The Trapped Mind Project (Emerilia Book 1)

by Michael Chatfield

  Dave stepped into the circle. His durability was down on his armor, losing twenty to forty points of defense as it was chipped and broken in places.

  The only other thing that had changed was its stats.

  Armor modifiers

  Linked Enchantments:

  Wearer’s Agility +63% maximum

  Mana +35% Max

  Charge: 100/100

  He’d used one of the common soul gems he’d bought to use on enchantments. It meant that it was no longer draining him for power or Stamina. Though a 100 charge with those stats would only last a minute and a half if he activated it.

  “Ready?”

  Melisandra nodded, and then Dave did.

  “Go!”

  Dave ran forward, sprinting at full speed.

  The mage was an Evolver; they opened up with two hands of light bolts.

  Dave activated his enchantments and put his power into a mage shield. He saw the look of confusion on her face as she upped her power.

  Dave conjured spikes into his boots, identical to the ones he’d made into the shield just two days ago. They were weak but he’d made many. He stomped forward, just feet from her as his Mana pool was quickly and surely getting chipped away.

  She pulled her hands together.

  No no no no no! Dave jumped and put his hands on hers; a shield pushed the light bolts outward. His Mana was dropping. He grabbed her arms, his shield failing as he brought his head forward and smashed her forehead with his helmet.

  She rolled backward, a cut on her head from the hit.

  Dave staggered around; the light bolts had ripped up his sides and it did not feel pleasant. He lowered her to the ground, her head just over the line.

  “Dave wins!” the ref called.

  Dave put some healing into her face where he’d broken her nose and shaken her brains up a bit. He deactivated the enchantments. He was down to a 20/100 charge.

  His head hurt like hell from having the iron dig into his forehead; he pulled it off. Blood fell from his head, making things look worse than they were. He pulled some healing into the cuts and sat down heavily in the chair Deia guided him to. “Fuck, her head was hard.”

  “Because you hit the crown of it, the hardest part of a person’s skull,” Joko said.

  “Ahh.” Dave sunk back into the chair.

  “Well, you’ve made it into the semi-finals now. It seems that the Players aren’t letting their highest level Players come out to play,” Lox said.

  “Oson’Deia and Magi’Lur!” the announcer called out.

  “Knock ’em flat, babe,” Dave said, smiling and wincing at the same time.

  “You have some weird terms.” She shook her head and walked away. “Don’t shove your face into any other women’s,” she chided, looking back at him.

  “Can do,” Dave said.

  She rolled her eyes and Dave watched the fight.

  Magi’Lur was also a Fire mage. Unlike the Earth mages, they were a lot stronger.

  Deia and Lur fought magical blade on magical blade. The stones were smoking and blackened by their passage.

  They exchanged blows for twenty minutes both looking tired and trying to figure out the others weaknesses.

  It turned into a battle of endurance.

  Deia seemingly tired of the fight, jumped in close. Fire flashed in her hands, two explosions rang through the air, Lur was tossed back, landing outside of the circle He smiled, sad at his loss burecognizing his opponents skill as hebowed to Deia.

  Deia returned it and went back to Dave.

  “That’s a neat trick you used,” Dave said.

  “What is?” Deia asked as she took her seat.

  “Have some of this—get your Stamina up.” Max gave Deia a drink.

  She drank it down, out of breath from her fight as Max passed another to Dave.

  “Thanks, dude.” Dave grinned. The other Dwarves who had been knocked out were now working to keep Gurren, Dave, and Deia on the top of their game. They were all highly competitive.

  “No worries, man. You Players are nuts.” Max shook his head.

  Dave shrugged. While they were hacking away Health, the other games were being rated on simulated blows and kicking someone out of the circle. When you could respawn, it made sense to beat the hell out of one another. You didn’t pull your blows and it made training with other Players much more interesting.

