by John Gold
Debuff received: Call of the dark depths
Effect: Morale -44%, Intellect -36%, Wisdom -27%
Duration: As long as you are within range of the spell
Lesser purgatory! So, he’s a dark mage, too. An aura of death surrounds me, stones and trees crumble, the ground turns black. Dark tentacles touch my mental body and slither around, not strong enough to do any damage.
I get up in time to dodge another lightning strike. The sound is starting to attract people. I can hear them running over from the other side of the building. They’re coming out of the dorm, and my enemy, in the meantime, starts giving out a fire aura, still not coming down to the ground. With each passing second, the air gets hotter, the snow melts, and the water it leaves behind sizzles away. Ten seconds later, glass starts to melt, too, and the roof of the building next to us catches fire. Clawed paws covered in short white fur! Large whiskers poke out from under the hood. Shapeshifter?
Damage received: 960817 (ignored: 1177204)
6400/6400
The buildings burn, glass shatters, and even the stone starts to melt. The searing air finds its way into all the different alleys as the shapeshifter finally settles to earth. He comes down softly, cat-like, to the burning ground.
Human, Krash, non-level
What?! That’s impossible! You can’t get that kind of strength the normal way—he’s on par with death’s confidants. For a second, we stand there looking at each other. I’m on edge; he’s expectant. There’s no point fighting with him, since I can’t win. Getting into a battle would just mean the deaths of the people living nearby.
I miss him teleporting over to me. With one hand, he lifts me off the ground and starts to choke me. A pair of cat-like eyes stare at me, and I sense his expectation.
“Stop playing! Show me what you can do…Sagie.”
I’m going to kill them all! How does he know who I am?
My assailant doesn’t appreciate my silence, and he squeezes my neck harder.
Damage received: 63510 (ignored: 81422)
6400/6400
And that’s with just one hand! He’s incredible.
“I know you could’ve killed my snakes instantly, could have forced me to the ground or just attacked. But you’re only defending yourself.”
“Ma–”
He releases his grip.
“Dragon breath! Maximum!”
That damn monster didn’t even twitch!
“Is that all? Just eight million? That’s your maximum? Stop playing with me, you worm!”
He lets me down, though a powerful kick sends me flying toward the dorm. I break through the wall, a wooden wardrobe, and a doorjamb before tumbling into the hallway.
“Worthless! I know you can do 25000000 damage across an enormous area. Do I need to kill everyone for you to treat me like an enemy?”
Exploding walls, an all-incinerating flame, a wild roar, and a shiver running through my body are the last things I notice before I die. Incredible!
***
Tiamat was sitting in his office drinking coffee. Idzumi teleported directly there, and Set appeared a second later.
The only greeting exchanged was Tiamat pouring two more cups of coffee. The three sat down, their eyes fixed on the battle in Kkhor playing out on the screen in front of them. Flames engulfed the mage quarter.
Ten minutes later, one of the guilty parties teleported into the office.
“Why did I have to come here through three worlds? For a worthless kid? He couldn’t do anything! A measly eight million, and that’s his strongest attack? Sure, he can take a beating. But this is your chosen one?”
Krash was still in his cat appearance, and his uncontrolled emotions poured out with a hiss. He paced the room, cursing Sagie under his breath.
“You saw the recording yourself, so you know I’m not lying. I can vouch for the fact that an attack transcending the world order was made—go see the container bodies of the dead gods if you don’t believe me. We sent a report to Akashi as the one responsible for humanity.”
“But why didn’t he attack me with everything he had? Why didn’t he show me what he could do?”
“What was he feeling?” Idzumi asked.
Krash, an empath and test subject expert, had been sent to review Sagie. The cat stopped suddenly. Slowly, his appearance went back to human. He was albino, about thirty years old, and wearing a light mage’s radiant set outfit.
“He enjoys fighting strong opponents. He ignored ten percent of the pain, just relishing the strength I used. The worst is that he didn’t take me as an enemy—we could have had fun if he had. He doesn’t have enough combat experience, and he didn’t notice the trap I set, though he’s practically as perceptive as Akashi himself. No combinations, no tricks; just raw strength. He needs more battle experience and possibly experience working with a team. Really, he’d make a great scout, but he’s still too inexperienced.”
Krash poured himself some coffee and sat down happily. Four of the world’s strongest beings were sitting with him watching the fire be put out in the mage quarter.
Tiamat glanced at the body of the boy in the center of the demolished building.
“First of all, he doesn’t have any equipment whatsoever. He’s wearing the simplest clothing he could find in the slums. Second, he didn’t think it was worth fighting you—he knew it was a lost cause. Note that he did his best to avoid destroying the building by using only simple spells. Third, you watch yourself! I invited and teleported you here because this is a special case. And you’re already drinking coffee in my office!”
Krash looked out the window.
“Ah, screw him. A couple of years won’t change anything for me, so I’ll stop by every once in a while to rough him up. That’ll make sure he doesn’t relax.”
Tiamat opened his mouth to say what he thought of his guest, though he just grinned when he saw Krash’s sly smile.
