Team Newb

by M Helbig

  You have unlocked and learned the Nature Magic skill! As a core class skill, this does not cost any skill points.

  You have learned Regrowth I!

  Spell: Regrowth I

  MP Cost: 10

  Casting Time: 2 seconds

  Effect: Heals a small amount on contact and an additional amount every 3 seconds for the next 15 seconds. Amount healed depends on the caster’s Wisdom and Nature Magic skill.

  You have learned Heat I!

  Item: Heat I

  MP Cost: 5 on cast/ 1 additional every 3 seconds

  Casting Time: 5 seconds/ Channeled

  Resist: Fire

  Effect: Slowly warms a target up, eventually doing fire damage to the target after 10 seconds. Caster must perform no other action while maintaining the spell (referred to as channeling). Damage increases the longer the spell is maintained.

  We walked out of the tiny room and headed toward one of the open booths. On the other side of the room, a beaverkin sprinted out of one of the booths with the top half of her fur on fire. She dove to the ground and rolled around in an effort to put it out. Dav rushed forward, green energy flowing from his fingertips, before coming to stop in front of her. The beaverkin jerked as the spell landed and begun to spasm as the fire extinguished. A second later, her whole body contracted into a relieved lump. Dav immediately cast another spell, but Mija pulled me into the booth before I could see it land.

  Mija motioned for me to stop and then continued walking to the other side of the booth about five feet away.

  “I’m getting cold,” Mija said. “Warm me up.”

  I stared at my fingers. “How?”

  He smiled patiently. “Concentrate on the spell you want to cast along with the target and let the magic do the rest.”

  I may have been imagining it, but I could now see tiny wisps of green energy coming off my fingers. “OK, but won’t this hurt you? The spell said it does fire damage.”

  “It only does damage if you hold it for ten seconds. Before that, it only makes you toasty. It’s a highly versatile spell that you can use for things like starting a campfire or warming you up on a cold night, in addition to lighting mobs on fire. Use your imagination and I’m sure you can think of an almost limitless list of things to do with it. But we’re getting ahead of ourselves. Right now, I want you to just focus on successfully casting your first spell. Don’t worry about hurting me; I have a ton of Hit Points and the guild invested in some good fire-resist gear for me. Now, focus on me and think ‘Heat.’ Drop everything else from your mind.”

  I nodded as if I understood exactly what he was saying and then twinkled my fingers in the same way I’d done in the demo. When nothing happened, I banged my left hand against the wall like it was a malfunctioning remote. Unfortunately, this “remote” was attached to my body, and a red 1 floated out of it to accompany the pain.

  Mija’s chuckle set off my usually controlled temper and the burning anger transferred into a desire to make him similarly hot. My fingers reacted almost instantly, weaving in a complex pattern completely unfamiliar yet somehow automatic before shooting forward toward him. A mixture of red and green energy streaked out, connecting right below his heart. Mija’s surprise was soon replaced with a relaxed sigh, followed by a few beads of sweat that soon turned into a flood.

  I was so focused on the beautiful energy that my attention only returned to Mija when he let out a yelp of pain. My eyes darted back just as the collar of his shirt began to catch fire.

  “Stop!” Mija yelped.

  I frantically attempted to tell my fingers to stop, but they seemed to have a mind of their own and continued wiggling in their magical release. I decided that my ridiculous earlier attempt to get them going might be my only option to stop them. Fortunately, my arms seemed to be somewhat under my control, so I directed them toward the wall and my hands were forced to follow. I realized that the magic had already stopped a split second after my left hand connected with the wall.

  Another red 1 floated up, yet it didn’t hurt nearly as much as the embarrassment from the steady white 0s and occasional 1s that floated from my trainer across the room. I frantically patted his collar to put the fire out, not caring about the damage I received. I probably took longer than I should have, as his laughter made his chin occasionally bounce in the way, but I eventually put it out.

