Awaken Online: Ember (Tarot #1)

by Bagwell, Travis

  Typically, this sort of abrupt interruption wouldn’t be a problem. Of course, Finn usually wasn’t trying to juggle flaming orbs while studying an arcane language either.

  Two fiery spheres encircled Finn, swiftly rotating inward and outward as he controlled the movement with a series of hand gestures. Unfortunately, just before Daniel appeared, he had inverted the movement, sending the flaming balls hurtling back toward himself.

  His eyes widened in shock.

  “Oh shit,” Finn managed to mutter. With the unexpected interruption, he didn’t have time to stop the orbs.

  So, he did the next best thing. Finn dropped to the ground, the air rushing from his lungs even as he felt the heat of the spheres race past him. A moment later, the balls crashed against the wind barrier that Abbad had created, and it whisked away the oxygen surrounding each orb. They soon sputtered out in a rather anti-climactic fashion.

  “Sir, are you alright?” Daniel asked, concern lacing his voice.

  “I’m fine,” Finn groaned from the ground, slowly pushing himself back to his feet. Small tendrils of smoke drifted away from the hem of his robe, evidence that one of the orbs had struck a glancing blow. He had learned over the last couple of days that the orbs weren’t enough to deal real damage, but they sure stung when they hit.

  “What is it?” he snapped, glaring at the AI’s flaming form.

  “You told me to give you a fifteen-minute warning before your next class!” Daniel replied, his voice just a little too cheery. Had the AI surprised him on purpose? Maybe as payback for their last exchange? Finn shook his head. He had to be imagining that.

  He glanced at the in-game clock in the corner of his vision. Indeed, hours had passed since he had last looked up. Honestly, he had barely noticed. Training both his Mana Mastery and Veridian at the same time took up all of his concentration. He couldn’t even remember the last time he had taken a break.

  Rubbing at his eyes, Finn leaned back against the nearby table, trying to gather his thoughts. He expected this next class was going to be rough. He had already managed to paint a target on his back with Lamia, and he suspected that they were going to be learning new spells today. Hopefully, he had learned enough to let him fake it for a day.

  Speaking of which, he ought to check on his progress.

  Opening his eyes, Finn brought up his in-game prompts with a flick of his wrist. He had disabled the notifications while training – you know, to avoid accidentally charbroiling himself mid-lesson. Not that Daniel seemed to notice that fact…

  x6 Level Up!

  You have (50) undistributed stat points.

  x5 Skill Rank Up: Reading

  Skill Level: Beginner Level 6

  Effect 1: 10% increased learning speed while reading.

  x3 Skill Rank Up: Learning

  Skill Level: Beginner Level 4

  Effect 1: 8% increased learning speed for skills and spells.

  x4 Skill Rank Up: Mana Mastery

  Skill Level: Beginner Level 5

  Effect: -3% to the mana cost of spells.

  At least he had made decent progress. He had met Lamia’s requirements for Mana Mastery on top of gaining another six levels. He still wasn’t quite certain what to do with his stat points, so he resolved to hold onto them, even though he was tempted to dump them into either Intelligence or Willpower. If AO was anything like games he had played in the past, he suspected those stats would increase his total mana pool and regeneration, which would make it easier to train Mana Mastery.

  “Sir, you only have 10 minutes left,” Daniel reminded him.

  With a sigh, Finn swept the prompts aside. He knew he was just stalling. He’d much rather stay here in the library and keep training, but that didn’t seem to be in the cards.

  He shoved himself away from the table. “Alright, let’s go and try not to get expelled.”

  ***

  When Finn stepped into the classroom a few minutes later, it was abuzz with students talking and lounging around the stone benches. He spared a glance at the other mages. It seemed his observation the day before had been accurate. Groups had begun to form, the students acting far more familiar with each other.

