Ana laughed and buried her face into my chest, giggling and trying to hide her embarrassment.

  “That’s normal,” I reassured her, continuing to stroke her hair. “You’ve just received a powerful energy pulse, and your body isn’t used to such a large amount of power. Now you just need to learn to use it properly. And I’m going to help you. But first, you need to rest.”

  Despite being full of enthusiasm, Ana agreed. She knew that following such “procedures,” she needed time to recover.

  “Okay, Theodore,” she said, lying back down on the bed. “I’ll get some more sleep…”

  I kissed her and left the room.

  In the kitchen, I bumped into Grimrock, who was hunched over a small cup of steaming coffee.

  “Morning, Uncle Kirill. I’ve put some new vehicles in the garage for you,” I told him, pouring myself some coffee. “You can give them to whoever you need. I haven’t come up with a name for them yet. Let’s just call them “Spiders,” “Beetles,” and “Scorpions.” You’ll figure out what’s what. Basically, the Spiders are for reconnaissance, the Beetles are for sabotage missions, and the Scorpions are for clean-up operations. The Spiders are small, nimble vehicles with tons of detectors and sensors. The Beetles are a bit bigger. They’ve got strong armor plating. And the Scorpions have machine guns and rocket launchers attached.”

  Grimrock looked at me curiously.

  “Okay, thanks for sorting that out, Theodore. I’ll tell the guys to get the vehicles. But… when are you finding the time to do all this? Have you opened a secret factory or something?”

  I smiled mysteriously.

  “That’s a company secret, Uncle Kirill. But trust me, soon we’ll have everything we need to defend the principality. By the way, could you please arrange for the number of patrols in the city to be increased? Especially in the Riverside district. There are lots of elderly people and families with children there. I don’t want any of them to be harmed.”

  “Got it,” Grimrock nodded. “But we’re having a few issues in that regard. There have been more and more attacks in the city. Our soldiers have been heading underground… It’s a real mess down there. The place is crawling with monsters. They’re multiplying really quickly. The army can barely cope.”

  Upon hearing that, I took out my notepad and made a note: “Create a magical flamethrower.”

  At that moment, Boris came bursting into the kitchen, out of breath.

  “Theodore, there’s… It’s…” he blurted out, struggling to catch his breath and holding out his phone to me. “See for yourself!”

  He played a video showing an emergency message from the Russian Empire. “…we have just learned of the tragic loss of Alpha Squad,” the newscaster was saying, a serious expression on his face. “The squad was the Russian Empire’s elite unit, which had been dispatched to Liechtenstein to provide the principality with assistance in fighting its various enemies. Preliminary reports suggest that the unit fell victim to a despicable attack by Theodore the Babylonian, who, as you all know, has taken advantage of the state of martial law in the country to declare himself the principality’s temporary leader. The motives behind this treacherous attack are still unclear. Experts believe that the Babylonian has been using Shadow magic to subjugate Liechtenstein and is now turning against the Empire. The deaths of the Russian Empire’s Alpha Squad will definitely be avenged!”

  “Those assholes!” I cursed, unable to restrain myself.

  Upon hearing the news, Grimrock shook his head.

  “It’s a setup. Someone at the top decided they needed to cover their tracks and take out Alpha Squad. But I’d bet two teeth that they failed.”

  “Just two?” I chuckled. “Why not all of them?”

  “I need the rest.”

  “To be honest, those Imperial spec ops guys didn’t really bother me. They were good fighters, of course. They just didn’t expect to encounter an Earth Mage. But they went on a rampage and got what they deserved. That’s why I spared their lives. Except… I didn’t think the Empire would take such drastic action when it didn’t get what it wanted and declare me an enemy.”

  And indeed, I was now an official enemy of the Russian Empire. Thanks a lot for that! I had thought we were like two peas in a pod. And then, all of a sudden, you’re a traitor, a terrorist… Basically, the devil incarnate.

  It wasn’t even funny. Had the Empire completely lost the plot?