  “You burn everything in a small area, propagating out at your target. This makes air rush in to replace the lost oxygen. Which you then put a fire wall around, burning up the outside, speeding up the air so fast it’s like a damn air cannon. Blasts air right into the target fast as hell and throws them. A hell of a lot of control and precision but you make it look like a fire bolt,” Dave said.

  “What gave it away?” Deia asked.

  “The crack that comes from the over-pressurized air. It’s not one single sound; it’s two.” Dave looked at her. That kind of magic was impressive as it was scary. Having that measure of control over one’s own Affinity—Dave didn’t have control even close to that. It was like TNT compared to a laser: minimal magic for the most effect.

  “Well, looks like we can expand your lessons.” Deia smiled.

  “Uggh. What is with you people and training?” Dave moaned.

  The Dwarves and Deia laughed as Dave shook his head.

  Gurren went in for his match. He was using two hammers with shaped heads. They didn’t look unlike the forge hammers Dave used in the smithy. Gurren hit faster than you would think for someone his size. Each hit he landed was a powerful blow, his decent-sized hammers making armor ring and wood break.

  His opponent was using a great sword.

  Gurren rushed in, trying to close with his opponent.

  The great sword wielder beat him back, using his greater range to keep Gurren at bay.

  Most two-handed users needed a lot of endurance and strength to properly wield their weapons. Something that most people overlooked, more interested in using a massive weapon with high damage stats than understanding their limits.

  This dwarf was not one of them. His attacks were quick and fast but they were not filled with the power that would make him turn with his blade.

  Gurren was trying to beat the blade out of the way but his opponent wasn’t having any of it. He moved forward, pushing Gurren back with strategic hits.

  Using a large weapon like a great sword required strength, but to use it effectively you had to be smart about it. Swinging it wildly would do a hell of a lot of damage. Against a smart and sentient opponent—well, it was not going to end well for you. Unless they were as dumb as a rock or a Goblin.

  Gurren tried to get in close but the two-hander kept him at bay. Gurren lunged in, getting under the blade as the two-hander dropped the blade, pulling out a dagger and holding it to Gurren’s neck when he was close.

  Gurren took a loss but he was grinning and patting the other dwarf on the back. They were competitive but they loved a good challenge.

  “Damn, that guy could teach you a few things, Max! Played me like a damn wardrum!” Gurren said.

  Max nodded. “Has a long-range game and short-range down. That’s Elkart. Damn good fighter.”

  “Sounds like he’s one of your damn folk heroes!” Tounk hit Max on the back.

  The two of them got to their good-natured bickering. An outsider would think that they were angry with each other all the time the amount of times that they got into a good bickering. It was a pastime to them. As if they were listening to an old nursery rhyme.

  Could talk so damn fast and turn around a human so hard that they wouldn’t know that they were paying a dwarf to take their goods!

  “Oson’Deia and Jurna,” the referee called.

  “Good luck,” Dave said.

  “Going to watch little old me’s fight?” She asked as she walked to the stage.

  “Couldn’t take my eyes off you if they paid me!” Dave said, ogling her rear.

  The Dwarves fell aroun
d laughing as Deia shook her head at their antics, a little red coloring her cheeks.

  The sun was high in the sky, heating Dave up in his heavy armor. He watched as Deia and her opposite bowed to each other.

  As soon as the referee started the match, the ground around Deia erupted, stone turning into a hand. Dave leaned forward. Gurren’s hand stopped him from running forward as Deia used her fire to throw herself to the side.

  The dwarf came in with a heavy axe. Wherever Deia stepped, a hand jumped up to capture her. The dwarf moved in, putting her on the defensive. He was using the hands to keep her moving and cornering her so he could get in close with his big axe.

  A stream of fire hit the dwarf’s armor.

  Dave saw the dwarf’s smirk. They couldn’t hit each other in the face so there wasn’t much threat to him. It also seemed that his armor was handling the damage nicely.

  For five minutes, Deia jumped and ran, fire spewing from her hand and hitting the dwarf’s armor.