  Although, Finn suspected those relationships probably wouldn’t last long, not with the duels approaching swiftly. His gaze panned to the burly guy he had seen during the initial guild induction ceremony. He was already surrounded by a band of other guys, sitting in the middle of the pack, and letting their chatter pass around him. Their gaze met briefly, and the other player smirked before glancing away dismissively.

  Well, except for some groups. A few of the players would likely be able to maintain the newfound relationships by force. His perspective shifted as he watched the other students, now noticing the tension in their shoulders and the way they side-eyed each other with an appraising expression. Suddenly, Finn couldn’t decide if the clusters of students felt like benign social cliques or more like fledgling prison gangs.

  Although, he also wasn’t sure if there was really a difference.

  “I find it ironic that I just left high school a few years ago, just to be shoved back into a magical version,” Kyyle observed dryly, popping up beside Finn.

  “It doesn’t get better once you get out of college. Trust me,” Finn grumbled, slumping down onto a nearby bench. “The judgmental bullshit and social pecking order are still there. The only difference is that people get a little better about smiling at you while they’re screwing you over. Oh, and they typically have more money and power.”

  “Well, aren’t you just a ray of sunshine,” Kyyle replied with a chuckle. His expression sobered, and he lowered his voice. “Although, you might not be entirely wrong. You hear about the break-in and the disappearances?”

  Kyyle now had Finn’s undivided attention. “No, I haven’t. What happened?”

  “You know how I’ve been keeping tabs on the students?” Kyyle asked, earning him a nod from Finn. “Well, a few just vanished overnight,” he offered, gesturing at the room. “Although, no one seems to be making a big deal about it.”

  “Maybe they just stopped logging back in?” Finn suggested.

  “Possibly,” Kyyle replied. He hesitated. “Or they got expelled…”

  He let that thought linger in the air. That wasn’t a confidence-inspiring idea. Could multiple students have been expelled within the first few days? And why hadn’t Finn been on the list? It seemed like Lamia held no love for him.

  “Anyway,” Kyyle said, interrupting his thoughts. “I also overheard some members of the faculty talking about how several novices have been attacked lately. Their equipment was stolen too. They weren’t sure whether it was some sort of inside job or maybe one of the other guilds. I got the impression that there isn’t a lot of love lost between the mages, the fighters, and the merchants.”

  Finn grimaced. Yet another complication. He supposed he would just need to learn to watch his back while he was navigating the school. Maybe the prison analogy hadn’t been too far off the mark.

  “Well shit,” Finn muttered. “This place just gets more and more interesting by the day.”

  Kyyle grunted in agreement before glancing at Finn, noticing his rumpled clothing and the circles under his eyes. “Gossip aside, you look like shit,” he observed. “What have you been up to?”

  “Studying,” Finn replied, rubbing at his eyes again. Now that he wasn’t focused solely on training, the fatigue was beginning to kick in. He could feel a small headache coming on, and he idly wondered if this game had its own version of coffee.

  Actually, what would eating be like in-game? He shook his head. That was a rabbit hole he didn’t want to tumble down right now. He needed to be focused if he was going to make it through this class. He was already treading on thin ice – pun intended.

  As though his thoughts had summoned her, Lamia marched into the room a moment later to the swish of her silk robes. She didn’t even glance at the students as she approached the podium on the far end of t
he room.

  For their part, the players froze in place as soon as they caught sight of their teacher, slowly slinking back to their seats. It was rather impressive, considering the confrontation in the starting plaza. Finn could only marvel at how quickly people got used to order and routine.

  “Alright, there’s no need to sugarcoat this. Today we will be teaching you your first spell. Well, a first for some of you,” Lamia acknowledged, sparing a nod toward Vanessa who sat up straighter and tried (poorly) to suppress the smile on her face.

  Kyyle let out an amused snort beside Finn.

  “But before that, I have a quick announcement.” Lamia’s eyes swept across the class, hesitating briefly on each face. “There have been reports of novices being mugged in the hallways. They were uninjured, but their equipment was stolen.” This earned her a few surprised and wide-eyed glances from the students.

