Chapter 3 – The Library

“No, no, no,” Matt muttered as he thought and tried every command he could think of. Why can’t I get out of here?

He’d been at it, in this cramped little dressing room, for almost an hour. Every menu had been reviewed, every icon studied for some way to mentally tap or access an instruction in the fine print. There has to be something!

Wait. Contact Administrator or Game Master, he thought, hoping to affect the same results as a [/HELP] or [/ADMIN] command in other games. He breathed a sigh of relief as a pop-up appeared before his eyes:

[An Edict Corporation Administrator has been contacted, per your request. Please note that requests are granted based on biofeedback provided by the POD to ensure our Edict Corporation staff can efficiently respond to legitimate requests. Your request has been assigned, and you will be contacted by [GM-Nilchi] shortly. If you have freedom of movement, feel free to continue playing. The Administrator will appear regardless of character motion or location. Thank you – Edict Corporation.]

The tightness in Matt’s chest receded, and he pulled the curtain aside to see if anyone had appeared.

“Ah, perfect timing young Acolyte!” Sir Donnan beamed a smile at him, blocking the doorway. “I have finished your robe!” He thrust the umber and camel robe back into Daos’s hands.

Robe, Equip. It disappeared from his hands, now adorning his body. As requested, the bottom trim, end of the sleeves, and border of the hood were tailored with a strip of camel, offsetting the umber and all in all looking upgraded and nicer than before.

If only I could appreciate it right now. Okay, breathe. Keep playing. The admin will be here soon.

“The best part about this – and be sure to really play up the expense – is that the different style of fabric used for the accents here will now allow this robe to hold an enchantment!” The tailor said, stepping back to admire his handiwork.

Materials used in the creation of weapons and armor, then, determine the item’s ability to hold an enchantment. Good to know. Now where the hell is the admin?

“Thank you, Sir Donnan. I will be sure to do my part,” he said in a rushed tone as his eyes found the exit. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to move to the next part of my mission today. I’ll be back next time, with coin,” he said in goodbye, stepping out of the shop as the tailor nodded to him.

[Daos, please step into the alley on your left -Gm Nilchi.]

Finally! Matt swept the message away as he turned and entered the alley, barely sidestepping a murky puddle in his haste. He could see a gray, featureless 3D character model standing a few feet further in.

“Are you the admin?” Matt asked, noting the lack of detail on the figure before him.

“Yes, my name is Nilchi, a Game Master for Edict Corporation. You entered a ticket to speak with an administrator, and your biofeedback registered heightened levels of stress. What can I assist you with today?”

“I can’t log out. I’ve tried every command I can think of, and there’s nothing in any of the menus.”

“Give me a moment, please,” Nilchi said as his avatar went eerily still.

“Ah, alright. Please wait here,” he said a moment later. “I will return in a few minutes.”

Without waiting for Matt to respond, the gray figure disappeared, having logged out.

Matt’s chest hurt a little as he watched the admin disappear.

Alright, breathe. I’ll spend my points in the meantime. Open Character Sheet.

The familiar display of his character sheet popped up before him, and he added both points to the [POWER] Governing Attribute as before. His new skills were showing, and he noticed that after tailoring his armor it took on a new name and had increased its durability by 4 points!

NAME: Daos, Acolyte

CLASS: Mage

LEVEL: 3

EXPERIENCE: 890/1,400

GOVERNING ATTRIBUTES

POWER: 5

PROWESS: 1

ENDURANCE: 1

PHYSICAL ATTRIBUTES

STRENGTH: N/A

DEXTERITY: N/A

CONSTITUTION: N/A

MENTAL ATTRIBUTES

INTELLIGENCE: N/A

WIT: N/A

WILLPOWER: N/A

SKILLS

Arcane Perception: 1

Analyze: 1

Banter: 1

Bashful: 1

Perception: 1

INVENTORY

EQUIPPED ARMOR: BESPOKE ACOLYTE ROBE, 18/18

EQUIPPED WEAPON: ACOLYTE WAND

ACOLYTE SPELL TOME, EQUIPPED

EMPTY POCKET

EMPTY POCKET

Another empty square appeared in his tome when he checked that, as well. He’d expected that completing this task may provide him access to another spell. Which is great and all but logging out is more important right now. I’m probably dehydrated and hungry. Where’s the admin?

