by Blaine Hicks
“So what’s she getting this time?” Radley asked
“She's running out of space for new tattoos, so this season she's charging a million coin per square inch. It's not a bad deal if you ask me, considering her 90 million subscribers.” His mom grunted as she reached for another pair of pants to fold from the clothes pile. “Hersh & Gamble is paying for a three by two of their new ‘honee flavored paste packet’ on her neck. They're bringing in this artist from Vegas who’s doing it old school...all by hand. I’ve got my fingers crossed that he spells something wrong.”
“mmhamm” Radley said with his mouth still full as he shoveled in his last bite of mash. He chewed the savory protein then swallowed before responding, “That sounds ultra-entertaining. If I wasn't playing my game tonight, I'd watch some of it with you.”
“It's fine.” She cut him off before he could apologize more. “Play your game, but take another break before ten. I know it's Friday but you still need to unload the dishwasher before I go to bed. I also need the pre-filter changed on the downstairs HEPA.” The chores were easy enough and Radley smiled. “Thanks mom, you're the best!”
His mom flashed a grin back then flicked her fingers forward to start the holo-stream again. Radley took his now-empty plate back into the kitchen and rinsed it in the sink before adding it to the top shelf of the dishwasher. He closed the appliance and asked it to run a normal wash, then jogged back upstairs to the neural gear that was calling his name. It was time to explore a new world.
CH.5 Class Masters
Logging in went more smoothly the second time and there were no calibration steps slowing down the transition. Instead, Radley just opened his eyes and found himself back in the stone room. He tapped his chest to re-open his user interface and flicked through the various menus until he found a utility tab with some settings. It offered several helpful tools, including an in-game alarm that he set for 9:00 pm. He also enabled a real time clock on his HUD. With the reminder in place, he rose to his feet. Once again, he felt light and quick. He liked being a naga. He wasted no time checking the wooden chest by the bed to see what kind of goodies it held. Inside were a plain set of white clothes and a brown braided cord that seemed to be meant as a belt. A flashing magnifying glass appeared on the edge of his vision indicating some information about them was available. He selected the prompt and was immediately given their item stats:
Simple Cotton Shirt
Armor Type: Cloth
Worn: On Body
Armor Roll: +1
Quality: Common
Effects: None
Value: 0 c
Simple Cotton Pants
Armor Type: Cloth
Worn: On Legs
Armor Roll: +1
Quality: Common
Effects: None
Value: 0 c
Simple Cotton Moccasins
Armor Type: Cloth
Worn: On Feet
Armor Roll: 0
Quality: Common
Effects: None
Value: 0 c
Braided Cotton Belt
Armor type: Cloth
Worn: About Waist
Armor Roll: 0
Quality: Common
Effects: None
Value: 0 c
The clothes were nothing special but fighting in them would be better than fighting in just boxers. Radley dressed and double-checked the chest for anything else. Besides the clothing, he found a small coin purse with three silver coins inside. It was interesting to hold non-digital currency. You could just hand it to somebody and buy things. No account, RFID chip, or password was needed. It was so simple. He pulled one of the coins out and inspected it. It was shiny. On the front was a four-point star that looked like a sharpened plus sign, and on the back was an inscription that stated, 1 Silver.
Radley’s new clothes had no pockets, so he tied the coin purse to his belt. Buying a bag would be a top priority but this seemed to work well enough. He searched the room for anything else but found nothing, so he headed out the door into the night. Radley had no portable light which became a problem when he went outside. As the door closed behind him, he was plunged into the utter-darkness of a moonless night. The sudden void of nothingness around him was shocking and he wanted to turn around and go back inside. He was reminded of a power outage a few years ago; the only time in his life that he had experienced total darkness. It was during an infamous utility union strike that had lasted so long the battery backups and flashlights had eventually failed. Every other night of his life, he had slept in a bedroom lit by the flickering glow of various LED lights. In an existence without total darkness, few things were more terrifying, and Radley frantically flicked on his heat vision. He relaxed as soon as the contrasting vision lit the night.
The warm night saturated everything, making his heat vision burn light grey. Every surface glowed but was robbed of any detail. It was like walking over new snow on an overcast day. Light came from everywhere, but it was hard to see anything. It was, however, better than the blackness. He stepped down a pair of stone steps to a brick pathway that glowed slightly brighter than the dirt beside it. It led through an archway in a stone wall. Radley wasn’t ready to blindly follow the path, so he searched around but concluded it was the only path available. Following it led him out of the city toward a dark plateau. The path had an intricate design in the brick placement that persisted along it in crisp swirling patterns but the bricks themselves were chipped and worn making them appear very old. Dry grass grew up through cracks between them and crunched under Radley’s cotton moccasins as he walked through the archway. On the other side, the path continued upward along a sandstone walkway that ended at a steep cliff face. Radley inspected the sudden impediment but concluded that it was too smooth to climb.
