Awaken Online: Ember (Tarot #1)

by Bagwell, Travis

  Finn was so deep in thought that he didn’t notice he was in danger until it was too late. Something suddenly struck him in the back of the head.

  Hard.

  He was sent toppling into a nearby wall, rebounding off the stone, and slamming against the floor. Air escaped his lungs in a whoosh, leaving him gasping. At the same time, his vision swam, and red notifications flashed in his peripheral vision – an indication that he had been stunned. Something wet trickled down the back of his neck.

  Blood. That’s my blood, he thought feebly.

  He felt momentary panic flare in his chest; he felt trapped. Like a cornered animal, his fight-or-flight reflex kicking in with abandon. He responded instinctively and summoned his fire mana, his eyes soon glowing with orange and red flames, the energy burning away his useless emotions and providing a moment of clarity.

  He didn’t know who or how many people he was fighting or why they had attacked him, but they had already gotten the jump on him. A glance at his health confirmed that the single hit had made a sizable dent and he likely had a concussion. He was going to have difficulty casting in this condition.

  He realized with a calm precision that he was likely going to die here in the hallway.

  Yet maybe he could at least catch a glimpse of what had attacked him – something to make his death less futile. He struggled to push himself upright, trying to turn to look behind him.

  His attacker had a different plan. He felt something heavy land on his back, pressing him back against the floor and smacking his forehead against the stone hard enough to set his ears ringing. Then he felt a hot lance pierce through his back. However, this wasn’t his mana. He could feel the blade shift inside him, like a molten rod burrowing through his chest.

  It withdrew and then stabbed down again.

  And again.

  Finn could only lie there, stunned and incapacitated, still gasping for air and the taste of copper lingering in his mouth. The only thing he could see was his glowing token, resting on the floor a few inches away – as though mocking him.

  Then the world went dark, and a notice appeared in Finn’s vision.

  System Message

  You have died.

  Thanks for playing Awaken Online!

  ***

  Finn returned to his body abruptly. His lungs were still seizing, and he coughed hard, dropping to his knees. He gripped at his chest with clumsy hands where he had felt the blade impale him repeatedly. His fingers met intact flesh, indicating that he was alive and well.

  However, it still took his mind a while to catch up.

  “Damn it,” Finn croaked when he began to recover.

  He looked up to find himself kneeling in the same dark, dusty hallway along the abandoned northern part of the guild hall. Blue motes of energy drifted around him like flecks of ash, signaling that he was inside the game’s deathscape. As though on cue, Finn’s doppelganger walked around a corner, murmuring to himself as he paced down the hallway.

  “Pay attention, idiot,” Finn wanted to snap. But he knew it was pointless. The mistake had already been made.

  An indistinct blur whizzed out of the darkness and Finn watched himself slam against the wall and then fall to the floor. His clone tried to rise, its eyes glowing with fire mana. However, something dark hovered above him, weighing him down. He couldn’t even see what stabbed him – only the look of pain that twisted his features as he was speared repeatedly. His blood soon pooled beneath him, staining the stone with the thick soupy substance.

  Only a moment later, Finn’s body went still.

  Then the scene dissolved and reset.

  Finn – the real Finn – slumped back against a wall, sitting on the cool stone floor as he watched himself round the corner once more.

  Frustrated anger simmered in his stomach, and his hands clenched into fists as he watched himself get murdered again. He could still feel the phantom pain of the weapon sliding into his back and that feeling of helpless panic.

  Then his eyes centered on the dueling token, the symbol still glowing across its surface. The 45-minute lock-out timer upon death meant that he wouldn’t be able to meet his opponent for the duel. So, he had just lost 5 points by default. Technically, he had lost a net 15 points assuming he had won the duel, plus another 10 points assuming he had managed to get paired again. So, the death had likely cost him upwards of 25 points.

  Finn closed his eyes, forcing himself to take a deep breath. Maybe as humans had crawled out of the primordial soup, anger had served a purpose; helped them to overcome their fear. Yet despite the pain and despair of Rachael’s death, Finn had learned one thing. Anger didn’t accomplish a damn thing. Getting angry hadn’t brought her back, it hadn’t made the loss hurt less, and it sure as hell didn’t help him here.

  No. Right now he needed to focus on learning what he could.

  Finn’s eyes popped back open, and his attention returned to the scene of his death, watching carefully for any clues that he might have missed.

  He hadn’t managed to get a good look at his attacker – or attackers since it might very well have been more than one person. They had been careful to stay outside of his line of sight. He also couldn’t identify any noise or information that would give away their identity. Perhaps they had learned Sneak like Julia or had used a spell to conceal their movements. Although, since he hadn’t been paying attention, they might have simply crept up behind him.

  Finn also wasn’t certain what had struck him. Judging from the wound, it looked like something blunt. Maybe the hilt of a sword or a mace? A sword seemed more likely since something had impaled him repeatedly.

  On top of all that, Finn’s attackers had chosen a perfect location for an ambush. This area of the school was deserted, and there were no witnesses.

  Although, that led to one possible deduction. Whoever had killed Finn had planned this carefully. This likely wasn’t an act of impulse. It had been intentional.