Matt paced back and forth in the alleyway for another few minutes, his chest growing tighter with each lap, before he heard a small pop and saw that the featureless gray character model was back. He looked at him, expectantly.

“Thank you for your patience, Daos. Upon review it seems you are correct. Against all of our regulatory filters and safety precautions, you have been locked in-game.”

Matt felt his blood go cold and found difficulty drawing another breath. I need to be home. My new workstation will arrive. I need to get another commission. I’ll be homeless in a month if I don’t make some money!

“A medical team is being dispatched to your location at…” the admin paused for a moment, “LunCaf Net Café. There they will hook up the POD you are in to a mobile connection and transport you to our facilities here at Edict Corporation where we can monitor you and provide life support while we work toward a resolution.”

The gray face’s mouth opened again to continue, but Matt interrupted him.

“How long are we talking about, here? How long am I going to be stuck in this game?” he blurted out, finally having drawn in some fresh air.

The figure stood still, unmoving for a long moment, and then cleared his throat.

“As you may be aware, this happened a few times during the early Alpha tests of what eventually became the POD hardware you are using now. All those problems were fixed – and, yes, our engineers are looking at this new one now. Everything is reading as it should.”

“That doesn’t answer my question!”

“Daos, the Alpha testers who were locked in-game, still are. Their bodies are being kept in the same medical facility we’ll be transporting you to shortly. In fact, the team is already on-site getting everything prepared to move you.”

Matt’s body went numb as he took in the admin’s words. Four years. Almost half a decade those testers have been here, in-game, and still there is no resolution to pull them out. How long will I be stuck here? I’ll have nothing...

“Well, you need to shut down the servers, then,” Matt said, his brain not having caught up with his words. Obviously, they would have done that by now if they could you dumb ass. Four years, Christ, he reprimanded himself.

“Unfortunately, we cannot do that. The impact to the brain of shutting down the servers while you are unable to log out is too dangerous. That is why, unlike traditional game development, servers were not wiped after the initial Event with the Alpha testers,” he said, pronouncing the ‘E’ in event with emphasis.

“Then alert the news! Get people to stop playing on their own if you need to!” Matt pushed back, now shouting.

“This is an isolated situation, Daos. The masses are unaffected by the bug you have experienced.” Nilchi tilted his smooth gray head, as if he were listening to someone else even though they were alone in the alley.

“Daos, I need to log out right now and handle the logistics for your arrival as well as speak with the engineers working on your case. I am not available 24/7 but I live in Edict Corporation’s employee dorms and do spend most of my free time, in addition to when I’m on the clock, logged in. Request to speak with me and it will leave a message for me if I am unavailable.

“Suffice to say, I will do everything I can to assist the engineers in finding a way out for you. I used to be one of them. In the meantime, and I know this sounds cold, try to continue your progress in the game. It’ll take your mind off things and help build your Character up. Who knows what we’ll need to have in place when we find a resolution and being more powerful can’t hurt. I’ll be in touch.”

Before Matt could respond, the gray Nilchi disappeared, having already logged out.

[Daos-Matthew_Ramsay, Edict Corporation apologizes for your current experience with a bug in Velli Machia Online. Please note: your POD is currently being transported to our medical facilities. While you are experiencing this gameplay issue and we work toward a resolution, we ask that you not share your current situation with other players.]

[In exchange Edict Corporation is prepared to provide a stipend of 44.64 USD per day. Your apartment rent will be paid from this stipend and our lawyers are already in touch with the credit agency to explore debt forgiveness options on your behalf. Is this exchange acceptable? Please note: your assent is binding in a court of law. Y/N?]

What fucking choice do I have? If I say no, I’m stuck here and will be evicted from my apartment. Breathe, Matt. 44.64 USD per day, that’s what, about 1,300 a month? Not close to what I’m used to, but it’ll pay rent.

He mentally clicked the Y to confirm and the text display was replaced by another.

[Edict Corporation has received your consent. Thank you. We will be in touch when a resolution is achieved. In the meantime, please enjoy the world of Velli Machia Online – Edict Corporation Team.]

It’s not like I have anybody outside to worry about me, at least. That’s sad though, isn’t it? I didn’t have any new work. I was going to spend all my free time playing this game. Shit, now I’m trying to talk myself into this being okay. It’s not! But it is what it is.

I should try to find the others that Nilchi mentioned, the Alpha testers. See how they’re coping, what news they have. First step is to figure out just how big this world is.

