Awaken Online: Ember (Tarot #1)

by Bagwell, Travis

  “If I had reported the true results, I expect that the guild would have immediately purged your mana and exiled you from the city. You would likely have died of dehydration and exposure among the dunes or been eaten by sandworms.” He hesitated. “Although, as a traveler, I expect you would likely have experienced both many times before finally succumbing to despair,” the stoic man said this with almost no emotion in his voice, as though it were commonplace.

  “Well, thank you, I guess,” Finn replied tentatively. “But I guess that raises additional questions. How strong is my affinity exactly? What does that mean? And why try to protect me? Surely that puts you at risk.”

  Abbad grimaced and nodded slightly, rubbing at his eyes for a moment. “Let’s take your questions in order. Your affinity is already expert rank.” He looked at Finn sharply. “Although I wouldn’t let that go to your head. That doesn’t mean you will be able to cast spells easily – you still have much to learn – only that you will exhibit a more significant control over fire mana.

  “As for your other questions, to understand my motive, you would need to first understand more of the history surrounding the formation and purpose of the guild. This is too much to cover in a single sitting,” Abbad added.

  The librarian’s eyes darted to the nearby stacks, as though he were nervous that someone might be watching them. “For the sake of expediency, I’ll summarize. This ‘school’ could be viewed as an elaborate prison or internment camp. The Emir uses it as a way to pit mages against one another, keep track of our movements, and bind us to his service. To this end, it is far easier to cull strong mages early, when they are unable to defend themselves.”

  Abbad gazed at Finn evenly. “Not all of us agree with that goal.”

  Finn’s eyes widened. It seemed that his earlier skepticism had been justified.

  “Well, thank you,” Finn said, not needing to fake the sincerity in his voice. NPC or not, this person had taken a risk for Finn – a stranger.

  “If you wish to repay my kindness, then do not make my risk in vain. You need to learn how to survive,” Abbad said bluntly, pointing at the books on the table. “By denying the gift of Veridian, you have chosen a much more difficult path and have caught the attention of the headmaster. You will need to move quickly and tread carefully from here on out.”

  Finn’s forehead scrunched in confusion. “But doesn’t my high affinity mean that this should come more easily?”

  “Not necessarily,” Abbad replied. “Your affinity for a certain school of magic is effectively a measure of aptitude. Think of it like any other trait, such as intelligence or strength. You might have the potential to cast more powerful and complex spells, yet you still lack the tools and knowledge to do so. This process typically starts by learning Veridian. Your first classes will then cover how to summon and manipulate your mana.”

  Well, shit. Finn stared at the books, now suddenly second-guessing his decision. Although, he supposed there was no going back now.

  “You mentioned that the affinities are tied to certain personality traits. What does fire represent?” Finn asked, switching gears.

  Abbad nodded. “A good question. In short, passion.”

  “Passion? Really?” Finn replied in an incredulous tone. He had hardly been in a frame of mind to start dating after Rachael. Honestly, he hadn’t even given it a thought. As far as he was concerned, there would never be anyone else.

  Abbad seemed to pick up on his misunderstanding, faint amusement flitting across his face before he re-assumed his regular stoic facade. “Passion can be quite an expansive emotion. It naturally conjures an image of romantic love, but we find passion in many other things. Building, writing, friendship, combat, and exploration – just to name a few. What these things have in common is that they are enduring and give our life purpose. For example, you might say I have a passion for books, which is why I became a librarian,” he explained, gesturing at the nearby shelves.

  “Fire mages often tend to be eccentric, competitive, enthusiastic, aggressive, and prone to anger or extreme emotion. These characteristics may seem disjointed, but they share a common root cause – namely, that person’s passion.”

  Finn instinctively touched the tattoo on his right arm, recalling his conversation with the Seer before he had stepped into the flames. She had been focused on the same thing: his loss of purpose after the accident and his secret yearning for a chance to start over, to build and create again. That tantalizing promise was what had encouraged Finn to make the leap.

  Although, he abruptly decided not to reveal that conversation to Abbad. He wasn’t certain how the librarian would react if he mentioned that he had spoken to an old lady who claimed to be the goddess of fire. He already had few allies as it was.

  “Alright, that makes sense, I suppose,” Finn replied tentatively. “So, what does it mean to be expert rank, exactly?”

  Abbad gestured at the tattoos on his arms and neck. “The guild ranks us according to our abilities. This is a product of both our performance in the duels and our affinity. The ranks are novice, journeyman, expert, master, grandmaster. Mages are then marked by tattoos to denote their skill and affinity level.”

  He waved at Finn’s left forearm. “You have been given the basic guild induction mark. You will be given a true novice mark once you have passed your initial classes.”

  Finn’s eyes widened as he took in the tattoos covering Abbad’s arms and neck. That must mean he was talking to a rather experienced mage. Although the man had already made that clear; he was master rank. So Abbad was near the top of the heap.

