Awaken Online: Ember (Tarot #1)

by Bagwell, Travis

  That was fear that he saw in their eyes.

  While that battle might have felt like it had taken longer to Finn, from their perspective, he had won almost instantly. Not only that, but he hadn’t taken any injury. In fact, his mana had already regenerated, and he was ready to go again.

  Not knowing what else to do, Finn snagged the dead player’s token from his pocket and tossed it to Abbad. The air mage master snatched the token from the air with an almost casual grace. Then Finn met the librarian’s eyes evenly. He didn’t see any fear there. Only the same appraising expression, his eyebrows arched in a silent question.

  What now? Abbad was asking.

  Finn smacked his token against a nearby column.

  “Alright, let’s go again.”

  Chapter 24 - Controlling

  “Look what we have here! Sleeping on the job. Typical,” someone snapped.

  Finn’s eyes flickered open, his hand automatically dropping to his dagger. Yet he hesitated as he saw Julia looming over him where he sat with his back to the warded stone wall of the training room. His daughter’s eyes danced with amusement. Finn groaned softly before rubbing at his eyes and stumbling back to his feet.

  “I’ve started taking these power naps. It’s been letting me stay logged in longer,” Finn explained with a yawn. “My theory is that the game condenses a normal sleep pattern, cycling the person between REM and non-REM sleep very quickly.”

  Julia just stared at him skeptically.

  “I guess what I’m saying is that they really do seem to be power naps,” Finn explained.

  “Uh-huh, but what about that part where your real body needs to eat and go to the bathroom?” she retorted. “From what I can tell, you’ve been logged in for a crazy amount of time now.”

  Finn grimaced. She was right, of course.

  With the ongoing competition, he hadn’t logged out much over the last two days in-game – which was close to 12-18 hours in the real world. With the way that the competition was set up, the winner would likely be whoever could stay logged in the longest.

  The math was pretty simple. 14 days. 24 hours per day. Accounting for the 15-minute time limit for players to match up and another 5-10 minutes for a duel, that meant he could reasonably manage 3-4 duels per hour. That resulted in 1,008 to 1,344 matches or 10,080 to 13,440 possible points. That was the maximum possible score range assuming he never logged out.

  Although Finn had found that this wasn’t really realistic. The player population in-game fluctuated with the real-world time zones. It was much harder to find matches during certain times of day or night. So, Finn had taken to using these downtimes to return to the dilapidated training room – napping and training in private. Or logging out briefly to eat a snack. He didn’t lose much time this way since other players would queue for the duel and his token would light up when he was matched.

  Julia was still glaring at him, and Finn rubbed at his neck, looking away. “Well, I might have had Daniel help with some of those real-world problems,” he grumbled.

  “What was that?” Julia said. “I didn’t quite hear you there. It sounded a lot like, ‘I’m an addict, please send help.’”

  Finn chuckled. “Okay, fine. I might have a problem.”

  “The first step is admitting it,” Julia replied with a grin.

  Then her expression sobered. “Seriously, though. Do I even want to know how Daniel is helping you stay in the game longer?”

  It was Finn’s turn to smile. “Well, you know how I’m sort of numb from the waist down?”

  “I’m going to stop you right there,” she interrupted, holding up a hand. “The correct answer was no. That sounds like way too much information.”

  “Well, you did ask,” Finn retorted.

  Julia paced the room before glancing back at Finn. Despite her teasing tone, Finn could see concern in her eyes. He had the strangest sense of déjà vu. Rachael used to give him that same look every time he started a new project – a smile covering exasperated worry. He’d lost count of how many times she had brought him something to eat or drink because he had skipped multiple meals or how often she had to remind him to sleep.

  The thought alone was enough to create a hollow pit in Finn’s stomach – an aching void that he knew couldn’t be filled, only covered and patched up by another distraction. He had a sudden strong urge to summon his fire mana, letting the sensation burn away these unpleasant thoughts. Yet he resisted. Barely.