  On the other hand, what else should I have expected from them? They were like big kids — if they didn’t get what they wanted, they’d start screaming, waving their fists about, and breaking their toys. I’d seen plenty of empires just like that in my previous life. And they were all the same — proud, arrogant, with an over-inflated opinion of themselves and a never-ending aspiration to rule the world.

  However, I was concerned less about the Empire’s response in and of itself than about how this would all affect Liechtenstein. The principality was on the brink of disaster — the war, the Shadows, the economic crisis… And now the Empire had apparently decided to add fuel to the fire.

  All right, then. The situation was what it was. I was going to deal with issues as they arose.

  I rubbed my temples to ease the headache I could feel building. It seemed like it was time for plan B. And maybe plans C, D, and E, too, for good measure.

  Ideas began to form in my head.

  “I urgently need to improve our defenses. And not just improve them, but make them totally impenetrable, so that not even a mouse can get in. And not only the Austrians, either, but our Imperial ‘friends,’ too.

  “I also need to bolster the army, not just with weapons and training — I need to make them into a real killing machine. I need to make sure that our enemies crap their pants at the mere mention of Liechtenstein’s army. And to achieve that, I’ll need to come up with some new, cutting-edge technology, the likes of which this world has never seen. And I think I’ve got a couple of ideas already…”

  “Theodore…” I turned round and noticed Grimrock standing next to me and staring at me intently. “Were you just muttering something? Have you come up with something again?”

  “I have, Uncle Kirill, I have,” I replied with a roguish smile. “Something this world can only dream of. I’m not going to be around tomorrow or the day after. Nor will Ana. We’re heading out to take care of some business. So you’re in charge around here. Schenk and Richter are responsible for things at the palace. They’re smart guys — they’ll cope.”

  Grimrock frowned.

  “And where are you off to exactly?” he asked. “What’s with this secretive business you’re going to be taking care of?”

  “You’ll see,” I replied with a wink. “You’ll see. And it’s going to blow your mind.”

  “Well, you certainly know how to amaze people,” Grimrock remarked with a shake of the head. “But don’t go overboard. We’re kind of lost without you around here.”

  “Don’t worry, Uncle Kirill, everything will be fine.”

  I clapped him on the shoulder and left the kitchen.

  Having gone upstairs, I called Konstruktor’s irreplaceable director.

  “Hans, I need your help,” I said without so much as a greeting. “Take a whole bunch of trucks of materials to military zone number zero one four five zero one. Unload them there.”

  “Is that the one on the outskirts of Vaduz?” Hans asked, evidently somewhat puzzled by my request. “But… It’s been destroyed, Theodore. The place is in ruins following the Austrian bombing.”

  “I know. And that’s exactly why I want everything delivered there. We’re going to rebuild it.”

  “All right. Only… when you say ‘a whole bunch,’ how much do you mean exactly? All our vehicles are currently in use. We’re working tirelessly around the clock right now. We’ve got contracts coming out of our ears.”

  “Everything we’ve got, Hans. And hire extra ones too. Have them bring over everything we’ve got in the warehouses. Stone, metal, brick, electronics… Everything that might be useful for construction. And don’t forget the equipment, either. We’ll need excavators, bulldozers, cranes… Basically, anything that can dig, lift stuff up, transport stuff, and build stuff. And bring over our crews, too. We’ll need lots of people.”

  The task was challenging, but Hans agreed without protest. He was used to trusting my sometimes-crazy ideas.

  I hung up, went upstairs, got in the shower, and scrubbed up. Then I told Ana, who had woken up, that we were heading for the military zone.

  Two hours later, driven by Boris, we were approaching the location. Just as we arrived, so did the first of Konstruktor’s trucks, brimming with construction materials.

  The place presented a rather sorry sight — there were ruined barracks and parking lots everywhere, and the earth had been scorched.

  “This place is a mess,” Boris muttered as he struggled to maneuver between the craters and chunks of concrete.

