Awaken Online- Flame

by Travis Bagwell

  Bilel’s Journal – Entry 142

  I have successfully infiltrated the temple. A mid-ranked member of the clergy made the mistake of taking a nightly stroll around the temple’s grounds. I left no evidence that he had died, and his ashes now drift upon the desert winds. He was also kind enough to lend me his appearance and credentials, which grants me access to most sections of the temple and its outbuildings.

  After familiarizing myself with the grounds – those sections available to me, at least – I took to the library, hoping to find some answers there. All of the writings speak of the Seer as though she exists – as though there is indeed a living being that thrives upon pure fire mana. At first, I was dismissive. These tomes and scrolls contain much of the same babbling nonsense that riddled the guild’s library.

  And yet… perhaps there is some truth to this. The writings are all so consistent in their description of this so-called god. A woman, wrapped in purple silks, her face hidden and her eyes ablaze. A god with many names – the Seer, the Gypsy, the Crone. A deity with a penchant for prophecy and fortune-telling. A god that thrives upon the passion of others.

  Could the Seer be real? Could she actually exist?

  And if so… how do I kill a god?

  ***

  Finn knelt on the glass floor.

  His daughter lay a few dozen yards away, trapped under a mound of rock, flesh, and rending, ravenous claws. The horde moved ever-so-slowly under the effects of Finn’s Haste, yet they still tore at the stone, inching ever closer to Julia.

  Kyyle stood beside him, his eyes focused on the center of the room, and emerald energy continued to slowly curl around his staff.

  Hovering beside Finn’s shoulder was Daniel. The AI’s fiery form pulsed with a dull light, reflecting the anxiety and fear that threatened to overwhelm Finn.

  I won’t fail here.

  I can’t fail here.

  I must save her.

  Finn repeated that like a mantra, even as he placed two metal spheres on the ground in front of himself, and the fingers of each hand curled around a fire mana crystal. He clenched the gems tightly in his fists, but he didn’t destroy them. Instead, he pulled at the fire mana that rested inside, demanding that it return to him. Flames soon erupted from the crystals, encircling his hands, and licking and burning at his skin. The fire left red, blistered welts as Finn absorbed most of the energy.

  A moment later, his fingers unfurled to reveal two translucent, inert crystals.

  A glance at the corner of his UI confirmed that his mana had been fully replenished. His stamina continued to creep downward, but he still had enough left for what he planned to do. He set the crystals down gently beside each metal sphere. Finn stared at the dark metal for a moment, his stomach clenching, and the fiery energy raging through his body, barely blunting the sharp edge of fear that cut into his gut.

  Once he began this next step, he couldn’t stop. As soon as he started channeling his mana, he would have to follow through until the end. And yet he also didn’t have time to second-guess his plan, each second costing him dearly.

  It was now or never.

  “Tell me when to stop,” Finn grunted at Daniel, the three-dimensional image of his head and face still hovering in the air nearby. “You’ll have to monitor the process closely. If you don’t stop me in time, I’ll likely kill myself – possibly permanently. Even a small error, and I’ll lose my hearing or brain function.”

  “Yes, yes, I know, sir,” the AI replied hesitantly.

  He knew he was rambling. That was nerves – nerves that might get him killed. He took a deep breath, forcing his muscles to relax and resting his weight back on his ankles. When he felt his heart rate slow slightly, his fingers began moving, a steady rhythmic motion he had performed hundreds of times. One metal sphere ignited in flame. Finn shifted the channel to his left hand, and only a few seconds later, the second sphere joined it.

  He channeled more mana into the spells, ratcheting up the heat quickly.

  He would need to hurry now, finish this before his mana and stamina ran out.

  Finn watched the heat ranks increase rapidly, pulling both orbs up to heat rank 4 – until the metal glowed a bright red and began to soften and liquify. When they were ready, his fingers twitched, and the two molten spheres rose slightly into the air. They spun and rotated, a necessary step to allow them to hold their shape without the metal dripping to the floor.