  Julia was now looking at him expectantly.

  “What was that?” Finn asked, shaking his head. He had missed her last question.

  She sighed. “Do you know your rank right now?”

  He shook his head. It didn’t really matter. He just needed to keep going.

  “Number five – and the margins are pretty tight,” Julia reported.

  “Still not number one,” a gruff voice spoke up from the entrance to the room. The pair looked over to find Brutus leaning against the rusted door. “But there’s plenty of time to change that. You shouldn’t let your guard down.”

  The fire mage glanced at Finn. “Finn has done well so far. I might have been doing some snooping. Many of the players he’s fought can’t figure out how he’s winning. It’s almost like magic,” Brutus added, dry amusement coloring his voice. “Although, I’m noticing a pattern. Most report getting struck from behind by something. A few have even complained to the faculty that Finn has been cheating.”

  Julia glanced at Finn, curiosity replacing her worried expression. Both of them were watching him, waiting for an explanation.

  “I’m not sure a magician is supposed to reveal his secrets…” Finn began.

  “Oh, shut it,” Julia snapped at him. “Just tell us what you’ve been doing.”

  Brutus laughed. “I like this one. She gets to the point.”

  “Fine, fine,” Finn said, raising a hand. “Abbad cautioned me before the duels began to keep my abilities hidden. So, I didn’t want to tip my hand regarding Multi-Casting too early.” Finn’s eyes shifted to Daniel, where he hovered nearby.

  Or about how I can create spells, he thought. But he kept his mouth shut on that point. That wasn’t something he had revealed to Brutus yet.

  “After you killed us all in the courtyard,” he continued, gesturing at Brutus, “I discovered that the deathscape doesn’t allow you to replay events that you didn’t actually see. So, I came up with a way to take out players without revealing my abilities. Although it might be easier to show you than to explain…” Finn trailed off, his fingers twining through a series of gestures.

  He summoned his typical one-two combo, a Fireball soon hovering in the air beside him. Then Finn shifted his left hand to a channel and summoned another orb with his right. A second Fireball soon appeared in the air behind Brutus.

  The fire mage master glanced behind himself at the burning globe, an appraising expression on his face. “Clever,” he murmured. “So, you use the first bolt as a decoy, let your opponent think you are defenseless, and then strike them from behind to capitalize on the moment of weakness. Most mages don’t figure out that trick until they hit journeyman rank.”

  Brutus snorted, shaking his head. “I doubt that will work for much longer, though. Your opponents will start to wisen up.”

  “I didn’t realize he could summon spells at a distance,” Julia observed as Finn dismissed the two spells. “He never did that during our training.”

  “It just occurred to me in the first duel,” Finn offered with a shrug. “I never needed to hide my skills during our sparring matches.”

  “Part of that is also my fault,” Brutus offered with a sigh. “We’ve been focused solely on training Finn’s stats and basic spellcasting abilities, so we haven’t really had a chance to delve into magical theory. It’s something that is usually covered during more advanced classes.

  “Specifically, we haven’t talked about caster range and control.”

  Brutus now had Finn’s undivided attention. “Wel
l, there’s no time like the present. At least, until someone summons me,” he added, gesturing at the token that rested on the floor next to his bag.

  “True enough. We might as well start at the beginning,” Brutus said, meeting Finn’s eyes, his expression serious. “What is fire magic?”

  Finn cocked his head. Was that a trick question? It seemed like being a fire mage was just about launching fire-based spells: flaming orbs, shields of molten energy, waves of flames, etc.

  Brutus seemed to read his mind. “It’s not a rhetorical question. Have you ever wondered how or why you are able to conjure and control a massive ball of flame? Or how your bolts tend to track a person – shifting slightly in mid-air to hit the target? Or how about the way I summoned the golems and those walls of flame in the courtyard?”