  As I looked at them, my fingers seemed to contract like they were embarrassed before springing to life as more energy flowed out of them. Before I realized what was happening, they abruptly stopped, and a green energy shot forth to land on Mija’s collar. Unlike the previous spell, this one spread out to cover his body instead of pooling in one area. The look on Mija’s face was one of relief this time, so I decided not to punish them, especially since their action had resulted in my first skill gain in Nature Magic.

  “So,” Mija said, “what did we learn from that? I mean, besides that cloth collars are flammable.”

  “I—I’m sorry.” I winced in much the same way my fingers had a few seconds before. “I thought ‘Heat’ and then my fingers took over, and you did heat up, but then I couldn’t get them to stop, and . . . I’m so sorry.”

  Mija nodded knowingly. “A channeled spell was probably not the best thing to give a brand-new spell caster, but it’s not like we have any say in what you get. Channeled spells take a little more control than a normal one like Regrowth. By the way, I’m impressed that you thought to cast that on me at the end. Nice way to try to make amends.”

  I stared at my fingers again in surprise. So, that’s what you were doing. I take back half of the bad things I was thinking about you guys. My fingers seemed to curl into a confused look at my half-apology. “Sorry,” I said to Mija. “Oh, I already said that.”

  His laughter cut me off. “Don’t worry about it. I figured the best way to teach you newbie’s caution is to let you screw up first. That’s why I wear this flammable collar.”

  I let out a long breath in relief. “Oh, good. So how do I stop myself from inadvertently burning someone to a crisp next time?”

  “Just think ‘stop’,” he said, like it was the simplest thing there was.

  “I tried that.”

  He nodded sagely. “For some beginners, I’ve heard that doesn’t work, but they always eventually figure it out. Until then, move your arms—as you did—so that your fingers are no longer pointed at the target. With your low skill level, that should cause the spell to fail—or fizzle as us professionals like to call it. You could also try casting another spell—though since your only other spell is a heal, you’ll probably want to change targets. Better yet, draw your weapon. You can’t cast while you’re holding most things.”

  I tested his theory by summoning my new bow and thinking “Heat” at the wall. Nothing happened. I unsummoned my bow and thought “Heat” again. This time, the red and green energy shot forth and connected with the wall. A second later, I thought “Bow.” As my weapon appeared in my right hand, the spell stopped. I tried that a few more times to the same result.

  Confident that I had a way to not ignite everything in sight whenever I cast “Heat,” I stopped. “So, what else is there to learn?”

  Mija rubbed his chin. “That should be it for spells. You’ve already demonstrated you can cast ‘Regrowth’ perfectly. The only other thing is to be sure to come back to this or one of the other guild training halls every few levels for new spells. You get ‘Cure Poison’ next level, ‘Thorns’ on the level after that, and ‘Roots’ at eight. But don’t get too spoiled; you don’t get a spell at every level. They slow down quite a bit after level ten. There are also a few rare spells that only drop off mobs. You can buy them off other players too, but they tend to be very expensive.”

  He directed me to the door. As we exited, Dav had just finished extinguishing a fire on a different person—this one a human with long hair, minus a patch on the right side that looked new. Upon seeing us, he called over a man in a deep purple robe who began casting
what looked like Regrowth on the human. Satisfied that his patient would survive, Dav joined us.

  Dav eyed Mija’s collar. “So, you only got lit slightly on fire this time?”

  “My job is way too hazardous. I believe it’s your turn tomorrow.”

  Dav pointed toward the small room where we’d met Mija. “Not a chance. Your term was one year, now get back in there.”

  Mija lowered his face and walked toward the room. “Fine, your stuffy maître d’ impression is not at all stupid and is actually really funny.”

  “That’s not what you got a year for, and you know it.”

  “It shouldn’t count as killing an initiate when they come back to life.” Mija slammed the door.