  However, I saw the place in a completely different light. Images of a future underground city were already forming in my mind — living quarters, storage rooms, spacious halls linked by tunnels… And all that needed to be built as soon as possible using cutting-edge technology and magic.

  “Well, Ana, are you ready?” I asked, getting out of the car and activating my Gift.

  “Ready,” she replied, immediately setting to work.

  And so, we got started. The ground beneath our hands came to life and began to move and change shape. The stones formed into walls, and ceilings rose up to create vaults. We worked like we were possessed, not even noticing the time.

  Two days passed in the blink of an eye, during which time we created a labyrinth of underground rooms, halls, corridors, and tunnels. There were also barracks for my guardsmen, workshops for manufacturing weapons, laboratories for developing new technologies, and even an underground weapons-testing range. You couldn’t fire artillery in it, of course. But tanks — they could knock themselves out.

  We couldn’t get it all done just the two of us, of course. We were assisted by Konstruktor’s crews, who took care of all finishing touches and decorations in the rooms, as well as installing utilities and equipment.

  But Ana and I did the bulk of the work. Despite how tired she was, she worked incredibly efficiently. Her Gift was revealing itself more and more, and she could already control stone and earth with incredible precision.

  I used my Gift to create the shells of the future structures, and Ana, with her talent for detail, brought them to life. She designed the rooms, planned where the furniture would go, and created cozy nooks where people could rest and relax.

  Next, I focused on a couple of more complicated tasks — namely, creating protective barriers to defend our underground city against enemy attacks, and installing the artifact generators to supply the entire underground kingdom with energy.

  We worked tirelessly, taking no breaks for rest or sleep, and not even noticing how fatigued we were. It wasn’t just a sense of duty that drove us on. We also had the passion that was characteristic of Architects — the desire to create something incredible that no one had ever made before.

  Finally, once the bulk of the work was done, I collapsed onto the ground, exhausted.

  “Well,” I wheezed, struggling to catch my breath. “I think… we’re done.”

  Ana sat down next to me. She was just as tired as I was, but she was contented.

  “You did great, Theodore,” she said, burying her head into my shoulder. “I could never have imagined that this was even possible.”

  I smiled, then took my phone out of my pocket and called Grimrock.

  “Military zone zero one four five zero one is ready, Uncle Kirill,” I told him. “Bring the guys over here and let them get settled in. And don’t forget to bring food and water. The place is totally empty right now.”

  Having hung up, I turned to Ana, only to find that she was almost asleep as she sat there on the ground. I carefully picked her up and carried her to one of the rooms we’d made, where there was a bed that the workers had thrown together. Having placed her down, I lay down next to her, feeling exhaustion wash over me.

  * * *

  The office of the Covert Security Service

  Vaduz, the Principality of Liechtenstein

  Nikolay Mikhailovich Sobolev, or the Oracle, as he was known, the head of the principality’s newly reformed Covert Security Service, was stretched out blissfully in his chair, tuned in to his senses.

  His new office was nothing to shout about, if he was honest — it was a small, cramped room with bare walls, a shabby desk, a couple of chairs, and an old safe. However, after his many years of wandering, it felt like luxury to him. The most important thing was that it was quiet, and no one would disturb him from thinking.

  And he had plenty to ponder. Until very recently, he had believed that he was just a living corpse, doomed to slowly fade away. His body, battered and beaten from years of service, had been growing weaker by the day. His magical Gift, once powerful and obedient, had felt like a smoldering piece of coal, ready to go out at any moment. He’d had pain in his joints, shortness of breath, and he’d been constantly tired… It had seemed like life was inexorably slipping away from him, leaving only an empty shell behind.

  But everything had changed. Theodore the Babylonian… That young aristocrat who had shown up in Liechtenstein as if out of nowhere had turned his life on its head.

  Sobolev laughed as he remembered their first meeting. As an experienced agent, Sobolev was used to reading people like a book, but he couldn’t figure the kid out. The Babylonian seemed a mystery — a man who hides far more than he reveals. And that sense of mystery had drawn Sobolev like a moth to a flame.

