by Taj McCoy El
“Malcipher is the bad hardware in my machine. Before, it was just a program meant to gather information and monitor my actions. Somehow, its programming got screwy and it wound up getting me trapped. It was trapped unaware, in the magic behind your world. But now it’s awake and crossed over into Majesta. He named himself Malcipher, and he’s not very nice.”
“What do ye mean crossed over into Majesta?” he pulled his hand from under hers. “Explain yerself.”
“The evil that’s been holding my body hostage and keeping me here is now also somewhere in Majesta. He’s a paladin now, and he found me. We had to fight him and I would have lost everything if it wasn’t for Mags and Grax.”
She took a deep breath then exclaimed, “God why is this so crazy?” She put her face in her hands and shook her head. “I can’t believe this is my life.” Margaret put a reassuring hand on her back.
“So, this evil is a paladin now?”
“And also... maybe the key to getting me free,” she said so with hands hanging from her cheeks, stretching the skin under her eyes until they slid off into her lap.
“The issue is that he not only tried to kill me, Jensen. That in itself is allowed in Majesta. But that he was trying to somehow corrupt my body on Earth. How he would do that I have no idea, but it felt like he had put some serious thought into it. I could feel my real body when he touched me. It was literally like being torn between two worlds. Feeling flaming hot and freezing cold all at the same time and it hurt like crazy.” She lifted her hands to hug herself. “I am truly afraid that if he gets his hands on me I won’t be able to see my family again. Or anything else for that matter.”
Margaret put an arm around her.
“I think the best thing for me is to get out of the village. I’m a sitting duck here,” Mayah concluded.
“Well, if that’s the truth, and I believe it is, then I’ll be going with ye. That sounds a fair bit like an old legend that needs to get sorted out.” He reached into his bag and pulled out four small, identical notebooks. “I was just gonna give ye these before ye left the village. But now I know that ye’re goin'ta need more help with yer problems than an encouraging word or two. ”
“What are these?” Margaret asked, picking up one of the books but not opening it. “There’s no ID for it.”
“Not yet. That’s because they’re not activated. They’re called journey books. You can write a message to someone and then yer book will buzz and ye get to read the message. Sure beats hiring a courier for a letter, and it’s way cheaper than a fancy message stone. In all of the villages and cities ye have access to an information stand. Out in the wilderness, ye’re on yer own. Sure, ye can send a letter to someone in a certain area. But then they have to come and pick it from the nearest town or village center, and that can get tiresome. Whereas with these, I can write a letter and you get it instantaneously. Parcels can only go through the information booth or Majestan Post, so this is only for messaging.
“If ye’ll open the book, ye’ll’ find I’ve already inscribed my name in them. Just write a message starting with ‘Jensen’ and the book will do the rest.”
When Mayah wrote “Jensen” in her book, she received a menu asking if she would accept contacts from Majestans. She swiped yes and Jensen said, “So there ye have it. Ye should get each other’s contact info. Just write yer name in each other’s books.”
“That’s amazing we can communicate instantly with you. With any Majestan,” Mayah said nudging Margaret with an elbow. They passed the books around.
“You can send parcels?” Grax asked
“Now that ye’re over level 9, yes. I can only give ye these because ye’re level 9 or higher now. So, what levels are ye?” He leaned in again anticipating the answer
“10’s across the board,” Grax said.
“Good, I’m gonna update yer maps fer ye so I can show ye where to meet me if we get separated after the tournament.” He pulled an atlas map of Majesta out of his bag. “Go ahead look at each page slowly. I’m sure Fluff made ye get the Cartographer skill. Should be able to absorb it fairly easily.”
After a few minutes, their maps had updated with the new information, along with lists of imports and exports for each region, stats on populations, and list of monsters with levels and locations.
“So, what’s with the monster list?” Grax pointed out.
“Just my personal list of weird things I’ve run across.” Jensen’s face beamed with pride.
“Ever run across a rheeghast?”
“Aye, terrible beasties they are. The babbies start off around level 70.”
“The babbies…?” Mayah snorted. “Well, I wonder what else Cloutus is hiding in that crypt of his. Oooh… food.”
As they ate, they talked about the tournament, what they had learned about zombie storage, and Margaret’s hellish training, which Mayah hoped would give her Wellspring and Adamant in one go.
Mayah said her goodbyes, telling Margaret, “If you can’t make it to agility training in the morning, we’ll teach you later. Make sure you’re rested for the tournament. Oh... and give me your arrows.” She grunted under the weight of Margaret’s gear. “…Awesome.” She hugged Margaret, patted Jensen on the shoulder, and said, “You’re not gonna like him after this.”
“That’s what she said,” everyone chimed in.
…..
Grax decided to walk her home, leaving nothing to chance. “Think we’re ready for the tournament?”
“Ready as we’re gonna be. I’m gonna level up Enchanting and make some special treats tomorrow. I’ve got something special planned for your throwing knives as well.”
“Well then, I guess I better work on my knife throwing tonight,” Grax said as they finally reached the dorm.