  “This may be an opportune time to explain that any violence perpetrated against other students outside of the duels will not be tolerated. If a student is found to have assaulted or killed another mage, trust me when I say that he or she will not enjoy the repercussions. In this case, exile would look like a mercy.” Lamia’s eyes flashed at this last statement, glowing a faint sapphire.

  “Furthermore, if you observe any suspicious or unusual behavior, please report the conduct to the faculty,” Lamia added.

  She let this announcement linger in the air for a few seconds as she watched the students. Lamia almost seemed to be gauging their reaction. Finn glanced at Kyyle, their eyes meeting briefly. Well, they could confirm that this wasn’t just a rumor then.

  “Now,” Lamia said sharply, switching gears, “with that out of the way, let’s start on today’s lesson. Since we have members of most affinities present, I’ll put the spells up on the board, along with a list of the sequence of requisite hand gestures. For simplicity, we’ll simply number the basic gestures,” Lamia continued, her hands dancing across the podium.

  The display behind their instructor flashed into existence. The screen was now broken into six rows, providing a spell name, an incantation, and a sequence of numbers. Finn’s eyes skimmed down the list until he found the fire spell.

  Magma Armor, huh? he thought to himself. A glance at the other spells confirmed that they sounded like defensive spells as well, one for each affinity type.

  With a swipe of his wrist, Finn brought up his control panel and typed out the list of information beside the spell. He could always practice it later. He noted that a few others did the same, their hands pawing at the air. It seemed some of the players were already starting to identify and take advantage of the tools at their disposal – not that this was a particularly good sign.

  “As you’ve no doubt noticed, these are all defensive spells. Our goal today will be to provide you with one of the basic tools to protect yourselves. Plus, this particular type of spell also allows me to teach you another important skill – namely, how to act and cast quickly.” A small, cruel smile lingered on Lamia’s lips at this statement.

  A hand rose into the air, accompanied by Zane’s burly form. Lamia nodded at him. “Why can’t you simply do what you did with Vanessa yesterday or what Nefreet did with Veridian? You know, just download the spell into our heads?” Zane asked.

  Lamia tilted her head. “Looking for the easy path, hmm? To be expected of travelers,” she bit out. A pause and a brief sigh followed. “Although, we may as well address this fundamental as well. The answer is that there is a limit to how much information a person can learn through that method. Generally speaking, most students can only learn five or six spells or skills by memory transfer.”

  Finn raised an eyebrow. Now that was interesting. He doubted there was a plausible reason for that limit. He suspected it had much more to do with not wanting to harm the players. Tampering with their memory could likely have unexpected results.

  Lamia continued, “Most mages hoard those memorizations, reserving them for extremely difficult high-level spells or more complex skills. They can be quite valuable. That method of training provides not just the raw information needed to master a spell or ability, but the corresponding muscle memory. A single memorization can remove dozens – if not hundreds – of hours of work and study.”

  Yeah, no shit. Finn might just be a little bitter about that point right now, even if he readily acknowledged it was his own damn fault.

  Zane nodded, seemingly content with that answer.

  “Now, I’ll give you all a few minutes to practice the spells on the board,” Lamia said, gesturing at the display. “Then we’ll attempt some more hands-on training.”

  Given the evil grin on the woman’s face, Finn suspected that was going to be painful.

  “It’s a shame they didn’t teach us an invisibility spell,” Kyyle commented dryly. “I’d sure love a way to sneak out of this class right now.”

  Finn let out a chuckle before shifting his attention to the row of information for Magma Armor. The hand gestures were pretty straightforward. His fingers could already easily twine through the sequence after the hours he had spent training in the library.

  However, the incantation was another matter entirely. The text looked like it was written in a foreign language – which it was, of course. He could make out a few terms. Something about “heat” and “hard,” but that was about it. The problem was that he simply didn’t have the vocabulary to identify the other symbols.