  And now… Now, he felt alive again. Thanks to the Babylonian’s “miracles,” as people were calling them, the pain he’d been suffering and that had hounded him endlessly for the past few years had eased slightly.

  He didn’t believe in mysticism, of course, but a miracle was the only way to describe what the young man had done. His body, which had so recently felt like a decrepit wreck, was now filled with strength and energy.

  Immediately after Sobolev had taken up his post, Theodore had replaced his bones, which had been as brittle as glass and had caused him quite some pain. His joints, which had been shackled by arthritis, now moved freely and easily.

  And, most importantly, Theodore had given him his Gift back. The Gift that Sobolev had thought was lost forever. His magical channels, which had almost dried up, were now pulsing with life-giving power.

  He stretched contentedly, flexing his cramped muscles. Recently, even the slightest movement had caused him pain. But now, he felt much better. Maybe fifty percent better — but that was no small improvement.

  “Man, this old timer certainly got lucky,” Sobolev thought. “I was all ready to head six feet under… And now this!”

  He got up from his chair and walked over to the window. Vaduz stretched out before him, bathed in twilight. The city that he, the Oracle, was tasked with protecting from anyone who threatened its security.

  He chuckled. It was no easy task. But that was what made it all the more interesting! Sobolev had always enjoyed a challenge. He had always had a penchant for untangling webs of intrigue, solving mysteries, and finding a way out of even the most hopeless situations. And now he had another opportunity to prove himself.

  “Surviving is an adventure in and of itself,” he muttered to himself, remembering something a wise man had once said. As strange as it might have sounded, there was wisdom in those words.

  Sobolev’s whole life had been a series of adventures. First, he’d served the Secret Chancellery, where risk and danger had been daily companions. Then he’d fled, spent time roaming the world, and tried to hide from his past. And now, fate had a new twist for him. A new adventure.

  He hadn’t been in his post that long, and he had already been the target of an assassination attempt. Sobolev had been about to turn in for the night when some unknown men had broken into his house. They’d been dressed in black uniforms, and their faces had been obscured by masks. They attacked suddenly, without warning.

  If it hadn’t been for his reactions and his Gift, which had, fortunately, returned to him, he’d be dead. The attackers had been pros — they were quick and agile and had well-developed magical abilities.

  But Sobolev had kept his head. He had reacted in an instant, as he’d been trained way back when. He’d taken his pistol out from under his pillow, caught his victims unawares, and opened fire.

  The whole incident had only strengthened Sobolev’s resolve. He had realized that the enemy was always watching. And that he, the Oracle, would have his work cut out to protect himself, his people, and, of course, the new leader of the principality.

  Theodore the Babylonian was a genius, of course. But he was still too young. He didn’t know what his enemies were capable of or how the world worked.

  “You may be able to change people’s bones and give them their Gift back, my young friend,” Sobolev thought, “but there are some things that come only with experience.”

  He took a battered leather-bound notebook out of his desk drawer. Over the course of his many years of service, he had accumulated a lot of useful information: names, appearances, passwords… Old connections that he’d maintained even while in exile. He had informants all over the world who were willing to share their secrets for the right price.

  The most important thing, however, was his system. He had honed his system of acquiring and analyzing information over many years and could convert seemingly disparate facts into a clear picture of events. This was precisely what had earned him the nickname “Oracle” back in the day — his ability to foresee events by collating even the smallest details.

  Sobolev ran his fingers along the book’s spine. And now that his powers had returned to him, the time had come to dust off his old contacts, activate his network of sleeper agents, and create a security system that would make Liechtenstein invulnerable to its enemies.

  “Let’s see how you like what I’ve got in store,” thought Sobolev with a chuckle. “You gave me a new body and returned my Gift to me. I’ll give you eyes and ears all over the world. You’ll know about any conspiracies against you before the conspirators have even thought of them.”