“Well, it looks like Gurren was right about the boy having some spirit.” Kol laughed.
Deia heard the clash of wood on wood as people shouted. She looked to the old man in interest.
“Don’t give me that look, lassie. I might be blind in the physical sense but my Mana and my arts are still spry as a youngling’s!” He walked ahead.
She studied the man further. He truly was an object of interest and one of the strongest Earth mages that she had ever encountered. She followed him; her chest tightened as she saw all the cut down trees. She understood the need and knew that their wood would not go unused. A large plot was being cleared a good distance away from the other clearing where the noises were coming from.
She looked in the direction of Dave’s home. It was complete. The Dwarven warband was working on clearing a new area while Dave and Lox were stuck in combat. Dave used wooden axes while Lox used an axe and a shield, also made of wood.
They were fighting and moving. Lox was bellowing out commands and rewarding Dave’s mistakes with blows he would not soon forget.
Deia saw the pride in the Dwarves as they looked over to the battle. Dave might be a halfling but it seemed that the warband had made him one of their own.
Deia looked at the procession behind her. There were many people, both Elven and Dwarven. They made a snaking path back for a while. There were twelve families in total, with another thirty or so singles and four warbands spread throughout. Rangers were also out looking for mobs in the area.
Many knew of what the Elven and Dwarven clans were hoping this new outpost to become. She looked at Dave, wondering whether the young halfling was ready for that.
As they got closer, Deia could see that Dave was no slouch with his axes. They seemed to be his weapon as he kept constantly moving, keeping up his attacks. He was learning, but there was potential in him. Again, he had put on considerable strength and grown so that he now stood at about five foot five, still a foot shorter than Deia. Though she was interested how tall he would grow.
She had seen Humans reach seven feet in height, similar to the high Elves, certain high-level warriors and barbarians. He was interesting and that, to Elves who lived for hundreds of years, was quite possibly the biggest compliment that they could give to something.
***
Kol walked out of the trees, feeling the warmth of the sun on his face fully. He heard the two smacking away at each other. It mattered little to him as he heard Gurren coming at a run.
“Grandfather Kol!”
The little boy had never cared about Kol’s injuries and instead seen the man under it all.
Kol gave one of his few rare smiles as he embraced the boy. “It is good to see you, boy!”
“I didn’t think that you would come all the way out here,” Gurren said.
“You said interesting things about the halfling and his wares. I’m also not about to let my grandson have all the fun out here! I haven’t been out in the sun in an age. My old bones are stiffening up in the old city,” Kol said. Couldn’t deal with everyone’s pity and the thought of you gone for a year and no one to talk to who wouldn’t treat me like some sort of reject.
“Are you with others?” Gurren asked.
“Four more warbands, some of those rangers, and a good group of people interested in trying to make a home here. Is he the land owner?” Kol pointed at the halfling, who just got smacked in the side of the leg. He collapsed but rolled instead of allowing himself to be beaten to the ground.
Kol could feel the smile on the man’s face as well as the resonance within his body. Kol’s ruined mouth could have opened in shock. When he was able to read people, he could see the colors of their Mana, like sun dancing on ripples of water: varying hues could be brought up. Instead, Kol only saw grey.
It was none of the colors but all of them, swirling in a mixture.
Another might have yelled out his find to others. Kol knew how being different affected people. He let out a cough and cleared his mouth. The youngling was indeed interesting. He would grow with time, but Kol would have to test him first.
“So, I heard that you’re trying to make houses out of these damned trees like some kind of Elf!” Kol demanded, looking at the odd structure that had already been built.
“It’s no stone keep, but they’re decent shelter for the time being. Dave found a quarry not far away we hope to use for stone blocks to make some proper homes.” Gurren nodded off away from the hill.
Kol extended his search, passing out his reach in the direction Gurren had nodded. It was a good pit and would have more than enough stone for the homes.
***
“We’re finished today. Keep working on not only attacking but reacting. Need to up that Agility of yours. Have to see if Deia would be interested.” Lox nodded to where Deia sat at the campfire, looking amused.
“I’ll get right on that.” Dave pulled water from his bag. The Dwarves had loaded him up with weight so that it felt as if he had a few hundred pounds on his back, all in the name of training.
He thought he’d been doing well with his own physical exertions and casting Touch. With the Dwarves’ tutelage, he was earning weeks’ worth of training in days. It was invaluable, but Dave could see it slowing down already.
“With all of these people around, it might be good if we have somewhere other than my house or the campsite to stay.”
“Well, what else are we going to do? Make a place out of thin air?” Lox laughed.
“Read my mind.” Dave pulled out the smithy box and then grabbed the orb.
“Joko, Gurren, Max, Tounk!” Lox yelled. Dave could hear the excitement in his voice.
A dwarf whose face looked as though it had been pulled down with eye patches covering their empty eye sockets followed.