  For a moment, he considered calling Daniel to help translate, but hesitated, his eyes skimming the room. Did he really want to give away that he had essentially created an in-game pet? At the same time, if he couldn’t cast this spell, would Lamia try to expel him?

  To make matters worse, the other students didn’t seem to be having a problem. Kyyle had already managed to turn his right arm to stone, the skin turning a dark, solid gray. Across the room, Finn could see that Vanessa appeared to be summoning a block of ice which swiftly formed a wall of frozen water in front of her.

  “Alright, time’s up,” Lamia called out. The students stilled and returned to their seats.

  Damn it, he thought to himself.

  “Learning a defensive spell is merely the first step in your training,” their teacher continued. “Casting that spell needs to become second nature. You will rarely have time to consult a spellbook or plan ahead in the middle of a fight. Your reaction needs to be instinctive.”

  A smile crept across her face again. “With that in mind, the best way to train is to simulate real combat.”

  Lamia’s gaze skimmed the class. “Does anyone want to go first?”

  The silence that lingered in the room was almost deafening. You could have heard a pin drop. No one raised a hand, and most of the students seemed to slink down in their seats, avoiding eye contact with Lamia. Even Vanessa and Zane seemed unnaturally quiet.

  Finn followed their lead and edged downward in his seat. It was one thing to show up to a class or test unprepared – he suspected everyone had experienced that dread realization at some point. However, in the real world, the worst that could happen was that you would get embarrassed or fail the exam. Finn wasn’t so sure he was going to get off with a bit of public humiliation if Lamia chose him.

  “What? Have you all suddenly lost your tongues? You were so chatty when I came in earlier. What happened?” Lamia asked, her voice thick with sarcasm.

  “In that case, I’ll just have to choose someone myself,” she continued.

  Finn was actually wondering if there was a way to discreetly hide behind his bench when Lamia’s eyes landed on him. He could feel a dead weight settle in the bottom of his stomach. Maybe it was the predatory gleam in her eye or the way her fingers twitched, as though eager to start casting.

  “Finn, why don’t you come show us what you’ve got?” Lamia suggested, gesturing at the front of the classroom, although it was clear that the offer wasn’t up for debate.

  As Finn reluctantly rose to his feet, Kyyle spared him a sympathetic
look.

  Finn marched up to the front of the room like he was stepping up to a gas chamber. He could feel the eyes of the other students on him. In other circumstances, he might have appreciated the irony here. This was like a classic schoolroom scene. Come to the front of the room and write something on the board, right? Except for the part where he was pretty sure Lamia was about to horribly maim him in front of the entire class.

  I guess we’ll get to see how the pain feedback works in-game.

  As Finn squared off with their teacher, her smile widened further. “So, uh, what do you need for me to do?” Finn asked cautiously.

  “Oh, that’s simple,” she replied calmly, her eyes beginning to glow with a soft sapphire light. “You just need to survive.”

  Chapter 11 - Creative

  Lamia didn’t give Finn a chance to question her teaching style.

  Instead, her hands began moving as she whispered arcane words under her breath. Finn could feel his pulse pounding in his ears, and his hands clenched reflexively. It might have been the adrenaline, but it felt like the teacher was taking her time. Her fingers twined through the gestures slowly, as though she was savoring this moment and the fear that must be shining in his eyes.

  Shit. What the hell do I do? There was no way he was going to be able to cast Magma Armor – at least not without some uninterrupted time to study and translate the incantation.

  That was time he didn’t have.

  Moisture was already accumulating in the air beside Lamia, the droplets thickening and freezing until they formed a spear of ice – similar to the one that Vanessa had cast the day before. However, this icy shard wasn’t being cast by an amateur.

  “Hey, this seems…” Finn began, holding up his hands.

  Lamia didn’t wait for him to finish.

  The ice spear launched forward toward Finn at an incredible speed. He jumped to the side but moved just a hair too slow. He felt something rip through the fabric of his robes, and a line of burning pain bloomed along his arm. The lance struck the wall behind him a moment later, fragments of ice showering the floor.