He was just about to turn back when he noticed a switchback that branched off the walkway to his right and wound up the face of the cliff. He was level 1, without a weapon and with no idea what he was doing; wandering out into the unknown night wasn’t exactly how he had expected to start the game. As he climbed, his confidence began to falter. He felt very alone and was unsure if he should continue forward or wait for daylight. This felt like being in a horror film where he was playing the camper who goes out alone to get firewood and never comes back. He prepared himself for the obvious jump-scare that never came. Instead, he continued up the switchbacks until he reached the top of a high plateau.
Eventually the path flattened out again and his destination became obvious. In the center of the broad space burned a low bonfire, surrounded by several motionless figures in dark cloaks. As Radley approached the bonfire, the closest form moved smoothly towards him with barely a sound. It was tall and spoke in a hissing rasp. It said “Thiss iss the morning of your birth young one. All you think you know iss forgotten and all you may achieve iss before you.”
Radley flicked off his heat vision realizing that, in the firelight, he could see the creature more clearly without it. Like himself, this creature was naga, its yellow serpent eyes seemed to glow in the dancing firelight. But unlike him, this naga was a naga-hass and below its torso a thick snake tail trailed out behind it. Radley understood now that the hass version of naga could offer more benefits than simply the ‘entrance serpent’ skill. The hass were physically imposing and stood almost a head taller than Radley. A flashing magnifying glass icon appeared in his HUD indicating he could identify the creature. He selected it with a mental command:
Nyssraski Naga Master
Name: Nazgalli Sseffsen
Class: Warrior
Alignment: Dark
Size: Medium
Health 1135/1135
Battle consideration: This naga is level 50. Class selection is in a safe zone.
Their conversation continued. “You must choosse your master.”
Radley hesitated, “How do I choose?”
“Each masster here can offer a different path. Choosse the master that you will follow.”
Radley co
nsidered this for a moment then asked, “What path do you offer?”
“I am Masster Sseffsssen. I am a warrior. I teach the ability ‘sshield bash’ and offer a boosst to the skill proficienccy related to defense and any two weapon types you choosse. Radley nodded politely, but the path of a front-line brute was not the path for him. He moved around the circle to the next naga master and asked the same question.
This master was also naga-hass but not quite as imposing as master Sseffsen. He wore a dark green cloak that obscured most of his features and seemed to blur along its edges in the firelight. “I am Masster Khasskan,” the snake hissed. “I am a ranger. I teach the abilitiess ‘double sshot’ for a bow and ‘double sstrike’ for bladess. I can offer a proficcienccy boossst to sstealth and foraging sskillss.”
Pretty cool, Radley thought, but still not for me. He continued moving around the circle asking each master what they offered.
“I am Master Ffess” the next naga said. This was the first master that was a naga-tao like Radley but he was thinner with dark sunken eyes. His gaunt face gave him a sour look like he’d just been sucking on lemons if such a thing were possible for a snake. “I am a rogue. I teach ‘sneak attack’ and offer a proficiency boost to skills of stealth, poisons, and small blades.”
Radley nodded and continued around the fire circle. Each remaining master began to speak as he approached giving the summary of their class.
“I am Master Hasshhassen. I am a dark paladin. I teach the faith of Kassanqueyzll, the powerful snake god of war. He will aid his disciples with a cloak of shadows when called upon. I offer a proficiency boost to both two-handed weapons and unholy incantations.”
“I am Master Ssolazen. I am an illusionist. I teach the beginning spell ‘inflict terror’. I offer a proficiency boost to illusion magic and to one-handed slashing blades.”
“I am Master Sseviss. I am an elementalist. I teach either fire palm or stone fist as a starting spell. I can offer a proficiency boost to two-handed blunt weapons and elemental magic.”
“I am Master Ssen. I am a sshaman. I teach the faith of Tessassoul, the powerful spirit god of life. Sshe will aid her disscipless with ‘healing aura’ when called upon. I offer a sspirit companion, a strong proficiency boost to ‘spirit magic,’ and a weak proficiency boost to ‘healing magic.’”
As Radley moved forward again, he realized he had come completely around the circle and was once again facing Master Sseffsen. “Where are the rest of the options?” Radley asked confused “I was expecting maybe a necromancer or shadow warlock or something; you know, something with some kick to it.”
“These are the paths from which a naga may choose” Master Sseffsen said with a hint of irritation. “You might be surprised by the kick you find if you follow any of these paths far enough.” With a sharp glint in his eye, the master added, “If you are not satisfied with what we offer, you may of course return to your race selection and choose again who you will be. Other races will have other masters who might instruct you differently.”
“No thanks...” Radley grumbled quickly. He’d been playing this game for hours now and wasn't about to start the whole process over. He expected a character wipe anyway when the game went live so he’d be able to try a different race when that happened. He went back to consider the four types of casters being offered: dark paladin, illusionist, elementalist and shaman.