  He needed to move faster. His mana was plummeting.

  Another twitch of his fingers and the orbs moved overtop the crystals, swooping down in a smooth movement and embedding the gems in the molten metal. Finn knew the melting point for the crystals was quite high – incredibly high, actually. There was no need to worry about damaging the crystalline structure.

  Then the spheres were rising again.

  They drifted up into the air until an orb hovered in front of each of Finn’s eyes.

  The temperature fell back down to heat rank 3 to conserve mana, although the metal still stayed soft and pliable enough to shape. His fingers twitched, the crystals shifting into the center of the spheres. Another nudge and he tugged a short lance of molten metal from each orb. The spikes speared toward Finn’s eyes, creating a teardrop shape. The measurements had to be precise. The spikes were exactly 1.2 inches long. Too much, and he’d kill himself. Too little and he wouldn’t be able to take out a portion of his own sinuses.

  Finn stared at the glowing red lances that hovered in front of him – the tips resting only a scant few inches from the surface of his eyes.

  He could feel the heat radiating off the metal.

  This was it. He just needed to pull the trigger now.

  The fear in his stomach writhed and thrashed, pleading for him to stop this – to pull back. This is too much, that nagging voice wailed. Finn’s breath was coming in ragged, shallow gasps now, his fire mana no longer enough to suppress his anxiety. This was something deeper, more primal. An instinct that screamed for survival, the animal-like part of his brain rebelling at what he was about to do.

  He’d only felt that same terrifying, bottomless dread once before…

  This is insane, it shouted and railed at him.

  “Yes… yes, it is,” Finn murmured back.

  Then his fingers twitched again.

  The spikes stabbed toward each eye.

  They moved too fast for him to blink, yet Finn still felt the moment the metal pierced the surface of his eyes. The sharp, excruciating pain. It was just a flash, the feeling swiftly burned away as the molten metal seared his nerve endings.

  Then there was darkness…

  And heat…

  And pain…

  And screaming… the sound ripping from his own throat.

  Yet he didn’t let his hands stop moving, his fingers continuing those same gestures. They tugged the metal deeper. Compressed it. Shaped it. The movements were automatic – the product of hundreds of hours of training. Because there was no way Finn could have controlled the gestures consciously.

  Suddenly, the sensations all disappeared, replaced with a bottomless darkness. It was as though he had finally snapped, gone so far behind his body’s ability to process pain that he just disconnected. Finn couldn’t feel anything, not his arms, or his fingers, or the heat, or the pain. He drifted in an endless void, his world only blackness…

  Except for the faintest hint of light – a flickering flame amid the abyss.

  Finn focused on that bright spot.

  As he did, a series of images appeared before him. They were fragmented, the edges tattered… no, burning. The edges dissolved into darkness. They drifted away into wispy tendrils of smoke as though they were being consumed…

  … he saw a man hanging suspended inside a tumbling metal cylinder…

  … he saw Rachael, auburn hair drifting around a face contorted in pain and fear…

  … a glowing crystal awash in flame…

  … a molten egg resting on a frozen plain…


  … a descent into a gaping abyss – a feeling of weightlessness…

  … a buried temple, its walls no longer reflecting the light of the sun…

  … a massive circular lock without a key…

  … a man, his body broken and bleeding – nearly dead…

  … a glowing golden staff, its centerpiece missing…

  … swirling rainbow-colored eyes…

  … a mountain, its snow-topped peaks looming above the entrance to an unknown labyrinth…

  … a storm bank on the horizon, a rolling wave of sand and fire…

  … a desperate crowd that stretched on for miles – calling out a name, chanting in unison, and their voices filled with a painful mixture of hope and anger…

  That chant grew louder and louder, the image stabilizing around the crowd and pushing away at the darkness that encroached at the corners of Finn’s vision. These people wore the dusty beige clothing of the desert, their weapons held aloft. The words were familiar but spoken in a language that Finn didn’t know.