  The question was why.

  It could have been something personal; Finn didn’t exactly have a lot of friends. Yet his attacker was taking a big risk. Lamia had made it clear that infighting outside the duels would be punished severely – assuming that the attacker got caught, of course. Which meant the reward had to outweigh the risk. That definitely narrowed the field. As far as Finn knew, there was only one reward worth getting expelled for.

  Winning the competition.

  Finn’s eyes widened as a possible explanation struck him. He suddenly realized that there were actually two ways for a person to climb higher on the leaderboards.

  The first was to win duels.

  The second was to ensure a higher-ranked person lost – as each loss would cost them 5 points. And the easiest way to ensure a loss was to force a person to default. It would be simple enough to follow a player, wait until he was summoned to a duel, and then ambush him on the way. As Finn had already determined, a single death could cost as much as 25 points when factoring in the opportunity cost.

  That was the only explanation that made sense.

  If Finn was right, then that meant every other top-ranked player could have been the attacker – although, his thoughts instantly turned to Zane. This seemed like the sort of cutthroat tactic that the earth mage would come up with. Although, technically any player could be complicit. Even a lower-ranked mage could have an incentive to help a friend.

  Finn hesitated. He suddenly realized that this was likely the first attack of many. A single default wouldn’t be enough to influence Finn’s rank long-term. No, to make a real impact on his score, his attackers would need to hunt him. He also suspected it wouldn’t take long for other students to catch on to this strategy. The higher he climbed in the rankings, and the longer he stayed there, the larger the target on his back.

  Which meant, this was only going to get worse from here.

  “Shit,” he muttered to himself, rubbing at his eyes. How the hell did he avoid getting murdered in the guild hall with most of the novice
s gunning for him?

  “Okay,” he said aloud. “Focus. This is just another problem. Solve it.”

  Finn’s eyes skimmed back to the scene of his death, watching as he bled out on the floor again. If he examined the problem logically, this encounter had emphasized a couple of weaknesses on his part.

  The first was that Finn was extremely vulnerable if an opponent got the jump on him. If he were stunned or unable to move, his spells provided no advantage since casting a spell required that he was able to speak, that his hands were free, and that he was able to concentrate.

  Finn also had little health or armor. He typically relied on speed and Magma Armor to avoid or block attacks. One possible solution was to purchase better equipment, but he didn’t want to burn his hard-won points on new gear just yet. Besides, a bit more health wouldn’t really solve the problem if his opponent managed to catch him off guard.

  Even if he survived the initial attack, it occurred to Finn that he might not really be able to fight back. If he was ambushed, defended himself by slaying the attacker, but left witnesses, he could be expelled for attacking other students. He also needed to assume that he was up against more than one person. Working in packs, the other novices could lie and claim that Finn was the aggressor – that he was hunting them and that explained his score. Brutus had already mentioned that there were rumors that he was cheating.

  That meant his best strategy was to avoid the battle altogether.

  “Okay, the primary goal is avoidance. And my main problem is someone sneaking up on me,” Finn said to himself, his voice echoing slightly in the stone hall. “Which means I need a way to detect the attack sooner.”

  The first option was to get Julia to help. She could follow him in Sneak. However, that wasn’t a perfect fix. She couldn’t stay logged in all the time, even if he could convince her to act as his full-time bodyguard. Besides, what could she really do? She could potentially kill Finn’s attackers, but that really just highlighted the same problem. Besides, if she got caught, Finn doubted Nefreet would go easy on her. That only put Julia at risk. So, at best, she could warn him through the in-game chat.

  Finn snorted in irritation as he saw his doppelganger get smacked in the back of the head and topple over once more. He supposed he just needed to grow eyes in the back of his head.

  Finn froze at that thought. The “growing eyes” thing was out of the question, but maybe he could increase his awareness of his surroundings. Any advance warning might have allowed Finn to avoid the blow and get away.

  “Daniel,” Finn said.

  A moment later, a flaming orb appeared in the air beside him. “I suppose you want something?” Daniel replied. From his tone, Finn could practically visualize the AI raising an eyebrow. The AI now became progressively more moody if Finn hadn’t summoned him in a while, as though upset at being ignored.

  Finn quickly put aside Daniel’s surly attitude, his mind racing as he stared at the AI. He recalled the prompt he had seen when he integrated Daniel into the game. It had said that the AI couldn’t harm other players – meaning that Finn couldn’t use him as some sort of living Fireball. However, it hadn’t said anything about Daniel providing information.

  Finn had also seen the pets lined up against the wall in the requisition hall. Presumably, that meant that other mages kept pets or familiars. So, it might not seem strange that Finn had purchased one. He could always explain that Charlotte had played favorites or given him access to a special pet. The most perceptive players might notice that his points hadn’t dipped, but so be it. If others were going to cheat, then Finn was more than comfortable bending the rules a bit.

  “Daniel, from now on, I want you to stay summoned unless I tell you otherwise,” Finn instructed, speaking slowly.

  “Really?” Daniel asked, bobbing slightly. He seemed happy at the suggestion.

