Awaken Online: Ember (Tarot #1)

by Bagwell, Travis

  Finn shut down that thought hard, closing his eyes to blot out the image it conjured.

  The bottom line was that he had also noticed the changes Julia mentioned. He had started to become numb to the violence, despite the realism. He hadn’t even hesitated at the idea of fighting one of the faculty. On more than one occasion, Finn had also questioned why he was still doing this. Did he even really want to win this competition? Or rule a city?

  The answer seemed like a definite no.

  He had the sudden urge to summon his mana – to revel in the excited glow that always accompanied his spellcasting. He knew that sensation would drive away the doubt that Julia’s comment had created. The mana washed away his hesitation, sorrow, and despair and replaced it with boundless energy and focus. For just a moment, he could forget the pain he had lived with for nearly a decade.

  His mana was almost like a drug.

  Yet he sure as hell didn’t want to admit that.

  Finn’s eyes snapped open. “It will be okay,” he murmured. “It’s just this one tournament. Once we get past this, things will calm down.” His words felt flimsy even to his own ears, and he didn’t have to look at Julia to know that she was staring at him skeptically.

  Fortunately, Finn was saved from this conversation as he heard shuffling and voices coming down several of the connecting hallways. He glanced at Julia. “Go. It won’t be safe for you inside the room.”

  Julia gave him a grudging nod and then disappeared.

  Then Finn waited. He lasted only a few more seconds until he gave in, summoning the warm mana. Within moments, his blood seemed to simmer in anticipation of what he planned to do – his doubt evaporating.

  The first of the players soon emerged from the hallway, instantly spotting Finn. They strode in almost casually – as though he presented no danger – until they encircled him. As Julia had indicated, there were at least a dozen, all wearing the basic robes and staves available for sale in Charlotte’s requisition hall. So, they were veterans of the duels.

  Even better.

  “You’re Finn, huh?” a nearby player grunted, clearly the ringleader. “Why did you message the zone with your location?” he demanded. “Did you decide to just give up or something?”

  “Not exactly,” Finn replied quietly, his eyes pulsing with orange energy and his hands hidden from sight, his fingers already slowly tracing a complicated pattern. “I’m just tired of being attacked.”

  “Ahh, so you plan to beg for mercy then?” the player retorted, glancing at the other novices in amusement. “See, I told that mage it was just a matter of time before he caved!”

  Finn’s brow furrowed. “What mage?”

  The player laughed at him. “You don’t even know, huh?” He shook his head. “You’ve got some enemies in high places. Along with that other bunch of A-listers.”

  “Someone instructed you to attack us?” Finn asked again, his thoughts swirling. “Who?” His thoughts immediately jumped to Lamia. She certainly had the motive to conscript other travelers to attack him, even before he embarrassed her in front of the other faculty. Although, why would she want to attack the other students? Perhaps to distract from her real target? Possible… but it felt tenuous.

  The player’s smile widened, and Finn noted that he had shifted his weight, his fingers clutching at his staff. “Ahh, too bad you won’t live long enough to find out. We’re going to kill you again and again and again until you stop logging back in.”

  Damn it. It looked like question time was over.

  Finn looked up at the player, his eyes shining with orange energy. “Fair enough, but first I have a present for you,” he said. Then he threw the small object at the player and squeezed his eyes shut.

  The man barely caught it in time, holding up a cloth pouch about the size of his fist.

  “What the hell is—?”

  He never got to finish that sentence.

  One of Finn’s daggers, that he’d subtly summoned behind the other players, suddenly rushed through the room. The knife sliced through the pouch and the flames immediately ignited its contents. A blinding flash of light illuminated the dark room, accompanied by a howl of pain as the contents burned into the flesh of the player’s hand. The blade kept going, whirling and twisting about the room as it ignited more of the packets carefully hidden in the debris, buying Finn time to get his second knife in the air.

