Anomaly (Somnia Online Book 2)

by K. T. Hanna

  She shook her head. “No. I definitely just heard my mom.”

  “Could she be speaking to you in your room?” Merlin asked, his tone gentle.

  “Let me just reconnect to my body properly, and I’ll let you know.” The sarcasm was so biting she could see it startled the ranger, and he took a step back, his hands raised.

  “Hey, I was just trying to throw out some theories, okay?” He seemed disgruntled, and she couldn’t blame him.

  “Sorry, I just—it’s frustrating, you know?” Murmur spoke softly a little ashamed at snapping at her friend. “I just—”

  “I’m gating and logging and going to check that out. I don’t even know why we’re walking anyway.” Sinister stopped, cast her spell and disappeared before anyone could do anything to stop her.

  “She has a good point.” Beastial grinned and did the same thing.

  Murmur knelt in front of Snowy. “If I gate, the charm will break and you’ll be free. You’re very welcome to keep coming along with us though, I’ll miss you if you’re gone, but I’ll understand you want your freedom.”

  Snowy, if it was possible, seemed to raise an eyebrow and sent her an image of the gates in front of Verendus. Murmur laughed, cast Gate, and rode out the momentary disorientation as she transported from one place to the next.

  Landing on the inside of the wall, she glanced around, suddenly looking for a binding agent. Usually they bound people around a building closest to the fountain, but away from the main path. She couldn’t see anyone there. No scary nondescript people. After receiving the binding spell at level twelve, she’d not really taken much notice of them. But considering the ones in Ululate and Frangit, maybe it was an idea to keep a better eye out for them.

  She wasn’t sure how long it would take Snowy to get to her, but she walked around to stand next to one of the guards at the gate. “Hey there, Jisha.”

  “Hi, Murmur,” the big guard had a deceptively soft voice, but his smile was always welcoming. “What you doing?”

  “Waiting for my wolf.” She grinned at him, and he sighed.

  “You be careful with him. Some of them have been known to turn.” His eyes were kind, perhaps even worried about her.

  But Murmur smiled as she saw Snowy pelting across the deep snow toward her. “Not him. Snowy is pretty cool.”

  Casting Charming Cooperation on him from a distance, their connection became solid again, and she sighed with relief not having realized how off it now felt to be without him.

  Sinister: Mur. I have to log and eat. But your mom was in your bedroom when I checked. I’ll tell you more when I get back again. I have to go.

  The message caught her off guard. Murmur stood, her hand buried in Snowy’s fur, frowning as she noticed her friend had already logged off again before she could say anything. So her mom had been in her room? Had she spoken to her? Was that what happened? In this world or in her room? So many questions to ask and no one to answer them.

  She sighed, focused, and headed off to see Dirsna. Level three of her MA, huh? That was going to be interesting.

  Murmur preferred the layout of Verendus to that of Stellaein. It was simple and stubbier, with fewer tall and imposing buildings blocking you into alleyways. Like the corgi of cities. Maybe it was just the alleyway thing. She’d never entirely gotten over the drive-you-insane alleyway quest.

  The enchanter guild however, was just as merry in its atmosphere as the one in her home city, and Geshua manned the front counter talking with a couple of other enchanters, each of them with a mug of ale in their hands. She smiled at the interactions, the palpable happiness in the place, and she still clamped down on her mental shields, refusing to let anyone but herself be privy to her thoughts. Was it her mental abilities in-game that allowed her to pick up on her mother’s words from outside of it? She shook her head, trying to sort through the flood of questions herself.

  Snowy on her heels, she moved into the room, causing most people to look up in alarm. She tried to smile, and Snowy kept his teeth well out of sight. She waved at Geshua who grinned at her as she passed and motioned her into the back. No one else seemed to be waiting for any of the trainers, which again, was different than she was used to.