“Sounds like a good idea. I can get it from here. High five.” She held her hand up and Grax leapt to make solid contact. She made it to the door and looked back, Grax was still there. She waved and walked up the stairs to her room. Her mind was already swimming with ideas before she reached the top of the flight.
Arrows first. An engraving on the arrows should work and then charge. I should be able to affix whatever crystals I want for the desired effect. Simple leather straps should work. Also, gonna make some enchanted grenades on the same principle, but with a boom. And leggings. Gotta make some leggings and maybe a jacket. And Mags needs a cloak. So much to do and not enough time.
She opened the door to her room and was greeted by a notification explosion.
Official Majesta Tutorial
Dear Paladin,
We are proud to see that you have reached level 9. Since you have proven that you are capable of surviving the battles that lay ahead you, you will now be granted access to the Majestan Royal Library, The Majestan Royal Bank, and the Majestan Royal Auction House.
She closed the door, moved to her chair and continued reading…
Section 1: Royal Majestan Bank
You may now bank at any of the branches that are populated throughout Majesta. Access to your funds is completely secured using an open ledger tor-locked, triple block chained cryptocurrency. You will have access to many banking features, including, but not limited to: lines of credit, employment opportunities, safe deposit boxes, and many other personalized services. You may buy into Majesta, one time with any amount from 0.10USD up to 300.00USD with an exchange rate of 1USD - 3MJG (Majestan Gold). For more information on how exchange rates are calculated, please see your new Banking tab under your inventory menu.
At level 20 and thereafter, you will have access to the Majestan Buyout Program in which you will be able to remove any available money in your Majestan bank account from the Game environment. See your nearest branch for more details.
Video game money? Yes, we like video game money! Video game money we can spend IRL??? YES… we LOVE MONEY!!! Heh heh...
Section 2: Majestan Royal Library
You have been granted access to any first-tier Royal library facility. The Empe
ror created these libraries to increase the knowledge of Majestans. There are books on anything you can imagine, and some things you can’t, i.e. Magic, Crafting, History, and Lore.
There are five tiers of libraries. The first three tiers are available to any paladin with enough Presence to meet the requirements of entry. Feel free to use them at your leisure, or just stop into any library to gain the answers to the questions you have.
Video game books? Yes, we like video game books! Video game books we can use to pwn noobs and lame-o scrubs??? YES… we LOVE BOOKS!!! Haa….
Section 3: Majestan Royal Auction House
You have been granted access to the Majestan Royal Auction House. You will be able to buy or sell any items, publicly or anonymously. The auction house charges a 4% tax on all transactions, 2% from each of the parties involved.
There are auction houses in every major city. Locations can be located at any information stand or any first-tier library. Please see the full regulations that are posted at any auction house.
Video game Auctions? Yes, we like video game auctions! Video game auctions we can use to sell epic gear and buy books??? YES… we LOVE BOOKS!!! MWAHAHAHAHAHA….
Her mind was rolling with the possibilities. She stopped reading and opened her Majesta interface and went to the mailbox. She scrolled past all of the “I love you” messages from her mother, which made her feel warm, found the address and composed a message.
Princess.Cuddle.Fluff@MajestaWeb - 23:46 MJT Dear Mr. Bannon, this is Mayah Butler. I would like to ask a personal favor. Could you please find a good livestream service and show them this attached video? I’ve finally reached level 10 and I want to buy in, but I need the money to do so. A contract with a livestream service would possibly give me enough money to pay for it without taking money out of my parents’ budget. It gets a little tight sometimes.
I only ask because you may be able to broker me a better deal than my parents might get. I would truly appreciate it even though the footage speaks for itself. It’s footage of the first dungeon completion in Majesta.
Thank you for your time and consideration,
Mayah
J.Bannon@MajestaWeb - 00:01 MJT Hello Mayah, for future reference you can call me Josh, all my friends do. Don’t worry about your buy in. I’ll take care of that for you and your brother. As for the Livestream, I’ll talk to a few friends and have your parents sign the paperwork. Just do me a favor and let them know it’s coming and that you ordered it.
Also, the team is working on the cause of the disturbance in your neuro-signal. So far, all we’ve got is that at the time you were fighting, the foreign probe activated. We are going over all data during that time with a fine-toothed comb. We’ll send you the report when it’s done.
Thank you for hanging in there with us,
Josh
She did a little dance in her seat. OMG Josh Bannon knows who I am!!!! And we’re on a first name basis!!! Who’s the neek now? I AM!!!! Okay, okay, okay... get it together when you respond. Don’t geek out. No emojis… or rainbows…. Definitely no rainbows…
Princess.Cuddle.Fluff@MajestaWeb - 00:03 MJT Thank you Josh, that is a load off of my mind. I will send my parents the information. Now please get me out of here. I’m having a mostly wonderful time, but I’m getting homesick.
She fired off a letter to her parents attaching the video, as well. Then she looked at her room. OMG, there’s so much stuff in here. She looked into her bag. OMG, there’s so much stuff in there.
That settles it, I have to clean my room.
She gave herself 15 minutes to organize everything and make a list of what she needed to do tonight. She reminded herself that she had to be careful or she might get tossed out of the village before the tournament.