It was the worst injury Dave had seen in his life. It made him feel sorry for the man, but he held himself with obvious pride and Dave felt a strong power from the man. He might look feeble; his ruined hands and the way that his clothes still held to him, even in his advanced age, made him look scary and weak. Though Dave sensed a hidden power in the dwarf, one that few truly saw.
Dave held out the portable smithy.
Portable Smithy
The portable smithy shakes with power. Do you want to use it?
Cost: 250 Mana
Y/N
“Yes.” Dave’s voice rumbled with power.
Mana sped from Dave to the globe. He felt as if power he didn’t know of was leaking out of his body. He fed his power into the portable smithy.
It glowed, rising up and moving away from the group. People who were coming in hopes of creating a home exited the woods and looked at the spinning orb, colors of all kinds rushing through it.
It spun, faster and faster until it was a blur. One second, there was nothing but a cleared plot of land; the next, there was a large smithy. It was built from stone, with coals stoked and anvils waiting for items to be worked on.
“Well, looks like it was worth that damn trek.” Kol grinned as much as his face would let him.
Chapter 12: Bleeder
Bob appeared in the middle of what looked like to be the beginning of a new outpost. Warbands were wandering around. Darkness had settled, tents were up, and people were sitting around campfires and talking, excited for the future. One house was already built, with a smithy beside it. Dwarves wandered around the smithy.
Bob stealthed away, headed for the house and its porch that looked over the hills of the area. “Look at you, alive and well,” Bob said.
Dave looked at Bob as though he had just seen a ghost.
“Six days have gone and past, yet here you are, alive and well. You want to log off and check again?” Bob asked.
Dave did so.
Bob sat against the house and looked out over the stars, taking it in. A moment of rest in a sea of chaos and motion.
***
Zane came back into existence, finding himself asleep in his bed. There were no messag
es for him. He simply willed himself to return to Emerilia and he was back on his porch and Bob was sitting there.
“Welcome to reality, Dave. You’re the first bleeder, ever.” Bob smiled.
“So, what about the NPCs—the other Players? They can’t be fake,” Dave said.
“They aren’t; they were seeded long ago. Their ancestors, like Players were grown at first. Now, there are so many races from the Affinity Pantheon messing around or interbreeding that a number of extra races cropped up. Before you ask, Players are grown in cycles that take three years. We speed up the simulation for a bit, then slow it down to a third of normal speed. A crop of Players usually last ten years on Emerilia. In the last year, the nanites in your body that allow you to augment yourself with skills and use magic are seeded with a program that will kill anyone that doesn’t log out of the game at the end of nine years. By that time, a new batch of Players has been grown. A few months after the last of the Players leave, a new cycle walks the planet once again,” Bob said.
“So, what do you want from me?” Dave asked, knowing that usually the people who embodied the power of the Affinities gave out tasks and quests to win against their opposites.
“What do I want? Nothing—nothing at all.” Bob grinned.
“Then, why are you here?” Dave was confused.
“I’m here, my dear boy, because I want to be. You are here because you passed through the veil.” Bob rubbed his hands together in interest.
“What do you get out of this all?” Dave asked.
“Entertainment,” Bob said simply.
Dave looked confused as he sat down on the edge of the porch.
“There has never been a bleeder before, a Player realizing the reality of Emerilia. For a time, I thought that it might not happen. Then you showed up,” Bob said. “Chaotic Neutral with the realization that Emerilia is real. The AI don’t even know what you’re going to do, you could do nothing or change all of Emerilia. You can stay here and create an outpost, you can go adventure into the wilderness, you can travel portals, master grey mana or join a guild. Your opportunities are boundless and the AI can’t compensate for what you do until you’ve already done it. The ripples and disturbances you could make in Emerilia,” Bob looked excited at the thought as he rubbed his hands together.
“Grey Mana?”
“This is going to take awhile—all right. So, most people have various colors associated with their Mana; maybe multiple colors that are associated with the type of Affinity that they’re proficient in, or used first. You unlocked them all at the same time, so your Mana will look grey.”
“Wait, first, what the hell is mana?” Dave asked.
“Wow, we’re going with the easy ones first huh? Okay, so Mana is a combination of things. First the energy that your body can store which would be your mana pool. Then, there are spells, changes that you create in your environment and yourself. This is usually done with the augments that you have or specialized nanites. Combine Mana and spells and you get an effect,” Bob said.
“Okay, so I’m just using different kind of nanites? So, me growing in one affinity means?”
“That you have more nanites of that kind within your body to alter along the different elements path.
“What about Runes?” Dave asked.
“Say you’re building a closet. It’s easier to see the pictures and step by step instead of having someone reading it to you. Same with magical circuits. You have runes to lay out step by step instructions for changing the mana into an effect. You can really refine the instructions with runes. With Chants, it’s much more difficult; there is tonal inflection, pauses unseen punctuation. It’s much more general than a magical circuit and the runes making it up.
“Now, look into my eyes.” Bob waited as Dave’s eyes reached him.
Bob established a link and fed him information, while also understanding Dave better. It seemed like moments but felt like a lifetime when Bob closed his eyes and looked away.