  “Is there a way to quantify my affinity then?” Finn asked, the engineer in him starting to take over. If his abilities and rank were partly tied to his affinity, then it would be helpful to see where he stood numerically.

  “Indeed. You can pull up your Character Status to find this information yourself,” Abbad explained.

  Finn chewed on his lip for a moment as his eyes panned to the system UI that floated in the corner of his vision. He swiped through the menu icons and lists until he found the button for his Character Status. He tapped it, and a translucent blue screen suddenly appeared in front of him.

  Character Status

  Name:

  Finn

  Gender:

  Male

  Level:

  1

  Class:

  Race:

  Human

  Alignment:

  Lawful-Neutral

  Fame:

  100

  Infamy:

  0

  Health:

  100

  H-Regen/Sec:

  0.30

  Mana:

  175

  M-Regen/Sec:

  2.00

  Stamina:

  120

  S-Regen/Sec:

  1.20

  Strength:

  12

  Dexterity:

  12

  Vitality:

  10

  Endurance:

  12

  Intelligence:

  15

  Willpower:

  15

  Affinities

  Dark:

  2%

  Light:

  4%

  Fire:

  37%

  Water:

  5%

  Air:

  3%

  Earth:

  9%

  Alright, so I have stats just like any other game, Finn thought to himself. He also noted that there was a separate section devoted solely to his affinities, the levels denoted in percentages. Indeed, his fire affinity seemed quite high relative to the others. Although, his earth affinity wasn’t exactly low either. He just wasn’t sure what that meant yet.

  Finn looked up to find the librarian staring at him with a serious expression. “As I explained before, it is imperative that you keep this to yourself. Do not show your Character Status to others,” Abbad reiterated. “You need to be discreet, both with your cla
ssmates and with your teachers. If you have any questions, you should direct them to me and only after I have cast a Dampening spell. Do you understand?”

  Finn nodded. He didn’t exactly plan to go shouting this information from the rooftops.

  Abbad rummaged in his robes and pulled out a small circular stone, a simple star symbol emblazoned on the top. He handed it to Finn. “This is a novice token. It will grant you access to the library’s lower levels so that you can come here on your own. I will let the other librarians know you will be using this area to study and not to disturb your materials.”

  “Got it,” Finn said, taking the stone. “So, uh, what now?”

  “Now, you get to work,” Abbad answered curtly. “Your first class begins tomorrow. You might be able to make it through the first few days without knowing Veridian, but this will quickly become an impediment. If you fall too far behind, you will likely be expelled. I suggest you make the most of the time you have.”

  “A few days,” Finn muttered, his eyes on the scrolls that littered the tabletop.

  Surely the game would simplify this for him. Maybe there were just a few catchphrases he needed to memorize or something. It couldn’t possibly expect him to learn a complete language… could it?

  He glanced up to ask another question, but Abbad had simply vanished – along with the faintly glowing azure sphere. Finn hadn’t even heard the man leave. Although, he didn’t get long to ponder on this as a new notification popped up in front of him.

  Quest Update: Curious Capabilities

  Abbad explained that you have an unnaturally high affinity for fire magic. He warned you that revealing this information or drawing attention to yourself may result in your expulsion from the guild and your exile from Lahab. For now, you need to keep your head down and train. That shouldn’t be too hard, right?

  Difficulty: A

  Success: Continue your studies and training.

  Failure: Get expelled or draw attention to yourself.

  Reward: Uh, you won’t get exiled or eaten by sandworms? What more do you want?

  Finn grimaced. The quest update provided little clarity, and at least a dozen more questions tumbled through his head – things he hadn’t had a chance to ask Abbad. He supposed it didn’t matter. He would learn more in time. Right now, he needed to see what he was up against with this magic language.

  Letting out a soft sigh, he took a seat at the table. Finn thumbed open the first tome and observed the alien, spiraling symbols that riddled the page. He could feel a weight start to settle in his stomach as he flipped through the pages, his confidence faltering.

  Maybe he had made a big mistake…

  Chapter 7 - Studious

  Finn had figured out a few things over the last few hours.

  First, Veridian definitely represented an entire language, replete with its own vocabulary, grammar, and syntax. The written language was somewhat similar to Chinese, each word denoted with an arcane symbol comprised of specific brush strokes. It also appeared that there were certain base symbols and patterns that served as the foundation for other words. That meant he was going to need to memorize a daunting number of unique characters.

  Which led Finn to his second realization.

  He was an idiot.

  An arrogant idiot.

  Finn leaned back in the chair, causing the wood to groan weakly as he rubbed at his eyes. When he opened them again, Finn glanced at the in-game clock in the corner of his vision, confirming that at least eight hours had passed since Abbad had left.

  That’s right. He had spent eight hours in a video game studying in a library.

  Maybe “idiot” is too nice, he thought to himself.