  Knocking on the door, she heard a faint “Come in,” and Murmur pushed it open. Dirsna was standing at his desk, deftly weaving something or other with his hands. What looked like tiny rivers of magic wove in and out of his fingers, and up and down his arms like writhing snakes might. There weren’t any runes on his arms, and she surmised her own were probably a locus thing. He muttered words she couldn’t quite hear under his breath and the magic seemingly transferred from him to the scrolls, affixing with a bit of a whoosh before they rolled themselves up.

  “Murmur.” He smiled, slight tiredness obvious in the crows’ feet around his eyes. “It is good to see ye. Thank ye for coming.”

  She nodded, not quite sure of his tone. He was very unlike Belius, without a sinuous bone in his body.

  “I see ye’ve managed to hit rank three of yer hidden path. Maybe ye should start branching out more. It’s about to get precarious.” He smiled in a friendly way, the expression twinkling through to his eyes. But even so, she knew he was serious too.

  The thing was though, she didn’t understand what he meant by branching out. Sure, she knew she got to choose an enchanter path at twenty-five, but did the same hold true of psionicists? She’d literally stumbled into the psionicist arm of the enchanter. “What do you mean by branching out?”

  “I mean...” He paused, looking at Snowy, who’d taken to sitting at her feet. “Ye have a wolf.”

  “I know.”

  “How did—ye convinced him to let you charm him?” He sounded a little in awe of her.

  Murmur looked down at his head fondly and petted the wolf. “Yeah, pretty much. We have a deal though. He won’t kill any wolves, and I’m pretty sure I’m not supposed to either.”

  “That’s a pretty generous deal then.” Dirsna sat down and patted the tabletop for Murmur to sit with him. “Come here, let’s go over yer skills for this level. Now remember that they’re going to spring up for ye, specifically, based on what ye use an’ what yer play style has been.”

  She nodded, understanding and yet still analyzing her own play style and trying to figure out what sort of abilities she’d receive this time around. “Okay...so?”

  Dirsna paused. “Also, so ye know, because I don’t believe Belius really tells anyone anything, at rank four of yer MA, which requires yer skills to hit 175, that number will become your base MA. The same at level five. Ye need yer skills at 250 then, an’ thus yer MA base will be 250.

  “Nice.” Murmur frowned. Perhaps that meant that future abilities were just going to cost a whole lot more.

  He pushed the scrolls he’d been working on across the table to her, a worried crease adorning his brow. “Look at these. Be careful with these. And then we can talk about gravitating toward other hidden paths as well.”

  Murmur nodded, slowly unrolling the first scroll. She bit back a gasp at the description.

  Mind Wipe

  This ability allows you to reduce your target’s threat for you or whoever is at the top of their aggression list

  Effects: Change aggression list, or make the opponent forget their tasks for a few seconds. Range and duration may be increased as the caster levels.

  Cost: Requires Mental Acuity to be at 55.

  Caution: This spell can increase in both range and severity. From a single target, to a full raid, it’s all possible. Just remember someone else needs to take that aggro, or else you’ll be the main target.

  Shield Expansion

  This ability allows you to extend your individual Thought Shielding against mental or magical attacks over others.

  Effect: If attacked with magic (mind or spell), this shield will protect those under it fr
om damage or effects.

  Cost: Requires 10 MA per person covered

  Force Field Barrier

  This is the first in your kinetic line of spells. Once triggered by luck, you can now activate it at will. It allows you to form a bubble of mental energy and transform it into a tangible force field.

  Effects: This can prevent some physical damage. The damage amount depends on the strength of will and caster behind the barrier. Size is increased by Mental Acuity level and usage.

  Cost: This shield requires your Mental Acuity to be at 60, but will not use Mental Acuity to cast as it is a kinetic ability.

  Caution: This spell can create a backlash when used too much. Do not use it as a crutch.

  “I finally got my first kinetic ability?” She’d used it once while defending the city, out of sheer luck. So if she did that in the future did it mean it granted her use of other skills? Like it did with Charm? If only she knew how all this shit worked.

  Dirsna nodded, his eyes focused on her as she absorbed the knowledge.

