Showing results by author "Vasily Mahanenko" in All Categories

The virtual world of Barliona is a place of rest and entertainment - but not for everyone. It has become a survival arena for Daniel Mahan after he was sentenced to eight years in its virtual jail. Mahan has been through it all: the back-breaking work in the mines, betrayal by other prisoners, and finally, the retrial which has released him into Barliona's common world. What more could one want? Mahan could have kept a low profile and enjoyed relative freedom while serving the rest of his time.

Daniel Mahan, the legendary Shaman of the Barliona game world, has served his sentence in virtual reality. Eleven months of adventures and battles in exchange for eight years in prison isn't a bad trade-off. And yet Barliona refuses to relinquish its grip on the Shaman so easily, erasing the boundary between his two realities. It turns out that it's not so simple to leave the capsule - the Way must be completed....

Mahan's ready for new adventures - just as the gaming world of Barliona thought it was about to reenter its old comfortable rut. The winds of the Dark Forest have finally died down; Altameda has recognized its new owner while Geranika is nursing new schemes of global destruction. Would Mahan be happy with this predictable old life? We think not!

Maximilian is the last of the noble Valevsky lineage. His entire family was put to death for an alleged attempt on the powerful Duke of Odoevsky, who had his eye set on the Valevsky's land. The young man managed to avoid execution, but not punishment. From here on out, he's condemned to life as a doomed soldier. The front line in the fight against the dark god Skron's mutated creatures. "Do or die"—that's the doomer motto that has been drilled into the last of the Valevsky's head. The Duke took everything from him but his honor and a thirst for revenge.

I was the greatest mage of chaos of my time, spending sixty years defending the world from rift creatures. If there was a mission—I completed it. If there was an enemy—I destroyed them. I was loyal to the Empire to my bone, until it decided to wipe out the Chaos clan and every last one of its members.

Barliona: a virtual world jam-packed with monsters, battles - and, predictably, players. Millions of them come to Barliona, looking forward to the things they can't get in real life: elves and magic, dragons and princesses, and unforgettable combat. The game has become so popular that players now choose to spend months online without returning home. In Barliona, anything goes: You can assault fellow players, level up, become a mythical hero, a wizard, or a legendary thief.

Might is right. This is the primal law of the jungle, and this creed not only rules the animal kingdom, but also shapes the lives of men. Having harnessed the elusive Qi energy, humanity has divided the world into zones and mastered the creation of extraordinary artifacts, edging closer to immortality. Yet, this evolution has only entrenched the fundamental law: power grants privilege. The strongest claim the finest resources as well as the right to rise above others. What chance does an ordinary youth from the neglected zero zone have in such a world?

Hello again, it's me—Max the Selected. I'm here with my group of degen . . . collectors, "The Selected". By the way, we're already a Great Group. So, you can call me Lord Max now. Would you be scared to declare war on a Great Clan? Well, I'm not. I'll take on two at the same time without...

There are whole anthologies of stories out there about what humankind does when a game enters their world. But what about when they're living in one where a game arrived thousands of years before? What if they're the survivors of a bloody struggle, having fought for and earned their place on the planet? Tailyn Vlashich was a young nobody far away from all those grander issues. All he cared about was one thing: making his way through a harsh world where the emperor, evil foes, and an impartial god held sway.

Twelve players set off through the online world of Galactogon, lured by the game owners' promise of an enormous payoff. The question is, who will survive to tell the tale? Which of the 12 is a potential hero - or a traitor in the making? Which of them will defend the weak, and who will become the ultimate evil overlord? A knight or a coward? Each of the 12 will have to choose his or her path.

What can a game clan accomplish without a castle? The answer is obvious: nothing. Therefore, the main objective of any leader in a game world is to acquire a base of operations. Finding himself in exactly this position, High Shaman Mahan, leader of the Legends of Barliona, accepts an offer from the Emperor and the Dark Lord to vanquish the army of Phantoms that has inhabited Altameda, the phantom castle.

What can be better than attending a magic academy? New friends, new knowledge, new emotions. All you have to do is study, close rifts, and not think too much of anything else. I also had two students, who needed my time and experience, which took a lot of my time. No time to get into any trouble, right? Wrong! Especially when you are a chaos mage and an entire squad of assassins is hunting you down. They even took the place of some of the best students at the magic academy just to get closer to me. Let them try! A chaos warrior never runs from trouble!

A product of the latest technologies, Barliona is a virtual world brimming with fun and entertainment. The government has become the guarantor for the in-game currency, allowing its free circulation. As a result the population floods Barliona in pursuit of easy money. It doesn't take long for the game developers to discover a source of free labor: real-world prison convicts. While their bodies are locked in special auto-maintenance virtual capsules, the prisoners' minds are released into Barliona's virtual mines.

The first part of my plan has been accomplished: I managed to create my own house. I was no longer just a commoner from a distant kingdom, but a full-fledged citizen of the Empire, head of House Greymore. And as the head of a house, I had new responsibilities. I must protect the Empire from...

The Magic Academy...an institution shrouded in mystery and secrets. People from all over the different empires want nothing more than to enroll, get their hands on the knowledge stored there, become those most respected in the world - mages. Tailyn Vlashich was one of the lucky few admitted without going through the entrance exams.

The law of the jungle declares: it's every man for himself! This principle applies not only to the human world, but also the domain of their greatest adversaries—the demons. Their world's Tier Zero differs little from the Tier Zero of the human world. The resources are just as scarce, the creatures just as vicious, and the absence of law just as blatant. Yet the Heavens show no mercy when the push comes to shove. When it's time to conquer the Tier Zero of an alien world, retreat is not an option. For the privilege of ascending to immortality is reserved only for the strong.

The Bohao cultists have just got their noses bloodied—it was hardly fatal, but humiliating all the same. Their leadership has now turned their attention to the Seekers, baffled at how such insignificant pests could have managed to sting them so painfully. Moreover, they couldn't punish the Seekers for their impertinence—those pesky gadflies had already slipped into the demon realm. The Seekers are intent on fighting this infection, and so they mean to track it to its source.

His initiation complete, Leg knew he had to prove himself worthy of the gift his totem had given him. The boy was facing a long and difficult journey to dangerous lands. Meanwhile, those with eyes set on ruling the Northern Empire were also making their move. But what was most important to Leg? His personal advancement or the integrity of the empire? Of course, it was possible the two priorities were inseparable, especially since a true wizard had been introduced to the world. 

Is there anything better than a quiet life? Well, there's a quiet life surrounded by people you care about, people who love you in return, of course. But Tailyn Vlashich knew nothing of the kind. His parents had died years before, the townspeople stayed well away from the god's favorite, and his guardian just wanted to be rid of him. That was the setting when Tailyn was again placed on the road to uncertainty, beset by terrifying lixes, and hounded by a harsh trainer it was impossible to please.