Krash was part of Akashi’s team, the previous wave of wanderers in that world. As soon as Sagie showed back up in Project Chrysalis, Akashi was told and sent the cat to check him out.
***
I woke up outside the city walls, in the suburban slums.
Your respawn point was destroyed.
You were taken to the nearest public respawn point.
I can’t help but worry about that evil death curse. I hope everyone was able to get away.
Also, my reaction to seeing a strong opponent was, at the very least, ridiculous. Why was I happy? Why did I enjoy it so much? My hormonal field is messed up, which it certainly would be after such a wide-reaching stroke. But problems with my personality and modified behavior are really bad.
As I think, I run back to the city along the country road. I have my map, at least, so I know exactly where I am. My old clothes burned up too, so I buy a new set from a roving trader.
I knew I was going to lose, so I didn’t even bother attacking. He’s a monster! The shapeshifter used his light aura to do mental damage, increased the strength of gravity ten times over, attacked with Dark and Air Magic… And it was all just a demonstration. Only the last attack was for real, aimed at killing me, and I estimated his level based on his attacks. After the first few, I thought it might be around 3000; after the last one… Maybe, 6000 or 7000. He was wearing the clothes of a light mage, though, judging by the gravity at the beginning, he was a space mage, too. And a shapeshifter!
A shiver ran through me as I thought back to the battle. Incredible! It was like a dessert, like the best meat you could find. The best of the best! I crave battle, I crave strong, smart, superior opponents, the kind that can force me to my very limits. Enemies like that help me outdo myself, they find my mistakes, and they use them.
Drunk with delight, I get to the remains of the dorm. There are all kinds of players and locals milling around. Everybody wants to see where the stranger attacked in the middle of the city, and my dean is sitting with Kirk under a canopy. They’re waiting for me to get back.
> “Is there something you want to tell us?”
“Good morning to you, too, Kirk. Hi, Anri.”
“What do you know about the trespasser?”
“He appeared in the middle of the night and started attacking me immediately. There was a short, one-sided battle, and he killed me at the end. He’s a shapeshifter, a light and space mage. Also, he used Air Magic, Dark Magic, Fire Magic–”
“Enough. Just tell us how you survived the attack that destroyed the dorm.”
All that was left of the three-story building was the far wall. The stones were black with soot, and all the surrounding buildings were scorched. The shapeshifter’s final attack had incinerated the whole building. In the center of the ruins was a pit, and, judging by the remains, my corpse was in the center of it. It was fried by Light and Fire Magic to a crisp. So, he killed the lich, too—that’s good. The corpse was so far gone that it wasn’t recognizable as undead.
Ew, you can see the bones!
“I was able to hide behind one of the walls and throw up my shield. That didn’t really help, on the other hand—as you can see, he still found and killed me.”
Nobody was blaming me. The quarter administration received a report on the destruction of their property, the guilty party listed as Krash, a wanderer. Everyone was moved to the next dorm over. Kirk is thrilled—the building is full of girls, many of them players.
I’m not worried about the move. No, I’m very well aware of how dangerous it is to be near me, and people are better off the further they are away. The shapeshifter definitely knew who I was, though he was alone. He can’t be working for Leon; he’s doing this for himself. Judging by what he said, he’s looking for a strong opponent or just seeing what I can do.
Today, I have my battle for the title of first-level mage. Kirk told me about the changes in the exam trials—I need to take out an opponent at my own level. In other words, two students are brought out to the arena. That change was made once players started hitting Level 500.
My opponent tried to find a crack in my defense, but there was nothing he could do. The system gave me someone at my level with a Life Magic skill of 50. He was a player going through the trial to reach the first rank, and the battle lasted less than a minute. He threw lightning, stunning, and fire balls at me. But after the battle I’d just been through the night before, that one couldn’t have been more boring. It was like a three-year-old child trying to kill you using a pillow when he doesn’t even come up to your knee. I killed him with my fists. If I’d had a stick or a rock, I would have used it.
You are now a first-level life mage.
Life Magic spell effectiveness: +5%
Anri hands me a first-level mage ring that I’m required to wear.
The job for Kirk and me today is to clean up what’s left of the dorm. No matter what I do to hide it, my Life Magic constantly heals me, healing the ground underfoot when there’s nothing else. I have to make sure I keep walking around so Kirk doesn’t notice the grass growing up between the stones in the road.
With the work done that evening, we’re sent to the wing of the building that houses life mages.
And I thought I’d already learned a lot. There’s an enormous library, biographies of life mages from all over the world, laboratories for all the different ways you can use Life Magic, and all in one small building.
Kirk explains what we need to study. Modification changes the mage’s mental body, which then exerts influence on the physical body. That’s why life and mind mages work together. Elementalists can also change the end result if that’s needed.
One question eats at me all day.
“Kirk, how do swordsmen change their bodies?”