First on her list were the arrows. Margaret was going to be their ace in the hole. Second was creating a large payload of enchanted grenades to go in an arrow or two …or thirty. Third, some light armor. She was tired of getting stabbed in the leg. She looked over the list and scratched the armor.
It’ll take too much time. I’ll just pick up some leather gear and enchant it. I still need to get some sleep tonight. Zombie arrow attempt number one.
She pulled out Margaret’s quiver and drew an arrow. Then she grabbed her engravers kit. She familiarized herself with the tools. There were various gravers and burins tucked into pockets in a leather roll, a small rotating vise with a clamp on the bottom for fastening it to a work table, small hammers, files, and sharpeners. She picked a graver that looked just right and put everything else to the side of her table. She found a pencil and marked out the runes on the shaft of the arrow, and settled into her work. She did a single line engraving instead of the colorful calligraphy styles she had access to, wanting to minimize the time she spent on each arrow. The arrow was completed in just under 10 minutes. The engraving contained a small circle with three runes around it. Two of the runes lay wrapped around the shaft of the arrow, half of each rolling out of sight. The third was in line with the shaft.
I wonder if it has to be a circle to focus the runes? I wonder what other shapes I could use and what their effects could be. Oh well, short on time, stay focused. Time for the first trial.
She began enchanting the arrow. Halfway through she selected Charge and the enchantment grew in power until it drained her mana almost to the bottom. Wellspring helped fix that and the enchantment held.
DING!!!
Enchanted Armorer Level 1
Costs 10% less mana to create weapons and armors with enchanted capabilities. Capabilities will depend on level, material, quality, and durability.
+1 to Blacksmithing, Armorer, Cobbler, and Tactician
Ding!!!
Enchantment level 6
You have received 15 skill tree points. You have 25 unspent skill tree points
Ding!!!
Runes level 3
Well that’ll come in handy. Especially when I get my Engineering Class Skill. She looked at the arrow and the ID popped up.
Delivery arrow
Activate (3 second activation)
Y/N?
She quickly selected no and went to look at the amount of mana she had used. It was exactly 600mp. Opening her log, she found out why the enchantment took so much mana. It was the runes. She had forgotten the activation cost of each one.
Rookie mistake. I won’t make it twice. Now for trial one part two.
She pulled one of the blue crystal tokens from her bag and was about to affix it to the arrow when she had a thought. Do I really want a corpse in my room? Noooooo... I do not think so.
She returned the crystal to her bag and looked around her room. Ah, here we go. She picked up a bobbin from the bin. I’ve really gotta finish this up for Maam by tomorrow night. Her thoughts hung heavy with all the work she needed to do.
Using the pencil to make a small runeagram on her table, she placed the bobbin in the circle and whisked it off to the pocket dimension, leaving a blue token laying in its place. She tied the token to the arrow with a small band of cloth. She put on her enchanter’s gear and ID’d the arrow.
Delivery Arrow
Activate (3 second activation)
Y/N?
She pressed yes, laid the arrow on the floor and backed as far away as she could for safety’s sake. The rift opened and the bobbin winked back into existence lying next to the arrow.
“Sweet!!!! Time to get to work.”
Because of the drain on her mana and the time it took to craft an arrow, Mayah enchanted as she went. She finished twenty arrows, upping her Engraving to 2 before turned her thoughts to her grenades. Her failure bombs needed more kick.
The boom at the crypt was pretty intense. Can I do that? Can I catch a spell by myself though? Well, only one way to find out.
She turned to the runeagram, flipped the helmet down on her enchanter’s gear and cast Open (Lf). She activated Hold (E) and started an enchantment, casting it into the rift. She dumped half of her stamina into her
mana. Juggling the runes and enchantment was hard work. She held on until felt the enchantment started to fizzle and released Open (Lf). The rift closed, leaving an orange crystal token.
Ding!!!
New Active ability
Dual Cast Level 1
You are now able to cast multiple magics at the same time. Remember, sometimes things go boom.
+1 intelligence
+1 perception
Her mana regen jumped up to 1.14 mana per second, reminding her she needed to assign her stat and skill points. With 20 stat points and 40 attribute points to assign, she opened her character sheet and clicked the edit button. Small up and down arrows lay next to each stat and attribute. She quickly dumped 5 stat points into mana and 5 stat points into stamina, saved her changes and left the rest for later. She just wanted her mana pool to be large enough to complete all of the enchanting she needed to do. The attribute points were going to have to take some experimenting.
Next, she drew a runeagram on a sheet of paper and folded it so that a small pocket was formed. Making sure that the runeagram was only fully visible from the inside, she charged the envelope and placed the orange crystal into the pocket.
Delivery parcel
Would you like to activate?
(3 second activation)
Y/N?
No way…!!! Uhn uh… I’m not blowing up my room. I just cleaned it. She looked around for a place to try her detonation. Her eyes lit on the window. Eh… nobody will know it was me.
She wadded up the envelope with the crystal in it, opened the window, activated the delivery parcel, and threw it as hard as she could toward the empty training field. She watched it arc through the sky, amazed at her strength. It made it a quarter of the way to the training dummies. Just before it touched the ground, there was a boom and flash of light.