The shaman class was tempting. A spirit companion would be super cool and having the pocket tank would be a major boon, but he didn’t want to be a healer and the whole religious aspect given to the priests’ classes was weird. The elementalist was kind of a question mark because Radley hadn’t ever heard of the class before in an RPG. It seemed kind of limiting since other types of mages he was more familiar with, often used magic of the elements. He asked Master Sseviss to elaborate on the class but got very little in return. He was simply told that there were different playing styles that could be pursued with elemental magic because the class offered too many spell choices to learn everything. The illusionist was a mage of deception. They had invisibility spells and could create doppelgangers of themselves. They distracted their opponents while dealing damage unseen. Like the shaman, this class was unique enough to be interesting, but the play style would be tricky to solo. Since the naga village was isolated, forming groups would be more difficult, at least until the game went live. Dark paladins were melee fighters with spells that augmented fighting skills. This class choice was the strongest soloing option but the weakest mage. It was a hybrid option for people that wanted a little of everything, but they would be masters of nothing.
After pacing between the options several times, he settled in front of Master Sseviss. Choosing to be an elementalist sounded like he would be studying marble fragments under a microscope, but he figured it gave him the best chance to throw some fireballs.
CH. 6 Burning Man
Master Sseviss was a no-nonsense teacher who gave neither reassurance to his insecure pupils nor praise for choosing the elemental path. Instead he acted like Radley was a nuisance he couldn't avoid. “I ssupposse you’ll want to sstart with the magic?” the old hass asked.
Radley nodded enthusiastically trying to contain his grin.
“Very well.” the master sighed.
He led Radley away from the fire circle and with a wave of his hand, lit a row of torches that led to some kind of practice area. The small area was empty except for them and several mannequins wearing leather armor. “Sstone Fisst or Fire Palm” Sseviss said “that iss your choicce.” With a second wave of the master’s hand Radley’s right forearm solidified into a purple crystal that extended from his elbow to the end of his hand. The firelight from the torches danced over the hard-reflective surface and illuminated several jagged spikes that extended from the end like sharp knuckles. “It's a sstrong spell but at level one, it’ss only good for a ssingle attack. You may give it a try,” the old master said, indicating toward the closest mannequin. Radley turned to face it, then punched at it just below the shoulder. The jagged tips of the crystal punctured deep into the leather armor. As the spell discharged, the crystal fractured in the same direction as the punch, driving a blast of crystal shrapnel into the mannequin like party confetti. When Radley withdrew his hand a moment later, it had returned to normal with no trace of the crystal left behind.
“There is a chance for the shrapnel to blind an opponent” the master continued, “but it's not very likely at level 1.” Master Sseviss motioned towards Radley’s hand again, and this time it burst into bright flames. “Attack again” Sseviss said.
Radley punched the mannequin again. This time, pins and needles shot up his arm as his wrist buckled feebly against the stiff leather armor. It felt like punching a brick wall, but the pain was muted some. Apparently, fire palm offered no physical protection when used, nor did it improve the quality of his punch. But, as his knuckles contacted the leather, a flash of light erupted and filled the area. Fire burst from his hand towards the mannequin. It was so bright that Radley was blinded for a few moments until his eyes grew re-accustomed to the dim torchlight. “This spell also seems to have a chance to blind” Radley said sarcastically as he nursed his throbbing hand.
Master Sseviss just stared at him with disdain and Radley wasn’t sure if it had been the sarcastic comment or his pathetic punch that was being judged so humorlessly.
Radley looked back towards the mannequin and inspected the leather armor. Crispy black bands radiated outward from the point of impact. The fringes of the holes he’d made with his stone fist attack had expanded like blooming flowers and the mannequin beneath was heavily burned.
Radley liked the brutal intensity of the fire attack and chose fire palm as his first spell. Master Sseviss placed a scaled hand on Radley’s head and a wave of information flooded into his mind.
Congratulations!
You have begun the journey as an elementalist. With every new character level you will receive ‘spell points’ that may
be spent to expand your power as a mage. All spells are available to every mage but a spell’s cost depends on your level, intelligence, and proficiency in the magic type. Work hard to explore the mysteries of this class and you will be rewarded as the very elements of the world beckon to your call.
**You have chosen to be an Elementalist. You have received a proficiency boost to Elemental Magic and Two-handed Blunt weapons.”
**You have learned the spell “Fire Palm” (level 1)**
Radley’s heart hammered with anticipation as he cast the spell for the first time. He made a tight fist and shouted the incantation. When he opened his hand again, it glowed red like a hot iron pulled from a blacksmith’s fire. His mana bar had dropped by a third, despite not yet using the spell to attack. With only 68 MP, the 20 points required by the spell meant that he had to use it sparingly. The four-minute cooldown timer that appeared on his HUD would probably help enforce that. He also noticed that the spell didn’t seem quite as hot as when Master Sseviss had cast it, but he didn’t care; he was a mage. He watched his hand burn and howled like a wolf from the primitive joy it sparked within him. Then without thinking he did a flaming fist pump to celebrate but accidentally made brief contact with his opposite forearm. It was enough to cause the spell to discharge, and another bright flash of light left a numb, stinging sensation that radiated up his arm while his health bar dropped by half.