“All close-combat fighters have modifications, mostly to boost their strength or stamina. About a quarter of them do modifications for their agility. For sword masters, they decide what the bonus will be. For example, the ones who have a dual style up their agility; the ones who prefer axes, maces, pikes, or hammers up their strength. Swordsmen, shield bearers, and spearmen focus on their stamina. If you aren’t a sword master, you have to use alchemical potions for that. A complete change takes a hundred days—you can drink one potion a day, each giving you one percent of the modification.”
A hundred days for a modification sounds awfully familiar, though I had to eat demon young rather than drink potions.
“What about shapeshifters and chimerologists?”
“Chimerologists can change their physical body, including with bone armor, spikes, swords, and tails. I’ve even heard of hair and chitin armor. I’m sure you know well enough, however, that nobody really likes chimerologists, and they do their best to keep their abilities under wraps. There are books somewhere in the library for life mages that describe the ritual for changing your physical body. Only masters and grandmasters of our kind of magic are allowed to read them.”
“And shapeshifters?”
“Everybody hunts shapeshifters. Why, you want to be one?”
“Well, that depends on the bonuses. Do you have a suggestion?”
“Nope. You aren’t worried about people coming after you? Headhunters love those exotic orders.”
Oh, yes, Kirk, if you only knew how exotic I really am. But headhunters don’t worry me too much. I don’t use portals, and I can sense seekers from a long way off. Maybe, I should become a shapeshifter.
“Anyway, do you know anything about shapeshifters?”
“Not too much, though I know some. There isn’t much reliable information out there. Anyone can become one, though there are different conditions for the different types. There’s the infection time, the nature and strength of the damage you take, the kind of shapeshifter, and their conditions. Don’t worry about what happened yesterday. You died, so you definitely weren’t infected. To get infected, you have to survive your meeting with the shapeshifter.”
“How do you cure the disease?”
Hearing the word “disease” threw Kirk into a fit of laughter. By the end, he was rolling on the floor. He was too simple and open to have grown up in a normal environment. He was more like a farmer who had just shown up in the city and was enjoying life. I can see all his simple emotions. He’s definitely broken, even if I don’t know what exactly did it, and his personality is like the foundation of an unfinished building. Kirk himself just sits there without building anything, as he doesn’t have anything to copy. He isn’t copying me either; he’s just picking the traits he likes, the ones he thinks are right.
“You have to go through rebirth. I mean, rerolling and creating a new body. You can pick a new race when you do that, too.”
“Oh, right, tell me about rerolling. I don’t know too much about it.”
“I’m not going to ask what your username is, but how is it there’s so much you don’t know about?”
You want to know everything, Kirk, but you aren’t ready for that.
“I was flying in a small interplanetary ship. We collided with some space trash that hadn’t been registered, the life support system was knocked offline, and we had just a couple more hours. The captain put the crew and passengers into anabiosis in the emergency life support capsules, we lost control, and flew off into nowhere for two years. A rescue probe looking for a completely different ship saved us though, and we survived. It took us half a year to come to after being in anabiosis so long. Then, they said we had to wait a year before we could play full-immersion games. Our consciousness wasn’t ready for them.”
“Yeah, that’s brutal.”
Kirk, you’re too inexperienced. Orphans can all lie with a straight face. I could have described the ship in detail, and he would’ve believed me.
“So, what about rerolling?”
“There’s the rebirth process, and there’s rerolling. If you reroll, you lose all your achievements, your class, your class skills, your techniques and spells, and your attribute points. You can choose a different nickname, too. The new character will be at your same level, thou
gh it will be completely empty. You’ll have no friend list, and you’ll be out of your guild and other associations.
***
Anri got me up to speed on what I need to do for our work. It turns out that there are a number of Life Magic spells for body modification. The higher-level ones take more time and mana. I got forty spells on a temporary basis that I can only use within the academy. Earth and water mages as well as air and fire mages have identical spell sets. Life and mind mages have different ones. In the end, it’s forty different body modification spells. Anri hinted delicately that he wouldn’t mind if I quietly got to work on my own modification.
He’s always looking for the positive, a happy kolobok who enjoys everything out of the ordinary.
“Am I correct in assuming that you don’t have money for new spells, and that’s why you haven’t come to talk to me yet?” He asks with a sly grin.
“You’re right. I’m still figuring out how I’m going to earn money for them.”
“I need an assistant sometimes, so I’d be willing to teach you one spell for every time you help the academy. Of course, we’ll discuss your reward beforehand.”
Anri is practically jumping for joy. What, does he know about empathy?
“Why are you helping me?”
“Because it’s fascinating! Life mages are happy in general—fire mages are passionate, mind mages are observant, dark mages are secretive, light mages are kind, earth mages are decisive, water mages are gentle, air mages are sensitive, and space mages are calm. Those character traits are inherent to our colleagues and express their being just as much as their choice of clothing reflects their specialty. And what kind of mage are you? The cat’s got your tongue. Exactly! You’re different and unpredictable.” Anri comes closer to make sure nobody can hear us. “I saw your battle with the shapeshifter. You survived in a sea of light and a weaker purgatory. You stood in melted rock and ignored the drops of glass falling from the top floor. How is that not interesting?”