  Finn could feel the wash of heat and see the light behind his eyelids, his blood boiling in anticipation. He had discovered something interesting after exploring the abandoned sections of the guild hall. Specifically, a barrel filled with saltpeter. After locating the guild’s cafeteria, it hadn’t taken him long to find a bit of sugar as well. A few minutes of tinkering had resulted in the small, makeshift flashbang grenades – which left a nasty burn and generated a lot of smoke.

  Finn’s eyes popped open, and he saw that the players were staggering about, rubbing at their eyes and hurling spells at random. The room was filled with a dense black fog that drifted toward the ceiling, the thick stone walls containing most of the smoke. Although, from his position on the floor, Finn could still barely make out the feet of each player as they stumbled around. Sitting in the center of the room, Finn’s control range encompassed almost the entire room. The players were all standing well within the small translucent line that was displayed in his HUD.

  He didn’t give them a chance to recover.

  His fingers danced, and his knives sliced through the air, flames curling away from the metal blades. The novices naturally assumed that the weapons were attached to a living hand – a rookie mistake. They shot off spells in the direction of the burning knives, but they simply whiffed and slammed against the room’s walls.

  A shout of pain went up as Finn cut through the back of a player’s leg, severing the tendons neatly. As he fell, the player’s torso came into sight. Another quick stab to the kidney left the player bleeding out on the ground, groaning and unable to move.

  Then the knives moved on.

  Finn’s blades cut a swath of devastation through the room, aiming for tendons, arteries, and major organs with each stab and slice – Julia had taught him well. He considered idly that his Fire Nova would have been easier. But that would have also defeated the point.

  He wanted them to remember this fight.

  Finally, the smoke slowly began to clear, rifting down the adjacent halls. The bodies of nearly a dozen players littered the ground, groaning and whimpering in pain. At this point, Finn rose and stepped toward the ringleader, who lay on his back, clutching at his ruined hand while blood leaked from cuts along his inner thigh and arms. It seemed Finn had nicked a couple major arteries. The player didn’t have long left. Finn needed to use this time wisely.

  Finn crouched beside the man, meeting his eyes. They were desperate and panicked. The player reached for his staff, and a quick gesture from Finn impaled the man’s forearm with a burning blade. “Tsk tsk, no quick movements,” Finn murmured.

  “What the hell are you?” the player croaked.

  “An A-lister and someone you shouldn’t have messed with,” Finn murmured in reply. He leaned in close. “This was a message. My hands were tied in the past, and I was going easy on you. However, as you can see, I incapacitated all of you within minutes. Alone. This time, and only this time, I’ll be merciful and end the pain.”

  At this statement, Finn’s fingers jerked, and a nearby player’s whimpering immediately stopped as a blade slid across his throat. The ringleader’s eyes widened further, but he couldn’t turn to look.

  “Next time, I’ll take my time,” Finn said, his voice heavy with the implied threat. “I’d like for you to spread the word. If you understand, just nod once.”

  The ringleader nodded, the movement jerky and uncoordinated.

  Then, with a few quick strokes, Finn put them all out of their misery.

  His goal complete, Finn’s blades slowly slid into their sheaths, and he released the spells, his fing
ers slowing and then finally stopping their movements. He surveyed the player at his feet, feeling a momentary pang of guilt despite the warm energy that flooded his veins. He knew from firsthand experience that the game’s pain feedback was bearable, even if it wasn’t particularly pleasant. Even so, this strategy had been… cruel.

  A sudden gust of wind tugged at Finn’s robes, and the smoke rushed down a nearby hallway, soon leaving the room clear of the thick fog. He looked over to find Abbad entering the chamber, the man’s eyes glowing a vibrant azure. Julia stood beside him.

  The librarian’s eyes skimmed across the bodies, and his gaze was impassive. Although Finn saw his eyebrow twitch slightly. Even Julia looked a little squeamish at the blood that now drenched the stones.

  “What was this?” Abbad asked.

