Ice Armor (Full) – Covers caster in frost to protect from damage. Cost: 3 Aether. Duration: 30 minutes (environment and hostile magic effects duration).
That was amazing! I looked down at my body catching sight of frosty-looking mail that slowly faded from view. It was there still—I could feel it—but I could also see that there was a small armor buff beneath my health bar. I blinked at it, and it showed me the duration and name of the spell.
Uncanny, how this was playing out.
I opened my status and saw that there was now a Spells tab with that spell specifically in it.
So, my earlier dalliance with magic hadn’t netted me an actual spell, just a use of magic? I focused my sudden displeasure on the bright side of the situation—I could use magic. And thanks to other games I had played, I would make a competent ice mage to boot.
Just a matter of safely testing my boundaries and seeing how I can improve.
“Again!” Mona’s frustrated growl brought me out of my own thoughts. She had some cuts on her arms and legs, even one on her face. Her feral snarl surprised me as she moved toward Cälaos with her weapons raised. The hair on the back of my neck prickled as I watched their brutal exchanges, Mona being beaten on and her trainer seemingly only having fun.
“He knows what he’s doing,” Thea offered as she stood next to me, a curious look on her face. “You clench that fist any tighter, and you’ll lose it.”
I blinked and unclenched my fist, the nails having dug in a little more than I would have liked, then Thea spoke again, “You’re sweet on her? She family?”
I frowned and had a decision to make, opting to remain silent for a moment, then, “She’s my best friend. Seeing her trounced like this is hard.”
“I get that.” She left it alone from there, and we went back to watching the fight.
The nimbler man eluded her clutches masterfully, opting to allow her to come to blows with him with her blades clanging off of his ineffectively.
While they danced, I tinkered with my ice magic a little more, no new spells as of yet, but it was so cool to use, and it was addicting. I tried to get a hold of the others via whisper but got nothing in return. They were still online from the party tab. Oh well.
“Fuck!” my head whipped up, and I saw Mona swinging her weapons wildly once more, her trainer dancing around her effortlessly.
She gritted her teeth as she swung toward his head, but he was no longer there. Cälaos ducked and twisted, kicking her in the stomach hard enough to send her end over end onto her face ten feet away.
She coughed and sputtered as Cälaos swaggered over to her prone form. “I appreciate your aggression, but coming at a Master too aggressively is a death sentence on the battlefield. Watch. Be patient until it is truly time to strike—then do not hesitate.”
She held a hand aloft and put a single thumb into the air, then it flopped back down onto the ground beside her. A wash of healing energy spread about us, making me turn to find Sundar and Albarth behind us with smiles.
“About time someone tried to teach you to use your fiery head for something other than being dumb.” Albarth snorted as he stepped forward toward me. “I had no idea that it would take so long to find someone to unlock my magics. Did we miss much? Sorry for ignoring your whispers, I had it turned off so I could focus.”
“Only the two of us getting our butts kicked.” I grinned and stood. By now, my Aether had recovered another point, making me believe that my recovery for it was close to a minute per section. “How does your guys’ magic work?”
They blinked and smiled, Sundar motioning to Al first. “Go ahead.”
Albarth stepped forward, then he was no longer there. I felt a tap on my left shoulder, glanced over to find the grinning wood nymph standing next to me.
“Space, I assume?” I raised an eyebrow at him, and he shook his head.
“Wind.” He took a steadying breath and reached out with his right hand as if punching something, his fist disappearing, and then a resounding thunk on the back of my head made me yelp. “That was space.”
“That’s incredible!” Monami sounded grumpy, but she limped over to us and grinned. “So, you can use wind magic to augment your physical speed and then space to attack something from a distance. The applications of this are limitless.”
“I’ll agree, it’s kind of broken.” Al didn’t look like there was any sort of remorse to his abilities whatsoever as he said it.
“What about you, Monami?” Sundar asked suddenly, making me flinch. “What does your magic do?”