“Wow,” Dave said, sounding stunned.
“Instantaneous information transference—same kind of thing that is used on spell books and other books you can learn information from.”
Dave held up his hand. A grey mist filled his hand, hardening into a ball. It looked as if he’d made a perfectly polished grey stone ball.
“Welcome to Neutrality. My name in Emerilia is Bobby McMahnon.” Bob extended his hand.
“Hi, Bob. I’m Dave.”
“Good to meet you, Dave. Now, let’s work on that Conjuring of yours.” Bob grinned.
“What is with everyone and training!” Dave complained. “I’ve got more questions!”
“Ah, come on, it’s pretty fun—being the trainer, that is.” Bob smiled. “I’ll answer what I can.”
“So, when I respawn here, what happens?”
“A new body is created and your consciousness is transferred to your new body. You lose overall level experience and the stat points you invested with those levels. Also, people can loot your body of anything that isn’t soul bound or in something soul bound. The experience and stat loss is dependent on two things, how long a person has been at one level and their willpower. If you advanced through levels quickly, you will lose them faster. This is because you are not used to it. When you are recreated, your consciousness is used as a blueprint for the new body. On Emerilia, your consciousness is saved in an energy medium, known as Willpower. The stronger your Willpower, the less drop in level you will have. Same as if you have been at the same level for a longer time, or you level up your stats by yourself and didn’t lose your stat points with each gained level. Anything that you gain yourself through training or actions you cannot lose,” Bob said.
“So, if I level fast, I can lose levels fast because my consciousness isn’t used to the higher-powered body. If I develop my stats myself, I don’t lose them and the higher my willpower, the less levels I lose?” Dave said.
“Bingo, what else do you have for me?” Bob asked.
“So, what happened to the previous Players?”
“They all died,” Bob grimaced.
“How?”
“At the end of every cycle, the servers ‘shut down.’ When people log off, their consciousness tries to reconnect to the Earth simulation, but it has already been turned off. Logging off kills them. Those that don’t log off are either killed by Emerilia’s Paladins or a Jukal hit squad. The Jukal pay a lot of money to be allowed to hunt down old Players,” Bob said, looking away.
“Is this all that’s left of humanity?” Dave asked.
“That I know of.”
For long moments, they sat there, each wrapped up in their own thoughts.
“Okay, let’s give this a try.” Dave rubbed his hands together. This was his reality now; he needed to be ready for what came in the future. He still had lingering doubts, but his mind was coming to the realizations that he didn’t fully want to accept.
Instead of thinking about it all, he called up one of the metal poles with spikes at the end of it. It was the same spike he’d dropped on the bear.
“Nice—saw that bear thing. Seems that in a fight, you find it a lot easier. We need to get you to where it’s like flexing a muscle: imagine and poof!” Bob held his hand out; a great sword appeared from a cloud of smoke. “Sword!”
Dave smiled. It was hard to get annoyed with Bob; he was, after all, helping him and a pretty happy-go-lucky guy.
“Okay.” Dave put the spike down and created another in his hand.
“That’s what I’m talking about!” Bob said.
Chapter 13: Questions and Answers
Dave finished his sparring and training with Joko and Deia. He was getting both faster and stronger, and actually understanding the basics of fighting. He snorted as he looked at where his action bar should have been.
There were two types of Players: Evolvers and Actions. Action Players bought spells and attacks that were based on their stats and levels. When they played, they used mental, vocal,
and preset commands, which would use their selected actions and make them perform different actions. While they carried out an action, they were unable to do anything else.
That was what made Evolvers so deadly. They didn’t use preset commands or only a few. They trained with their weapons and actually fought instead of mashing command after command.
Say you had two archers: one an Action and the other an Evolver. On a range, the Action would probably do amazing. Might be a bit slower or their arrows less powerful but their aim was brilliant.
Take that and put it on the battlefield. Sure, the Action could fire an arrow with good accuracy, but once they command to fire, they couldn’t pause.
An Evolver could run and dodge, holding their bow notched and ready. When they saw a target, they could pull and hold, getting a feel for the target’s movement—anticipating it and then letting loose, or dodging an attack and giving up.
Once an Action Player was committed, they were rooted to the spot. If you took that and put it with two melee fighters—one Action, one Evolver—the Action needed a powerful ass stun or crowd control to hold the Evolver at bay. Even ten levels above wasn’t enough of a gap. The Evolver, if properly trained, would use the seconds that it took for an Action to select their attack and carry it out to stab the almighty hell out of them.
The Evolver could target critical areas while the Action would only get them if they had a special attack, or actually started using their Evolving actions.
Dave smelled a familiar smell. A grin passed over his face. Bob might have made this prison but Dave didn’t deny that they had become friends. He was also a wealth of information, which had helped to clear up the whole “stat points and level” debacle.
When you gained enough XP to get to a higher level, you were given 5 stat points to invest how you want. It was only once you had invested these points that your ranks went up.
The Trapped Mind Project (Emerilia Book 1) Page 15