  “My attempt to prove a point,” Finn replied quietly, forcing himself to release his mana. Just as he expected, the warmth was immediately replaced with nausea as he looked at the bodies, and he glanced away quickly. “The attacks should lessen once word spreads of what happened here.”

  Abbad looked toward Finn. “Does this not seem harsh?” he asked, cocking his head.

  Finn ran a hand through his hair, recalling Julia’s words before he had initiated the ambush. He may have changed, but his actions were always logical.

  “Perhaps, but it was also necessary.” Finn met Abbad’s eyes. “I’ve rarely found that the best course of action is easy.”

  He saw something in the librarian’s gaze then. A faint flicker of doubt maybe. The emotion was hard to pin down and vanished as quickly as a breeze.

  Although, this was a good time to press Abbad for information. “The players mentioned that someone had asked them to attack the travelers. They indicated that it was another mage,” Finn offered. He saw Julia’s eyes widen in surprise. “You wouldn’t happen to know anything about that, would you?”

  The librarian just shook his head. “This is the first I have heard of it. Perhaps another rival novice?”

  Finn hesitated. The player hadn’t indicated that it had been another competitor. He had mentioned “enemies in high places,” which seemed to imply that the mage was higher-ranked, or possibly…

  “I think it might be a member of the faculty,” Finn murmured. “Perhaps Lamia? She seemed extremely resistant to the idea of allowing fighting within the guild hall. She could have been trying to preserve her plan to manipulate the rankings,” he said, thinking aloud.

  “A bold step,” Julia muttered. “What if one of these travelers ratted her out?”

  “Water magic is capable of forming illusions,” Abbad observed. “For someone of Lamia’s skill, that would have been an easy deception. If she is involved, then the travelers could have thought they were speaking to anyone. Either way, I will be attentive. Perhaps the traitor will be revealed in time.”

  Finn arched an eyebrow. “We’ll see. Speaking of which, what are you doing here?” he asked.

  The librarian hesitated for a moment, before turning his attention back to Finn. “I wished to speak with you after the confrontation in front of the faculty. However, I was not expecting this sort of red-carpet treatment,” he observed, pointing at the blood staining the floor.

  “Oh, look! The book robot makes jokes now!” Julia commented in an amused voice. “It’s almost like he’s a real boy.” Abbad simply ignored her.

  “Well, here I am,” Finn replied, rolling his eyes at Julia. “What did you want?”

  “I spoke with Brutus after the fight, and he indicated that he had not taught you Imbue Fire. Which raised the question, how did you learn to cast that spell?” Abbad asked, his penetrating gaze now observing Finn carefully.

  Finn eyed the librarian warily, his thoughts racing. He could feel Julia’s eyes on him as well, although she stayed silent, letting him choose how to proceed.

  Should I tell Abbad about my spellcrafting?

  After everything he had been through and the ringleader’s reveal of some sort of deep-seated conspiracy against the A-listers, Finn wasn’t exactly in a trusting mood. Even Abbad himself had warned him to be careful who he trusted. There was no sense giving away information if he could help it. And so, despite the librarian’s help over the last few weeks, Finn decided to hold his tongue.

  “I actually saw two higher-ranked mages sparring in the courtyard,” Finn replied, trying to affect a casual demeanor. “One used that spell, and I was able to pick up enough of the hand gestures and incantation to cast it myself. I guess it must be a function of my Learning skill.”

  Abbad eyed him for a moment, his face neutral. Then he gave a curt nod. “That does indeed make sense. Although, most novices likely wouldn’t have been quite as perceptive. I will be sure to inform Brutus of this.”

  Finn nodded, turning his attention back to the bodies. Julia was already picking through the corpses, retrieving a few items, and stowing them in her bag. As she caught him watching her, she raised an eyebrow. “What?”

  “What are you even going to do with that stuff?” Finn asked.

  Julia shrugged. “I certainly can’t sell it here in the guild, but this equipment is still valuable outside these walls. I can just make a trip to one of my contacts in Lahab. Besides, if your goal is to send a message, stealing all their stuff will certainly help.”