“Well, it’s metal-based, and since it is, Ori said that he wanted me to come and work in the forge with him and the other smiths.” She smiled at the calls of support from Thea and Cälaos. “I start tomorrow, or rather, whenever I can.”
“That’s great!” Sundar smiled supportively, but it didn’t seem quite so genuine now.
“You aren’t sure how to use your own magic, are you?” I asked as I pulled her away from everyone else. Al and Mona moved to follow, but I waved them away with a stern look.
“I…” She looked down, her green cheeks mottling red as she glanced anywhere but at me, then she growled and shoved me away. I fell onto my rump, and she growled her frustration. “I’m a fighter, okay? I like magic plenty, but I don’t have the imagination to take something so abstract and try to own it the way that you and the others do, okay? I’m not smart enough for that. I’m a soldier. I like guns. I like to fight and scrap and hold the methods of my strength in tangible ways. Is that so bad?”
I laughed, and that seemed to make her even angrier, her whole face reddening in rage. “The fuck is your problem, S—Kyvir?”
“Because now, of all times, our roles are reversed.” The response gave her pause, but her fists were still clenched at her side as I continued. “Who was it that came to the veteran player—leader of a guild so notorious for running all the toughest content in Blood and Gore that other people were terrified to even approach her? Me. A level one newbie who knew nothing, let alone how to do any of the content. And what did she do? Pass me off to the nearest low-level scrub for hazing and half-assed help?”
She looked away, but I stood up and brushed myself off while the others watched. “Nope! She took the time to help me out because she understood what it was to truly love the game she was playing. She taught me all the secrets she could, and with her help, I flourished in a difficult game with a difficult magic system. And what did she always tell me? Come on, Sun—you know it. What did you tell me?”
She grumbled something inaudible, so I theatrically held my hand up behind my ear and raised my eyebrows. She huffed and rolled her eyes. “To never fear asking for help because the people too busy to give it suck, and the ones who love what they do will share.”
I raised my arms wide and shook my head. “Do you have any doubt that the three of us are going to let you stumble while we flourish?”
Albarth approached slowly, his head tilted to the side as he tried to catch the big woman’s downcast gaze. “My dear Sundar, I may tease you and complain about your lecherous ways, but I love all of you dearly. I would never see any of our guildmates suffer, in this world or the next. I will help you.”
“Me too!” Mona said simply with her arms crossed, and furry chin raised defiantly.
“I’m a magic nerd, Sunny,” I teased softly. “I will do everything in my power to assist you. And if we need to go and find out what you can do, then so be it, but you aren’t alone, and you aren’t a burden.”
“You can seek assistance from a dryad, if needed,” Gage’s voice reverberated in my chest a second before I felt his giant hand alight on my shoulder. “There is one in the center of the city, though he is reclusive by nature, he comes out to speak to those with whom he has an interest. What types of magic did you say you had? Animal, and what else?”
“Sealing.” Sundar raised her head, her cheeks were still red, but the rage had abated. “And sorry, buddy. I didn’t mean to react so
poorly.”
“No man left behind,” I grinned at her. “You taught me that.”
“I like that saying.” Gage guffawed suddenly. “It heartens me greatly that soldiers and protectors even worlds over have some of the same ideologies.”
“Sealing magic is rare,” Ünbin stated as he joined us. “I know a person. I’ll show you.”
“If you’re gonna talk to everybody now, you can forget me being your mouthpiece from now on!” His brother harrumphed loudly. “Most I’ve even heard him say and to the lot of you.”
“How do you know what he’s thinking if he barely talks to you?” Thea asked with a look of concern on her face.
Cälaos shrugged and motioned from himself to Ünbin. “Twin thing.”
“Come.” Ünbin took Sundar’s hand and began to tug her toward the fence in the rear by the training circle.
“Use the gate!” Gage snorted a warning to the Kin man. “I will not have my neighbors seeing someone jumping my fence again.”