  Now that Brutus mentioned it, a fire mage didn’t just summon some flames and call it a day. They actually had the ability to actively control that mana outside their bodies. Finn had done that many times, his fingers channeling and guiding his spells. So, was fire magic just the ability to control fire?

  Finn hesitated. That didn’t seem right either. The golems hadn’t really been on fire; Brutus had just melted the sand and kept it superheated. And Finn’s Magma Armor wasn’t exactly “fire” per se. Those spells had more to do with heat.

  His perspective suddenly shifted, and his eyes widened.

  “It’s the ability to manipulate thermal energy,” Finn murmured.

  “Exactly,” Brutus replied with a grin. “This is the foundation for all fire-based spells. Or rather we could say heat-based spells, I suppose,” he amended.

  “All of the affinities are designed this way,” Brutus continued. “At their core, they each represent control of a certain type of energy or matter. That word is important. Being a mage is entirely about control. This is also why Mana Mastery is such an essential skill. It directly translates into greater command over your mana.”

  Finn was already processing the implications of that. He spoke slowly, several pieces of the puzzle beginning to click together in his head – a mixture of what he had learned from his instructors and through his own study of Spellcrafting. “That would explain why I can form orbs with my Mana Mastery. I am directly controlling the mana, but the incantation then gives the mana a shape or form.”

  “Indeed,” Brutus replied. “You can also take manual control of a spell once it has been cast. This is how you can repair your Magma Armor. Or how we can hold a Fireball suspended, for example. This is basic mana channeling. On the other hand, we could also simply cast the spell – effectively powering it for a limited time.

  “Your Mana Mastery and the strength of your affinity represents control of your mana. Period,” Brutus explained. “That has several results. For example, it explains how you can maintain several spells at once – much like the orbs that Abbad has you summoning as practice. This is what allowed you to learn Multi-Casting.

  “Your control also affects your range. You can only summon and control mana a certain distance from your body. The greater your Mana Mastery and affinity, the farther away you can cast. Right now, you are likely limited to about ten feet or so.”

  “But his spells don’t dissipate once they go past that limit,” Julia observed. “Hell, this room is about thirty feet across, and I’ve seen him launch Fireballs from one end to the other.”

  “This just represents his control range, not his effective range,” Brutus explained. He frowned as he saw the look of confusion on their faces.

  “Okay, let’s say he casts a Fireball in a straight line from one end of the room to the other. Finn could control the Fireball up to a certain point – representing his maximum control range. Past that line, he can no longer directly control the mana, and the spell begins to deteriorate and break apart. The farther outside the mage’s control range, the faster the deterioration.”

  The fire mage master eyed the room. “This space is small, and we’ve spent all of our time training in this room, so you haven’t had a chance to really observe this limitation. However, if Finn were to cast a Fireball out in the courtyard, it would break apart after a certain distance.”

  So, there is a hard limit on my control range and some sort of exponential decay on my effective range, Finn thought. He was guessing that with some testing he could probably figure out both the limit of his control range and the mathematical formula behind the mana decay. Then he could update his mod to show his control range and effective range.

  That also had other consequences. Finn thought back to his initial encounter with Brutus in the courtyard. If what he was saying was true, then the fire mage master’s control range must be incredible. He had been able to continuously channel and control spells across the length of a football field. Was that what Finn could eventually aspire to?

  He shook his head. That seemed to be a little out of reach at the moment. Although Brutus’ explanation did raise an obvious question.

  “How do I increase my control range?” Finn asked.

  Brutus smirked. “A question most mages start asking once they hit journeyman and expert rank. The answer is practice. You can modify your Mana Mastery exercises to focus on range. You simply summon the same orbs but hold the pattern as far away from you as you can, increasing the distance incrementally.”

  The large man grimaced. “Unfortunately, you will eventually reach a hard limit. Like I said, control is a function of your mastery and affinity. At some point, you will need to increase your fire affinity to keep going. However, with your naturally high affinity, that might take a while.”