  Seeing the question written all over my face, Dav decided to answer it as we exited into the hallway. “He used to be the head of this place but got demoted and assigned his punishment after we found out he was teaching initiates Heat by having them cast on each other. We only found out when the city guards asked us why so many new Woodsmen needed directions from the bind spot. Evidently, he told the newbies that if they told anyone about his training session, they’d get banned.”

  He led me back down the stairs and back to the entrance area. A woman in newbie clothing was led past us by a man dressed like Dav. I was about to shake Dav’s hand, as I assumed the tour was over, but a notification popped up to cover my vision.

  You have unlocked and learned the Tracking skill! As a core class skill, this does not cost any skill points.

  “Did Mija explain how you should come back regularly as you level to learn new spells?”

  I nodded.

  “Well, the same holds true for skills. I’ve just unlocked your second core skill, ‘Tracking.’ It lets you know what’s in the area. The higher the skill level, the greater the range and higher level of creatures you can track. It’s not as useful in busy areas since the information can be overwhelming. I can give you a short walkthrough, if you’d like?”

  “Sure.”

  “Fantastic. Now to track what’s in the general area, stare toward the ground—or sky if you’re looking for a flying thing—and think ‘track’. Not much to it.”

  I did as he suggested, and a long list appeared in my vision. It was so long, in fact, that it had a scroll bar. At the top of the list, it indicated that I could only track up to five hundred feet away. Evidently, there were a few hundred people and animals within five hundred feet of me. Despite the Thief’s training hall being almost invisible, I could see several of its inhabitants in the list, including Olaf. When I focused on his name, a semi-transparent, bright red arrow appeared in front of me.

  “So, I just follow the arrow if I want to find someone?” I asked.

  “Correct. As you or your target move, it’ll adjust, though if either of you move out of your skill’s range, the arrow will disappear. You can also lose a target if they die or activate one of the stealth skills such as our Camouflage or the Thief class’s Sneak.”

  In the minute I had my Tracking arrow up, it’d been jerking and dancing about so frantically that it was making me nauseated. It disappeared when I started a new search. I scanned the list to see if I could find anyone else of note, particularly Nyytro, but the most interesting thing I found was a row of question marks. Dav informed me those indicated a skill check failure.

  “My tracking shows ‘A Peasant’, but that same listing was something else a second ago.”

  Dav nodded knowingly. “Some of the less remarkable people or monsters were only given a basic description instead of a name, but when the listing showed one thing and then something else, it either means they used a disguise kit or the Ninja skill of the same name. You have to be careful to not use one of those if you think someone has Tracking up. Great observation. Not a lot of Woodsmen know of that little trick.”

  I fiddled with Tracking for a few more minutes. Since Olaf’s name was in white and Dav’s name was gray, I assumed white indicated player and gray indicated NPC. I confirmed that as I saw a few other names I knew to be players and NPCs. As I scrolled farther down the list, I found a few skeletons that my Tracking arrow indicated were past the walls. They were also in gray, as were a trio of trolls, which I took to mean that the skill didn’t differentiate between friendly NPCs and aggressive mobs.

  The ability to see everyone in the area was fun and made me feel like a minor superhero. All that information available with only a thought. I could tell who was in a building without going in. I could find people in a crowd with ease or track down a slippery mob in the forest. I could know if a rare spawned before anyone else. I’d never lose a game of Hide and Seek again! The possibilities were endless.

  By the time I got tired of it and got my second skill up, I noticed that Dav was already gone. Now that I thought about it, I did remember feeling someone brush by me. I shrugged and decided to check out my character sheet to see the result of all the changes I’d made in such a short time.