  Everyone watched the match, yelling encouragement or their anger and frustration.

  No one saw the thin smiles on the Dwarves who had worked in a forge. Dave looked to Kol, a small smile on both their faces.

  Then the dwarf howled out. The flames stopped as the dwarf dropped his axe and started to pull at his armor. It dropped off, a cherry-red spot on his armor and a smoldering mark on his chest where it had been.

  Deia moved in, on the attack. The dwarf hadn’t been paying attention as blades came out across his neck and over his kidneys.

  “Oson’Deia wins!” the ref called. People cheered, people booed and then Dave heard his name get called for his next fight.

  “Wish me luck,” Dave said. The others clapped him on the armor as he moved toward his next match.

  He grinned at Deia and gave her a thumbs-up.

  She smiled, looking tired from her fight.

  Dave looked to his next opponent, Jules.

  He walked into the ring, pulling his helmet on. His Mana might be at seventy percent but he was mentally tired from all of his enchanting. He’d kept his old enchantments; Jules was a hybrid like Mikal. She was also a deft hand with her magical staff and the slim combat knife she had.

  He knew the blade well; he had been the one to make it. It was identical to the US military’s standard Ka-bar. Jules had been a combat medic; losing her legs and her mobility, she’d turned to the VR world to grind money and walk once again.

  “Nice day for a fight.” Dave pulled out his axes.

  “Surprised you aren’t sweating your bag off in there. I know I would be with just body armor. Add in heavy metal plate armor…” She shuddered.

  “Yeah, it’s quite pungent.” Dave laughed.

  “Awwhh, chu nasty man!” Jules grinned.

  Jules’s party had been the ones to open Boran-al’s Citadel and although it had been a boneheaded move, they’d stayed around, trained, and done what they could to make up for the damages. They’d been thinking like Players instead of People of Emerilia.

  Dave could understand that; he still had a foot in both worlds. Since knowing the truth of Earth and Emerilia, it had been hard to not look at the Players with a harsh eye.

  “Fighters, are you ready?” the ref called.

  “Yep.” Dave lowered himself, preparing himself.

  “Sure.” Jules pulled her knife free, lowering herself into her own fighting stance.

  Jules Foster

  Human

  Level 55

  She’d been training hard, grinding out items and gear to sell them through the banker system. With the high-level monsters in the area and the need for healers, she had spent many hours refining her magical craft.

  Mikal had been following Dave’s lead with holding back his levels but she and Esa had been putting their stat points to use as soon as they’d attained them. Their training and their stat points made them powerful opponents.

  “Begin!”

  Dave circled Jules.

  A smile appeared on her face as she adjusted her stance. She’d been ready for his charge.

  They circled each other, examining each other.

  Dave moved forward, trying to hit the staff to the side to open her up for a hit. She spun away from the attack, chanting as she dodged. She kicked behind Dave’s left leg; he braced for the attack as her foot hit his leg.

  His leg broke. He screamed out, his mind reeling in pain as he jumped backward to avoid her combat knife coming for his neck. There is no way that she hit me hard enough to break my leg! He focused Mana on his leg, putting it back together as he was on the full defensive.

  She was a damn good fighter with her combat blade, her staff giving her reach. It was a complicated fighting style but it was clear that the training had paid off. An Action Player would be forced to fight with one weapon or the other. She had no such limits.

  Dave’s leg healed as she landed a blow on his arm. He screamed out, the limb falling useless. His shoulder had popped out; all the bones in his arm were broken. How the hell is she doing this? Dave dropped his right axe, fighting with the other.

  She avoided a nasty hit and touched his side with the hand around her staff.

  Pain flared and Dave crumbled to the ground, down to twenty percent Health.

  Her combat blade touched his neck as his helmet was yanked back.

  “I submit!” Dave said.

  Jules pulled her blade free.

  “Fuuuuuck,” Dave said, allowing himself to sink to the ground.