  Finn rubbed at his chin, feeling the coarse stubble beneath his fingers. He could likely modify Abbad’s practice routine to train his Mana Mastery while also extending the orbs to his full range. For now, he might be able to tackle this inside the training room. Once his control range reached about thirty feet, he’d likely have to take his exercises out to the courtyard.

  His thoughts were interrupted by Julia. “Looks like you are being summoned,” she observed, pointing at the token on the floor. Finn could indeed see that the small chit was now glowing softly, indicating that another player had initiated a duel.

  Julia let out a yawn. “Probably for the best anyway. I’ve gotta get out of here and get some sleep.” She eyed Finn. “You should too. Power naps or not, you need to log out.”

  Finn arched an eyebrow. “I thought I was supposed to be the parent here.”

  Julia shrugged. “Then start acting like it.” With a grin, she logged off before he could respond, a rift of multi-colored energy tearing open next to him.

  “Damn kids,” Finn muttered. At this comment, Finn noted that Brutus looked away, a pained grimace flitting across his face.

  “You should enjoy it while it lasts,” the fire mage offered. “Someday you might find yourself missing these little irritations.”

  Finn was puzzled by his reaction, although he didn’t want to pry. Brutus’ words also made him think of Rachael. Perhaps Brutus was right. Maybe he should go a little easier on Julia and try to savor these moments. Finn certainly knew firsthand how easily the people he loved could be torn away from him.

  “Fair enough,” Finn said. He stopped and grabbed his pack. “Well, better get going. People to kill, points to earn.”

  Brutus nodded, although his expression was somber. “Like I said before, I’ve been snooping. The other students are already catching on to that little spellcasting trick. They aren’t going to keep falling for it. Besides, your rank is high enough now that people are going to start looking to knock you off your pedestal. The rest of the pack may start sharing notes in an attempt to best the top few students.”

  There was some truth to Brutus’ words, but Finn grinned back at him, trying to lighten the mood. “Well, I’d love to see them try.”

  The fire mage laughed as they stepped out of the training room. “See, this is why I decided to sponsor you,” he offered. “You remind me of myself.”

 
; Finn gave him his best deadpan expression. “Ouch. So, you’re calling me an arrogant asshole then?”

  Brutus paused for a second, tilting his head. “Huh. Yeah, I guess I am.”

  Chapter 25 - Unaware

  Finn padded along the empty halls that made up the northern part of the Mage Guild, his feet whispering against the stone floor as he palmed the glowing token in his hand. Brutus had left him only a few moments ago, claiming he needed to go attend to faculty business – which probably meant that he needed to go torture and harass some students.

  Finn had just waved at him distractedly. His thoughts kept returning to Brutus’ lecture. For some reason, he kept coming back to the idea that fire magic was really just the control of thermal energy. That had some interesting implications.

  For example, did that mean the fire was necessary?

  In the real world, a flame was a function of combusting oxygen, which gave off heat and light. However, it was entirely possible to have heat without light.

  What if Finn cast a Fireball, but was able to set the temperature just below the ignition point for oxygen? Of course, that assumed that the game had something akin to oxygen in the air, but Finn did seem to be breathing something, and the game world had been quite detailed and authentic so far. So, it seemed possible.

  Did that mean he could potentially throw around invisible Fireballs?

  Finn supposed that they might deal less damage since the burning point for oxygen was roughly 1000 °F. Whereas, most wood fires burned at around 2000+ °F. Typically, heat was largely a function of the combustible material and the amount of energy released. Although, in his case, his mana seemed to be the only thing that mattered.

  He suspected that even an invisible Fireball would hurt pretty badly, and it would be extremely hard to avoid. It might also allow him to circumvent some of the other classes. For example, couldn’t an air mage simply cut off the oxygen to a Firewall or Fireball? Fighting someone like Abbad seemed like it would be incredibly difficult. Mages might effectively have “counterspells” that could neutralize another element or type of spell. It would be much harder to counteract a spell that didn’t rely on combustion.