  Horus

  Level: 5

  HP: 95/95

  Class: Woodsman

  MP: 65/65

  Race: Human

  AP: 40/40

  Experience: 656/25,000

  AC: 32

  STR: 6 (8)

  Resists

  AGI: 8 (9)

  Light: 0

  DEX: 35 (40)

  Dark: 5

  STA: 19

  Earth: 0

  END: 8

  Water: 0

  CHA: 1

  Fire: 5

  INT: 11 (13)

  Wind: 0

  WIS: 11 (13)

  HP Regen: 5 per minute (7 per minute out of combat)

  Carrying Capacity: 45/160

  MP Regen: 5 per minute

  AP Regen: 5 per minute

  Skills: 1-Handed Swords 8/25, Bows 1/25, Flanking Attack 5/25, Improved Dexterity 1/25, Inspect 9/25, Nature Magic 2/25, Regen 8/25, Sprint 2/25, Tracking 3/25, Survivalist 2/25

  Equipment:

  Main Hand: Family Heirloom

  Off Hand: N/A

  Damage: 3-6

  Speed Rating: 3 Bonus: +1 STR

  Ranged: Rickety Initiate's Short Bow

  Damage: 6-9

  Speed Rating: 3 Bonus: +1 DEX

  Chest: Jerkin of Please Don’t Kill Me

  Arms: Junior Explorer’s Sleeves

  AC: 12

  Bonus: +2 DEX +1 AGI +1 STR+1 INT +1 WIS

  AC: 5

  Bonus: +2 DEX +1 INT +1 WIS

  Hands: Work Gloves

  Head: Straw Hat

  AC: 2

  AC: 3

  Legs: Farmer’s Overalls

  Feet: Manure-Stained Boots

  AC: 4

  AC: 3

  Waist: Lizard-Skin Belt

  Back: N/A

  AC: 3

  Finger 1: N/A

  Finger 2: N/A

  After I finished drooling over my improvements, I decided to find Olaf. Fortunately, Tracking indicated he was no longer in his training hall. I walked out into the street and easily found him. He was not alone, and his friend was not happy to see me.

  Part-Time Warrior Poet, Full-Time Instigator

  “My goodness, Nanny,” Olaf said. “Level twenty-five? That would be incredibly ambitious to make in a month, but one week?”

  The tiny beaverkin hopped up and down in excitement, her pink bow bouncing back and forth. “But they’re letting anyone in as long as they’re at least twenty-five. The guilds never let non-guilded people in raids, but with that exploit last month, a ton of their members made out like bandits and cashed out to the real world, so they’re letting in us norms. Think about the loot! And if we do good, we can probably get an invite to one of them. Chance of a lifetime.”

  “I agree, but it has taken me nearly a month to get to level five. How am I supposed to get five times that many levels in the same amount of time?” Olaf shrugged helplessly.

  “Easy, dearie. You drop the dead weight that is Decrona and team up with my friends and me
. In the four days since I left, I’ve already made level ten. It’s amazing what you can accomplish if you don’t die or continually change hunting spots because she found something 1.37% better. We could catch you up in no time.”

  Olaf bit his lip. “I appreciate the offer, but the maximum group size is five, and I cannot leave the others. Besides, Decrona is having her contacts look for information on Kasper. As a matter of fact, she is doing that right now. I know she can be a little difficult sometimes, but deep down she really is a good person.”

  Nanny let out a mirthless laugh. “Ehh, her contacts . . . Did you know one of them is Kseniya, one of the officers in The Guard? I just saw Decrona giving her some sort of package near the library.”

  “The Guard? They’re one of the top guilds.” Olaf stumbled back in response, bumping into me. His eyes widened in surprise as he finally noticed me standing behind him. Nanny grabbed and gently steadied him.

  “Horus, did you hear that?” Olaf asked.

  Nanny looked me over. “Your girl Decrona has been holding out on you. She has friends in high places. Very high places. I’d ask her about it. Not necessarily suspicious, but kind of odd that she never mentioned it. I mean it’s not like she’d, say, try to keep the money she owed a group member who left or refuse to hand over an item she lost a roll for. She’s sooooo honest.”

  Olaf locked eyes with me as we both tried to figure out what to do.