  She looked at her spells and re-read them again. Her Shield Expansion was exactly what had been going through her mind when they fought Telvar. And Mind Wipe? How many times had she wished she had a spell that helped her reduce aggro and send the rabid little buggers off to Devlish instead of pummeling her? Maybe it was another way to help her survive, although for all they knew she could die and everyone was just being overtly paranoid. But did she really want to try that out? Probably not. But the Kinetic Force Field. That was pretty fucking impressive. She wanted more of that field.

  “These are pretty cool.” She looked them over once more and absorbed them into her system with a smile as the runes lit up her arms, dancing like fireflies beneath her skin.

  “Ye be careful with those shields. They can drain ye faster than ye imagine. The wish to protect everyone will always be there. If ye overreach yerself ye’ll die an’ burn out some of yer MA permanently.” Dirsna’s face was grim, his tone of voice even more so.

  “Wait.” She replayed his words in her head again. “Burn out some MA permanently? Why did no one tell me this before?”

  Dirsna shrugged. “Because Belius likes to play guessing games. He thinks that everyone who gets a hidden path needs to figure out most of their stuff on their own. I, an’ most other trainers on the other hand, prefer our students to keep their brains intact.”

  “I can see that, and I thank you.” She meant it too. There were so many words she wanted to have with Belius it was no longer funny, but instead she took a deep breath and focused on Dirsna. “So, what did you mean by other paths?”

  He smiled. “Ah, well, ye see there are all sorts of different paths for enchanters to go down. Mana regeneration is a huge one. While ye will all get spells that allow you to increase your regeneration, syphoners will be able to pull mana from anyone an’ anything. While you can do that as a psionicist, it’s not only power ye pull, but pain that you inflict. Mana syphoners will simply extract the mana without causing damage.”

  Murmur mulled the thought over in her mind and couldn’t quite see the logic behind it. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but if you’re syphoning magic off someone you’re fighting against, isn’t that person your foe?”

  “Well, yes,” Dirsna answered, his words halting a little as he watched her.

  “And aren’t you ultimately trying to beat your foe and help your group or guild win the fight?” She continued, trying to grasp at all the different straws.

  The trainer nodded.

  “So, wouldn’t not doing them harm while draining their mana be worse than doing them harm since if you do damage as well as steal their mana you’re essentially going to be aiding your group or guild in more than one way? Ultimately doing both is far more efficient in the long run.” She smiled, and petted Snowy, who’d now placed his head on her leg.

  “Excellent points, Murmur.” Dirsna shook his head. “Keep in mind though, sometimes ye might need to replenish mana for yerself an’ others an’ not pull other targets into the fight because yer already overextended. In that case simply stealing mana is preferable. Perhaps psionicist is the right branch for ye after all. I just worry, because some of yer abilities can lead to slippery slopes.”

  Murmur stood up and stretched. “Slippery, yes, but I plan to make sure I have grippy boots. And you do make a good point, one I’ll have to think on.”

  Even Dirsna laughed at that. “Very well. Your awareness makes you better prepared. Now, how about we get you set on your divergent path with some level twenty-five spells so you don’t have to come back in just under another level?”

  “It’s like you can read my mind.” Murmur grinned.

  Shoving all her level twenty-five scrolls into her inventory, she headed out of the enchanter guild and into the snow covered streets of Verendus. Even given the recent dense snowfall, the streets had been strewn with a type of salt they used to prevent people from falling on their asses. She could appreciate that. Murmur glanced down at her gorgeous armor, desperately wanting an upgraded set, but she’d been leveling solidly for days, and likely would after this. Still, it wouldn’t hurt to ask now.

  She shot a message to Neva: Hey hon, how goes the crafting and leveling?

  Neva: Mur! I’m forging away on tailoring and alchemy. I have them up to level thirty-two items, and gear, as well as leather working just hit level twenty-five. It’s fantastic. And my garden! Oh, you should see my herbs!

  Murmur smiled at the girl’s exuberance. She still had no clue how old she was in the real world, but that hardly mattered here. I have a problem. I’m about to hit twenty-five, and I’m really going to need stronger armor. Any chance?