  “Najmat Alhidad! Najmat Alhidad! Najmat Alhidad!”

  “The Mourning Star,” Finn heard his daughter whisper from his side.

  “You are almost at the Finn-ish line,” Rachael murmured, a hand resting on his shoulder with a physical, palpable weight. She was alive! She was there!

  Finn tried to turn, to look, to see her…

  Just one last time…

  “Finn! Finn, stop now!” someone screamed in his ear.

  The images and chanting abruptly disappeared, and the pain returned in a rush. The sensation was so overwhelming that the breath was sucked from his lungs, and he nearly lost consciousness. Yet the darkness remained. It was deep – bottomless in a way that Finn had never experienced before, not a trace of light drifting through his eyelids.

  Blind. I’m blind…

  Although, he could barely focus on that thought amid the pain. It felt like his entire head was on fire, the burning sensation so intense that Finn couldn’t concentrate, his thoughts fragmenting. They were being blasted and broken apart by each throbbing wave of anguish. He couldn’t sense the rest of his body – couldn’t even feel his hands, much less stop them.

  “You have to stop!” Daniel shouted into Finn’s ear. “Stop!”

  Not seeing any reaction from Finn, the AI must have decided to take matters into his own hands. Finn only vaguely registered something crash into his fingers repeatedly, forcing them to stop their ceaseless motion. Then… just a moment later… he sat there motionless, kneeling on the ground, and trying to suppress the agony that radiated away from his eyes and face.

  The metal is cooling, Finn realized vaguely, as the sensation gradually receded.

  “Are you okay? Speak to me!” Daniel said, back at his shoulder now.

  “I… I’m okay,” Finn croaked, his voice only a hoarse whisper.

  “You sure as hell don’t look okay,” the AI murmured. “One more second, and you would have killed yourself…”

  Daniel’s voice trailed off, a dull drone as Finn lost focus. He realized now that he could see red notifications flashing in the corner of his vision – despite the blindness. At that thought, he glanced up and to the left… or at least he tried. Without eyes, he simply felt a wave of pain radiating through his eye sockets.

  Yet the UI popped into focus anyway, the game registering his intent. He could see that his health was at about 20%. The procedure hadn’t been fatal, even though it hurt like hell. His mana and stamina were in a worse state. They were both dropping down below 10%. That wouldn’t do. He still had to rescue…

  “Julia,” Finn croaked.

  He still needed to save her. He needed to get moving.

  But first, he needed to test his new sight.

  “Mashhad.”

  Nothing happened. There was only that bottomless darkness.

  Finn could feel a weight sinking in his stomach. Had this been for nothing? Meant nothing? Was he simply blind and crippled now? Unable to help Kyyle and Julia?

  He groaned, settling back on his heels, even as he felt the last traces of warmth in his face fade away. Without his sight, his other senses seemed more keen – sharper. Finn could actually feel the skin around his eyes beginning to heal, creeping back into place and the nerve-endings re-growing as his natural regeneration took hold. The skin itched and burned in an alternating pattern that was starting to drive him crazy.

  Yet he resisted the urge to scratch at his eyes – or what was left of them.

  Blind and useless…

  A notification flared up in front of him, glowing with a strong blue light amid the darkness. Finn focused on it like a beacon – staring at the sapphire prompt like a dying man lost at sea.

  System Notice – Permanent Body Augmentation Detected

  You have taken a considerable risk, undertaking a procedure to permanently alter one of your body’s organ systems. In your desperation, you have burned out your own eyes, replacing them with an amalgamation of dark metal and crystal. Given the extensive damage to your eyes and sinus cavities, including the way the metal has fused with the bones of your face, this change cannot be reversed and will be present upon any future respawn. You are now permanently blind.

  In exchange for this considerable cost, you have successfully augmented your body. The metal-and-crystalline structure embedded in your eye sockets now synergizes with the wards already inscribed into your temples. Your Mana Sight has been converted from an active spell effect into a passive ability, and its effects and costs have been altered accordingly.