Ünbin turned his deadpan face to us, smiled and made to jump, but stopped and waved a hand over the fence. A gate appeared in the wood, and they used it to leave.
“Gage tells me that you are a master with the rapier?” Albarth asked the remaining brother suddenly. I turned to see him nodding vigorously before Albarth smiled. “Care for a match?”
I blinked at the man I had known for a couple years. “You know how to use a rapier?”
“I’ve been known to dabble in many things, Mageblood.” Albarth winked at me and stepped into the training circle. “How does this work, will we be using regular swords?”
“We will use rapiers,” Cälaos responded as he pulled two of the long, thin blades from his inventory. “What good is mastery if you don’t carry the weapon?”
Albarth chuckled and caught the weapon by the hilt, lifting it to inspect. “Excellent craftsmanship, but no stats?”
“Training circle thing,” I called out, gaining his attention. “Also, may want to turn off your damage notifications while in there, he won’t kill you.”
He nodded and whispered something to himself before settling into a position with the left side of his body forward, blade tip resting in the ground with little weight on it as he waited for Cälaos to be ready.
“En garde!” The Kin man barked, both weapons lifting and presenting at the ready position. Albarth had his right hand behind his back in a comfortable-looking position, his feet spread slightly wider than shoulder length apart.
The two men eyed each other for a moment, then stepped into motion. Blades clashed, whipping back and forth, the two of them exchanging blows as if almost on level ground.
“You’re good at this!” Cälaos laughed, his high left arm dipping behind him as if tired. “Do you mind if I let loose a little?”
“By all means.” Albarth smiled back. “It has been too long since I have crossed swords with someone.”
Cälaos switched hands, his right hand catching the weapon even as it struck Albarth’s own, then the speed of his attacks seemed to increase slightly, but that slight shift was enough to drive Al a step back.
The two of them continued on for a moment longer, then Albarth disengaged a second. “Forgive me, master Cälaos, but if I might have a moment to take this shirt off?”
Cälaos shrugged happily and took a drink of his own leather bladder. Albarth took his shirt off, and something caught my eye. Iridescent wings shimmered on his back as he flexed his lithely muscled body. They fluttered and moved as if of their own accord, and he shifted his hips a moment, popping his back, making him grunt softly.
“Much better, thank you.” He switched from his left-handed grip to right-handed and bowed to the other man. “If you would allow me to be so bold as to ‘loosen up,’ I would see myself tested thoroughly here.”
“Happy to have someone to spar against.” Cälaos eyes narrowed minutely, and he shifted into his own stance.
The flurry of blows from one man to the other was almost dizzying. Jabs led to parries and ripostes that shook my already frayed nerves to the core. Albarth and Cälaos both began to grunt and sweat with the exertion. Their bodies in motion, muscles taut, and defining as they moved in a brutal give and take of violence that gave me a newfound respect for my friend.
“You really never figured that out?” Mona asked me in a hushed tone, the display of physical prowess still captivating her.
“Figured what out?”
“Remell?” She offered as a hint, and I shrugged. “God, you are such a shut-in. His real name isn’t Allen, it’s Alexander Remell! He’s the three-time gold-medal-winning fencing champion!”
I blinked and looked at her in shock. “You can’t be serious.”
“Yup. Three games in a row.” She turned back to watch him as he moved, blocking a particularly vicious blow meant to gore his stomach. “Started at sixteen.”
“But what was that about him not going to the last games?” I racked my mind trying to figure out what had happened, what I might have read on it, but I found nothing.
“A loss in the family was what had been reported,” she answered, and based off his conversation with me earlier, I think I had it figured out.
His heart had been broken by his loss, and he couldn’t bring himself to go.
“Finally!” Cälaos bayed with laughter, his attacker growing more precise as he went.