  “Uh, yes,” Finn replied, sparing him a confused glance. He shook his head. “I also need for you to watch any direction outside of my direct line of sight at all times and warn me if someone is trying to attack me. In fact, I’d like for you to actively scout or monitor the area around me for enemies.” This earned Finn a small bob in response.

  Another thought occurred to Finn as he saw the blurred-out form hover over his body once more. Even if Daniel’s warning system failed and he died again, it would help to be able to see who the hell had killed Finn. If he knew who was attacking him and how, that would certainly improve his odds of surviving.

  Finn gestured at the scene that was replaying. “It would also be helpful if you could record video of my environment.”

  “Unfortunately, I cannot actively record video,” Daniel replied.

  Finn’s brow furrowed. “What? Why not?”

  “Those permissions have been denied by the system controller. Remote video recording is restricted to players with specific endorsements from the development team.”

  Finn grimaced. Well, shit. There went that plan.

  However, at least Daniel might be able to alert him to danger more quickly – in theory, anyway. If the attacks escalated, then he would need to come up with something else.

  “I can still keep an eye out,” Daniel offered, weaving slightly in the air. When Finn didn’t reply immediately, the AI asked, “Is there anything else I could do to help?”

  Was that anxiety in his voice? Finn idly wondered if Daniel was scared of being dismissed. Yet he discarded that idea immediately. That wasn’t possible, at least not the way Finn had initially coded him. Maybe he was just reading into things.

  He was about to tell Daniel “no,” but Finn hesitated as he saw the scene replay once again. It seemed he was going to be here for a while longer. He glanced at Daniel and then at the hallway, noting that it was at least 60 feet long. Brutus’ lecture was still fresh in his mind. Despite his frustration, he might as well make the most of the involuntary downtime.

  “Actually, you can help me with something,” Finn replied as he dropped down onto the floor, sitting cross-legged with his back to the wall. “Pull up the code for our casting mod. We need to make some improvements…”

  Orbs of flame soon began to hover around Finn as he channeled his mana. It was time to test his control range and effective range.

  Chapter 26 - Fleetfooted

  “Damn it, that was close,” Finn huffed, leaning against a nearby wall. His lungs burned, and his stamina was just beginning to regenerate. Finn still had a few minutes until he needed to find his dueling partner – time he needed to use to recover from his latest near-death experience.

  The interior courtyard lingered nearby, bright sunlight shining down on the sands. That hot, dusty rectangle had become a haven of late – one of the few places that was too densely populated for the other players to launch an attack.

  “They’re getting more aggressive,” Julia reported, dropping from Sneak and lounging beside Finn. She seemed relaxed, as though she had just gone for a light stroll, arms folded beneath her robes and her hood drawn to conceal her face. “This is what? The second attempt this morning?”

  “This was the third attack this morning and the eighth attack since Finn was originally murdered in the hallway 37 hours ago—” Daniel reported, his flaming body floating nearby.

  “Quiet,” Finn barked at Daniel, sparing a glance at the nearby players. The AI flashed once in response, and Finn swore he heard him grumbling under his breath. Although, he didn’t have attention to spare for the AI right now.

  “The plan is working well for now,” Finn offered, side-eyeing Julia. “I haven’t died or missed a duel yet.”

  Julia rolled her eyes at Finn beneath her hood. “Your master plan of running away? This just doesn’t seem sustainable. I can’t always be here to help, and I have a feeling that Daniel will struggle on his own as the players continue to escalate their attacks.”

  Finn let out a mental sigh. She was right. Of course, she was right. Her words just mirrored his thoughts after the first ambush.

 
Daniel was an okay watchdog, but Julia was better. The AI simply stood out too much, his flaming body making him easy to spot. Although, once the players had realized that Finn had a new pet, he had been able to use Daniel as a decoy on more than one occasion. In contrast, Julia’s Perception skill and Sneak allowed her to effortlessly spot a group of players and then relay their location through the in-game chat without being detected.

  “Maybe we shouldn’t be running. The best deterrent is fear. We could simply make an example of a few of them,” Julia offered, her eyes flashing and a dagger suddenly appearing in her hand.

  “We’ve been over this,” Finn retorted. “Only as a last resort. It’s too risky. They could just as easily frame me for killing another student.”

  “Well, the other option is to stay out in the open where there are plenty of witnesses,” Julia offered, waving at the courtyard where mages milled about the sands. Finn could see that many of the novices had begun to travel in groups. Apparently, he wasn’t the only student who had been ambushed lately.

  “We also need some privacy to train,” Finn replied quietly. “I don’t love the idea of creating spells out in the open.” Although to be fair, he hadn’t really had any time to experiment with his Spellcrafting. Between the duels and the attacks, he was barely able to maintain his standing in the rankings.

  Julia frowned but held her tongue.

  “For now, we just need to keep going,” Finn said, pushing away from the wall and glancing back at his daughter.

  “Well, we’ll see if you change your mind the next time you get brutally murdered,” Julia replied, an involuntary grin tugging at her lips. “Don’t know about you, but I’ve tried that a couple times. Didn’t love it.”