their concept of the four elements. The level of development of science in the zero world still cannot unambiguously fix the element of ether - graviton. If I am not mistaken, now they have completely abandoned him. Because of this, in some esoteric communities it is customary to consider the seven as the great magic number.

"What an interesting excursion into history," Ink praised , not bothering to depict even a drop of interest on his face.

- Thank you.

"How did magicians encrypt knowledge of all sorts of bosons and other quarks?"

"I'm not very knowledgeable about the connecting thread between the fields of mortal science and knowledge of magic." I only know that the particles you named belong to the world of subtle energies. It is unlikely that the zero world will be able to quickly learn this area of ​​natural laws. After all, this world is very poor in this area.

Ink was tempted to ask how his scientific point of view would describe the area of ​​the mind, explain the existence of the lamp and all other miracles, but curiosity could not overcome thoughts of sleep. The auctioneer's words about the binder thread reminded of the remnants of Rown's consciousness. He tried to stretch out a thought over her and this was surprisingly easy. Eyes saw the dining room hall and the laboratory table. A little away from many flasks with unknown reagents and an electron microscope was a silver cat. A bandage on the forepaw indicated that when taking a blood sample for analysis, Veurato, an arrogant blood mage, had no ceremony at all.

"You can go," Ink said hastily to the auctioneer. "I'll find the way back myself." I have no complaints about you, you can leave your head to yourself.

"Thank you," the old man bowed briefly and with a steady step walked away through the staff door.

Ink hurriedly returned to his room. For several hours he continued to observe the actions of the hands of the blood mage through his eyes, until a guest with an unusual request and unusual information came to the arrogant explorer from the zero world.