  Neva: For you? Of course. What a silly question. Same? Did you like the way that fit? I can create more—you guys are keeping our inventory stocked in a huge way. The newer recruits Beastial has are keeping me stocked in gear to level up with, and we just got a blacksmith too! Oh, and I’m level twelve now!

  Good for you. I love the armor, I’d like it best if it were exactly the same. Except, you know, for level twenty-five.

  Neva: Done! Be safe! I have to go craft shit now.

  You too.

  Murmur smiled, somehow always feeling better after talking to the young crafter. The pure joy she got from crafting was catching and transferred to thinking about the enchanter specialization she’d have to choose. Syphoner was cool and all, but she wanted to be able to protect herself. Being able to syphon mana, stats, and strength and divert them to her own team was really tempting. Choosing the coercion route might not be the most logical choice, but she felt it might allow all of her mind spells—including those of a psionicist—more power. Since the mind was her tool, she needed to have more control over it.

  Suddenly Snowy growled deep back in his throat, and positioned himself awkwardly in front of her, only because she was still walking. Stopping abruptly, she looked up, her what’s the matter, boy? dying on the tip of her tongue.

  Jirald stood in front of her, flanked by the healer Masha, and a mage she’d seen with him in one of their earlier encounters. The encounter where he tried to backstab her. This time Snowy was her only companion, and it took all the strength she had plus what he loaned her of his to not back away in panic, to not preventatively activate one of her AoE stuns. It was one thing to be brave when your guild was around you, but encountering him alone when a kidney stab might kill her was an entirely different thing.

  “Murmur,” he said, and this time his tone wasn’t full of rage, nor were his eyes burning with hatred, yet there was some sort of stiff control about the way he moved. And the intensity in his gaze set her teeth on edge.

  She inclined her head, even as she noticed that he’d hit level twenty. Why was he being pleasant? Even the usual sneer was absent from his face, so there had to be another angle to this. It was difficult to keep the frown off her f
ace as she wondered what on earth he’d been doing with his time. This was unusual for Exodus. To be a few levels behind Fable at this stage—even despite her solo efforts, her guild mates were twenty-three.

  “Jirald.”

  “Hey, Murmur.” As the cleric spoke, she remembered him fondly.

  Her expression softened and she smiled. “Hey, Masha. Good to see you.”

  He winked at her. “Always up for a challenge, eh?”

  She laughed, her unease leveling out a bit, but she noticed Snowy’s gaze never left the rogue. “You know it.”

  Masha glanced at the wolf and raised an eyebrow. “Enchanter with a pet wolf?”

  Murmur shrugged. “What can I say? I aim to be different.”

  The gnome moved forward and offered his tiny hand. She took it, shaking it firmly, keeping Jirald firmly in her peripheral vision.

  “Hi,” he said. “We’ve already met, but I’m Ishwa. Deputy guild leader. Our actual leader is currently off doing god knows what.”

  “He does everything anyway. Don’t listen to him.” Masha bopped the gnome on the head and would have been dead on the spot if looks were able to kill.

  Murmur laughed, despite herself. Even if Jirald were totally off, the other two were nice, and she remembered Masha from multiple healer discussions. Still though, she felt taut as a bow-string just waiting for Jirald to disappear. Her mind held the stun spell at the ready, just in case.

  Ishwa continued to glare at the cleric, but spoke again. “Anyway, I’d like to apologize again for Jirald’s behavior and so would he.”

  Jirald bowed stiffly, his eyes somewhat dull, like being contrite was the furthest thing from his mind. “I apologize, I should not have trained you like that.”

  “It’s okay,” she said. And while it was an apology she accepted, it wasn’t one she believed. In fact, it made her feel even worse. Though her ears heard what he said, her gut churned in alarm, and she could feel the deep and low growls in Snowy’s throat as it vibrated against her leg. Because those words might have been an apology, but it sounded more like he was sorry the train didn’t work than sorry he actually trained her.