  The table in front of him was carefully crafted chaos, scrolls and tomes placed at seemingly haphazard angles. To an outside observer, it probably looked like he had gone mad. However, there was some order to the insanity. One was a dictionary, another a tome on grammar, and there was at least one scroll that seemed to offer rough English-to-Veridian translations. The whole undertaking had made him yearn for his workstation at home. There was a reason this stuff had all gone digital over time, and he missed the ability to just toss up another screen.

  Complaining aside, Finn had to reluctantly admit that he had made a lot of progress. For some reason, his memory felt sharper than usual – bordering on photographic. He only needed to practice a word or the associated brush strokes a time or two before it stuck.

  He was even able to read the first few pages from one of the books that Abbad had left for him. Although, he hadn’t realized the librarian had left him a children’s book until he found the illustrations. It was a truly gripping tale about a young girl who had lost her cat in a tree – which did precisely nothing to make him feel less stupid.

  In short, this wasn’t exactly the gaming experience he remembered from his youth.

  As that thought crossed his mind, several notifications flashed in front of Finn.

  x4 Level Up!

  You have (20) undistributed stat points.

  New Skill: Reading

  You seem really fond of reading, or at least trying to read! Maybe someday – a few years from now, most likely – we can finally find out what happens to that girl’s poor cat. More importantly, where the hell are the girl’s parents? They just left her unattended with another living creature? That’s just plain irresponsible!

  Skill Level: Beginner Level 1

  Effect 1: 5% increased learning speed while reading.

  New Skill: Learning

  You have shown remarkable dedication to acquiring new skills and abilities. Masters of this skill become so adept at studying the world around them that they are said to be able to learn new abilities even during combat. You’re clearly not there yet, but you have potential.

  Skill Level: Beginner Level 1

  Effect 1: 5% increased learning speed for skills and spells.

  Finn rolled his eyes as he read the prompts.

  What intrigued him was the experience gain from studying. Granted, it had been a while since Finn had played an RPG, but most of the older games tended to reward active tasks such as combat, crafting, or exploration. Yet this game was allowing him to level by trying to read a children’s book…

  Finn shook his head. He would just have to add this to the growing list of mysteries that was Awaken Online.

  His gaze skimmed to the level-up notification. He had a few stat points that he could distribute, but he also wasn’t quite sure what the various stats did yet. Since he would probably be spending the next few days in the library, it was likely safer to hold on to them for now. Although, that thought made him wince.

  Tomorrow would be their group’s first class, and Finn hadn’t even managed to read a children’s book. Despite his heightened learning speed and newfound skills, he doubted he was going to master an entire language in the course of two weeks.

  With a sigh, he pushed back from the table and took to his feet. Finn’s frustration was only slightly muted by the realization that he had begun pacing instinctively. It was strange how natural the movement felt even after years spent in a wheelchair. Although this wasn’t quite enough to distract him from his current problem.

  He frowned at the nearby pile of books and scrolls.

  There had to be a faster way to learn this language.

  To make matters worse, Finn wasn’t entirely certain why he was so frustrated. It was a game, after all. Why should he care about learning some made-up language or getting kicked out of a fake magic school? That realization only served to fuel his irritation – making him feel even more silly. Hell, just that morning, he had been reticent to even enter the game, and now he was upset about how little progress he had made?

  He had to admit that this world was tantalizing, though. The level of detail was incredible, and there was just something about it that kept tugging him forward. Someone had invented an entire magical language, after all!

  Maybe it was the mystery of the mark
on his hand. Or the Seer’s enticing promise. Or seeing Rachael again. Or the teasing glimpses he had been given of this world’s magic system. Or maybe it was something else altogether – some feeling that Finn had difficulty putting into words. It felt like the game had issued a challenge.

  It seemed to keep asking him, “Are you good enough?”

  He was surprised by how much he wanted to prove that he was.

  However, Finn wasn’t given long to ponder on this. A translucent blue screen appeared in front of him, flashing insistently.

  System Warning

  You have been playing for quite some time now. You should log out to eat and care for your real-world body.

  If you ignore this warning, you will be automatically logged out in thirty minutes and a mandatory one-hour waiting period will apply before you will be able to log back in.

  “Well, it might be time for a break anyway,” Finn grumbled to himself.

  Maybe an idea for how to tackle this cramming process would come to him if he put some distance between himself and the problem. That had always helped in the past.

  With another sigh, Finn pulled up the system UI with a few quick swipes and pressed “log out.” A moment later, he disappeared in a rift of multi-colored energy.

  ***

  Returning to the real world was disorienting.

  There was simply darkness, the VR headset obscuring his vision and muting any noise behind thick foam insulation. This gave Finn plenty of time to focus on his body. It felt heavier in a subtle way, his heart thudding in his chest and real blood now pumping through his veins. His arms also ached as he moved to take off the headset. Perhaps it was because they hadn’t moved in hours.