  “Sorry about that.” Jules winced as she put her hands on Dave.

  The pain fell away even as his bones and muscles started to get back into their right positions.

  “Smart,” Dave said, realizing what she’d done.

  Jules looked to him, her eyes thinning.

  “Your secret is safe with me, damn that’s sneaky.” Dave grinned.

  “Gonna scare the crap out of people if they realize what healers can do.” She stood and offered Dave a hand.

  He took it, testing out his limbs. “Good fight.” He pulled off his helmet. “I can finally get out of this!”

  She laughed, shaking her head and leaving the circle.

  Dave returned to his friends as they talked about her attacks and how her strength had increased further than they had thought possible.

  If they only knew: the power of life is the power of death. It seems that Jules realized that she was not only capable of fixing people but breaking them with healing magic.

  It made sense. If there was a bone that had been set wrong, a healing mage re-broke it with their magic and put it back together. Usually they did it with spells and actions so they didn’t know what they were really doing.

  Dave had told Jules about how he was able to focus his powers, conserving his energy and doing the most effect for the least Mana. Combined with her medical experience, it seemed she’d become a great healer and then turned it to also augment her fighting abilities.

  Few—maybe someone who had been as likely to shoot a target as they were likely to put a person back together—would think of that.

  Remind me to not get on her bad side.

  Chapter 17: Finals

  Bob ate his popcorn as he sat in the bleachers, enjoying the day out. He’d looked over the damage logs from Dave and Jules’s fight. It had been pretty impressive the way she’d taken him down.

  Always entertaining times with these Humans. Bob munched happily as the Elf Oson’Deia took the stage. She had beaten out those within her level 60 to 80 category.

  Now she was fighting a level 89 who had made it into the top four of the 80 to 100 level category.

  Bob smiled. Magic carried with it a signature. The Players used the same spells, which made it difficult to see which ones were using what. Though each of them had different Affinities and play styles, which changed how their magic was used.

  Deia’s style of magic he had seen a lot of in recent history.

  “Oson’Deia, born of Elf and Fire.” Bo
b looked to Dave, at the look in his eyes and the way they’d been looking each other over. Bob grabbed another mouthful of popcorn.

  Deia stepped up against a dwarf engineer.

  They bowed to each other and the referee began their fight.

  Javelins of Earth flew at Deia; she twisted and turned, using blasts of fire to try to evade the spikes.

  The dwarf pulled a stone atronach from the ground. Deia found it swinging at her as the spikes cleared. More spikes formed on the ground and flew up randomly to try to catch her.

  She used blasts of fire to stay aloft. Another atronach appeared; this one was smaller but with crossbows for arms.

  The Mana being used was impressive.

  Deia pulled her bow and fired at the dwarf. An earthen structure pulled over top of the engineer, covering him.

  Deia dodged the crossbow atronach and now the first atronach was throwing Earth spears at her. She was good at dodging but there was just so much coming at her at once.

  She pulled back on her bow. An arrow of red flame appeared, turning blue as she paused and released. She caught a blunted spear to her side as she tried to dodge. The arrow hit the crossbow atronach. It exploded from the blue arrow. Smoldering rock that had been melted with the arrow’s power was all that remained.

  As the echoes of the arrow faded away, the spear-wielding atronach brought her low. She was just feet from the earthen mound when a vine pulled out and grabbed her leg. She hit the mound. A dwarf’s hand held a blade to her back, the earth mound falling apart to reveal him.

  The crowd went wild as the atronach fell apart and the circle returned to normal. Even if Deia had lost, the fight would be talked about for weeks.

  The dwarf and Deia bowed deeply to each other. It had been one hell of a fight and both of them smiled as they walked away.

  Bob heard a chime, a private message.

  He excused himself from the stands, reading the message as he walked and ate his popcorn. “Interesting.” No one noticed the gnome disappear.

  Chapter 18: Reception With a God