  Finn shook his head. First, Julia urged him to exercise caution, and in the next breath, she was talking about fencing stolen mage equipment. The irony wasn’t entirely lost on him.

  “Although, you don’t have time to stand around giving me judgmental looks,” Julia offered, her fingers snatching a crystal-encrusted wand. “Your token is glowing again.”

  Finn looked at his pocket and could make out the glimmering symbol through the fabric of his robes. With a sigh, he pulled out the token and started toward one of the vacant hallways, heading toward the courtyard. “Alright, well I guess I’ll see you in a bit.”

  He met the librarian’s gaze as he passed, giving him a curt nod. “Abbad.” The mage returned the gesture but remained silent.

  As Finn exited the room, Abbad and Julia shared a look, not a word passing between them. Then they both turned to watch Finn’s back as he strode down the hallway, concern etched on their faces.

  Chapter 33 - Violent

  The last two days in-game had been… interesting.

  The new mandate meant that full-fledged fights were now permitted within the guild hall as long as the damage was relatively contained. Finn had often wondered what would happen in the real world if people were given free license to release some of their pent-up frustration.

  You know, your typical purge situation.

  He had always thought that the vast majority of people wouldn’t act out – at least not if there was a considerable risk to themselves. If there was one universal rule he had discovered in his many decades on Earth, it was that people always acted in their own self-interest. Perhaps if the government in the real world had issued a similar decree, Finn might have been proven right.

  Except AO wasn’t the real world. And, more importantly, death wasn’t permanent within the game.

  The result was complete bedlam.

  Finn turned a corner, stopping short as he witnessed a skirmish being waged in the hallway. An Ice Bolt slammed into the wall nearby, and it fractured into dozens of pieces. Meanwhile, spikes of earth speared into the air, erupting from the stone floor further down the hall. As he observed the chaos, a Fireball came hurtling through the air, which he neatly sidestepped.

  A few days ago, this might have been a disconcerting scene. However, at this point, Finn just sighed, stepping back behind the wall and rubbing at his temples for a moment. At least six novices were going at it, and a glance at his map confirmed that doubling back would cost him 5-10 minutes. He had thought the ambushes were distracting and time-consuming, but these battles made it almost impossible to navigate the school.

  Which left a more expedient option…

  Finn’s fingers wou
nd together, and a short time later, Magma Armor slid down both of his arms. Since he had reached Intermediate Level 1, the armor had grown thicker, curling up across his shoulder and a spike of molten energy emerging from his elbow. The increased coverage was quite helpful, even if it made the armor a bit more cumbersome.

  A few more seconds and Finn’s knives glided from their sheaths, the blades bathed in flame. He squeezed his eyes shut, visualizing the hallway.

  Three have their backs to me. At least three opponents on the far end of the hall. I need to strike hard and fast. A three-on-one fight was doable. Six-on-one was another matter entirely, and Finn didn’t want to waste any more of his makeshift grenades on this. It was too time-consuming to make more.

  Taking a deep breath, Finn dashed forward.

  He raced down the hall, his blades dancing around him. A knife stabbed through the back of one mage’s throat, blood spraying the air as he toppled forward. However, Finn didn’t have time to reflect on that, diving into a roll to avoid another stray Fireball. He came back up in a crouch, the other two mages standing a few feet away. They had just seen something happen in their UI, their teammate’s icon likely flashing gray as he died, and they slowly began to turn.

  Finn’s second knife sliced through the air, neatly cutting the tendons in their ankles. The two men toppled, and then two burning daggers swiftly ended their lives. The blades drifted back into the air, fresh blood sizzling and evaporating along each blade and filling the air with the muted, sickly-sweet smell of burnt flesh.

  Finn rose back to his feet. There were still three more mages – the opponents that the deceased novices had been fighting. They all turned to stare at Finn, his eyes glowing a brilliant orange and two blades hovering beside him, the flames causing the air to ripple and warp above each weapon.