  The system administrator cautions you against such dramatic augmentation in the future. Your real-world body can still be affected by elevated stress levels within the in-game environment. Further traumatic injuries of this nature may lead to irreparable physical injury, including but not limited to cardiac arrest, stroke, and pulmonary embolism.

  Although this should be obvious, the administrator feels compelled to remind you that you don’t respawn in real life.

  New Passive Ability: Mana Sight

  Skill Level: Intermediate Level 3

  Cost: Permanently reduces your mana regeneration by 20 mana/second. You are now blind to regular spectrums of light.

  Effect 1: Ability to view ambient mana. Current vision is [good].

  Effect 2: Ability to isolate mana types. Currently limited to [fire/earth].

  As soon as Finn swiped aside the notifications, the world around him erupted into color, his Mana Sight re-engaging. He could see Kyyle standing beside him, the mage only slowly beginning to turn toward him as though he sensed something was wrong. And Finn could make out the stone mound on the far end of the room, glowing orange bodies hovering atop the hill and the telltale wisps of mana from Julia’s equipment giving away her location beneath the rock.

  Finn’s UI sounded an alarm as his stamina began to hit zero, and he swiftly dropped Haste. As the world lurched back into motion, Finn glanced at Kyyle’s mana gauge. The earth mage still had enough juice to keep reinforcing the Stone Coffin while Finn recovered his own mana and stamina.

  “Finn? What the fuck are you…” Kyyle trailed off, his eyes skimming Finn’s face.

  For his part, Finn could see the mana undulating within the earth mage’s body. The light and fire mana dimmed slightly, darkness swirling through his limbs.

  “What happened to your face? What the hell did you do?” the earth mage asked, horror tinging his voice.

  “What I had to,” Finn replied in a hoarse voice.

  Finn could see the colors in Kyyle’s body shift further. Was that shadowy energy fear? Doubt? He had never noticed that before, probably because he only channeled his Mana Sight in specific situations and hadn’t focus on observing his companions. If the mana fluctuated with emotion, could he possibly read the thoughts or feelings of others now, like interpreting colorful tea leaves?

  Yet he pushed that thought aside.

  He still had work to do. And he needed to test one more th
ing.

  With a grunt, Finn pushed himself upright, wobbling slightly. The world listed sideways for just a moment – doubt creeping into the edges of his thoughts. Would this work? Could he move with the sight active? He let out a sigh of relief as the world stabilized a moment later, no longer listing and tilting with each movement.

  Just fatigue then.

  A moment later, Finn stood beside Kyyle.

  “Are… are you using the sight? How…” Kyyle was struggling to form his questions while continuing his channel, desperately reinforcing the barrier surrounding Julia. Although Finn could see his mana was beginning to run low.

  “We don’t have time for that,” Finn grunted back, his eyes turning toward the center of the room. He could now see the faint difference between the regular glass and the concealed pupae. Already, he could detect a winding, circuitous path through the cavern.

  He could do this. He could make it to Julia.

  “Right now, we need to focus.” Finn glanced at Kyyle, seeing his surprise and confusion reflected in the way the colors swirled throughout his body.

  “We’re going to save Julia.”

  Chapter 41 - Enhanced

  Bilel’s Journal – Entry 143

  The clergy all assemble for mass each morning, prostrating themselves and praying to the Seer as they face the rising sun, the light reflecting through the walls of her temple. This is one of the few times the great hall is opened to the general clergy. A simple basin composed of thick, opaque glass lingers on the far edge of the room, ringed by the higher-ranked acolytes.

  As I watched and mimicked their praise, I thought to activate the sight. What I saw took my breath away. Tendrils of fire mana coiled away from each acolyte, winding through the air to collect inside that basin. Its surface glowed with such strength that it was near-blinding to my sight. Yet I fought through the pain, and amid the glowing energy, I could make out two eyes wrapped in silk. They opened as I watched, as though gazing upon the clergy – reveling in their praise and religious fervor.