A similar thrust from Cälaos, as had been seen earlier, pierced the air in front of my friend’s stomach, the Kin master lunging impossibly swiftly. Albarth grunted, his hips shifting slightly to avoid the strike as his blade slapped the encroaching weapon just to the side, and his hips shifted once more as his left hand cracked the master across the jaw, sending him sprawling onto the ground.
Cälaos popped back up with a huge smile on his face. “You’re a master?!”
“I would hardly call myself such—oh.” Albarth paused with a frown. “I suppose the system thinks otherwise.”
“Acknowledgment from the system aside, I think the only reason it took you so long to best me was that my stats are likely higher than your own. If we had been equal, you would have beaten me much sooner.” I was confused as to why Cälaos was so happy about losing to someone. “But if we have time, can you teach me what you did with your blade at the end? It seemed so simple that I overlooked it, and it was my undoing.”
The whole exchange confused me until I saw the multiple cuts and gashes along the man’s arms and chest from Albarth’s weapon, and my friend only had a few scores on himself.
“I would be delighted, my new friend.” Albarth held the blade in front of his face, the hilt just below his chin in a salute. Cälaos mirrored the movement with fascination, then they both cut their salute by bringing the weapon to their respective sides.
“So, I guess we know what weapon he will be using from now on.” I snorted, and Mona joined me.
“Well, of course, it’s an elegant weapon—like myself.” Albarth winked at us. “But, your brother, I would love to learn the bow, perhaps?”
“I would be happy to ask him for you!” Cälaos took his practice weapon back and clapped the other man on the shoulder. “Just don’t tell him you beat me so soundly, okay?”
“Why ever would I do such a thing?” The look of mischief on his face was telling, and Albarth laughed with Gage as the Kin blushed.
Chapter Ten
Three of us decided to take a small break for a while, Sundar opting to push through for a bit since she was at the Kin’s mercy.
Gage had explained that the person he had gone to contact was busy but would likely be available after nightfall.
When we got out of the game this time, it was around one in the afternoon, and my stomach grumbled wildly.
I set an alarm for an hour and clothed myself before going to the kitchen. The light from the fridge blinked on a heartbeat after I opened the door, unusual. The sandwich I had in mind after that consumed my thoughts as my stomach gurgled.
I laid my ingredients out. Wheat bread, lettuce, tomato, turkey, leftover bacon, cheese, and some condiments. I slathered a small amount of mayonnaise on the bottom piece of bread, then assembled the sandwich. Before adding the bread, I added a little hot sauce for some love to it, then dug in with gusto.
The tang and heat were amazing. Rather than listen to myself chew, I turned on the small television in the counter, it raised on a small dais until it was flush with the tile before turning on. I thumbed to the news, wondering if there was an update to the hospital thing.
I turned the volume up on a headlining news bulletin.
“—anks, Mike. We bring you this next piece from China. The People’s Republic has announced that their people will be able to try—under strict monitoring—the latest launch from Mana, Myth, and Legend Studios called ‘Mephisto’s Magic Online.’ The game boasts some of the most advanced types of gaming systems in the world, including biological and psychological input from the players that assist in choosing the ‘gift’ best suited to them.”
As she spoke, a b-roll of Chinese leadership being led around a facility with monitors and technicians overseeing people being prepared for the game. The portal pods were blurred heavily, and I grinned, thinking about how secretive they were being.
“Here to talk about the new release and what is planned for the future is our special guest for this piece, CEO of the company, Aiden Muhng.” The reporter, a fit woman with dark brown hair, turned, and the camera panned to a wider shot that showed a man sitting next to her with a smile plastered to his face.
He didn’t seem worried at all, and his features seemed… bland, somehow. It was a face that would blend in if he were to step into a large crowd of people, just handsome enough to not stand out for being ugly. Sandy-brown hair and brown eyes that shone in the lights of the camera.
“Thanks for having me, Renée.” His voice was forgettable too. Huh.
“Well, we understand that you acquired the studio under a former name years ago, I think it was Jamming Studios?”
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