Matt – no, Daos now – began his walk back to the Academy.

If this world is my reality, then for the foreseeable future, I’ll be Daos from here on out. Might even make it easier? Hah, I say that as if I know anything of psychology. Dr. Daos, at your service.

Daos used the dark humor to lighten his mood as he trekked back to the Academy, though his body still felt numb. Passing by the Smithery he saw only Nadia at work, her face once more smeared with soot.

He gave her a small wave when she looked up and wiped her brow.

She smiled with a curious look on her face as she took in his robe, but returned to her work with another strike of the hammer.

For some reason, the numbness receded a little bit at her smile, and he remembered how impressed he’d been at the detail level of her dimples.

**** **** ****

As Daos reached the Academy steps his stomach began to grumble.

Is that my real stomach, then, or Daos’s? Oh man, I need to start earning money if I must eat in-game! Do they have survival mechanisms like that for players? Usually food is just used to heal, or boost a stat. I’ll check on that after I talk to Reichart.

Stepping into the grand hall, it was once more bustling with students in robes of various colors. He noticed a few burgundy robes and now understood those to be Meisters. Umber like his was one of the more common colors, matched or followed closely by the same blue he’d noticed on the bullies the other day.

By that logic, blue is probably the next color of advancement. Then perhaps that forest green? Hard to tell.

Daos reached Meister Reichart’s office and found the door already open.

“Ah, Acolyte Daos, do come in! Back for a little advice on how to handle the Clothier, I see – Oh! You’ve finished your task, it would seem,” he finished, taken aback.

Here we go. Just be Daos, live this life, and check in with Nilchi when he’s had some time to sort through it all out there in reality. This place feels real enough, after all, right? Right…?

“Yes, Sir Donnan is quite the character. He tried to trick me with a few different shades than what I’d asked for, but in the end was able to produce a result I’m satisfied with.”

Daos raised his arms and turned slightly to the left and right, showing off the camel trim.

“I must admit, young Acolyte – I am quite impressed. Usually you Outsiders take far longer to accomplish something like this. Sir Donnan is fond of sharing all the wildly silly quests he sends your kind on when they show up coin-less asking for his services. Am I to understand you convinced him to tailor your robe through some other means?” The Meister asked, raising his voice in genuine curiosity.

“Yeah, I admit I did think about offering to do a quest for him but when I arrived, I decided to use a different tactic. I’m glad I did, too, because once he saw that I was a player – I mean an Outsider, he acted like he’d expected me to act that way.

“I work a lot with color and design back…uh, where I come from, and I suppose you could say I challenged him to a social combat of sorts. It worked well, as you can see.”

“It did indeed,” Meister Reichart responded, narrowing his eyes in thought as he stroked his goatee. “That settles it, then. Normally I would assign you the next spell I think best. Instead, I’m quite curious to see what you’ll do making that decision for yourself. I present to you three spells to choose from.”

Despite the feeling of dread still nestled in the pit of his stomach, Daos felt a slight excitement at the prospect of gameplay options beginning to open up for him.

“Now,” the Meister continued, before Daos could interject, “keep in mind that these three spells will only be available as selections until you choose your future Path during, or immediately after, the Trial. It is likely that you will only be able to learn one, possibly two of them by that time, at the rate you’re progressing. Choose wisely.”

With that, the professor walked to the wall and pulled a large, leather-bound book off the shelf. Blowing a light layer of dust off, he opened it and placed it onto the desk before Daos.

This game has dust! Is there no end to the detail? Seems to be at the expense of the damned log out function, though. Okay, breathe again. Focus.

Daos stepped forward to look at the inscriptions on the opened page.

[Mental Missive]

[Chromatic Orb]

[Arcane Trigger]

Reading each one, he took a moment to ponder. They all seemed very utilitarian, compared with his more obviously combat oriented first two spells. [Mental Missive] would allow him to send a one-way telepathic message to someone he already knew. Being one-way really limits it’s use though, if the other person doesn’t have the spell.

[Chromatic Orb] would create a small orb of light that would last a short duration and provide light in a color of his choice. Good for seeing in darkness I guess, but would it have any other uses? I want to make sure I choose something that will scale well, unlike Arcane Bolt.

The last of the three, [Arcane Trigger], was kind of like a magical alarm bell. He could set it in an area, and it would mentally ping him if anything triggered it. Again, seems really limited. Is Meister Reichart messing with me, like Oric did with the Arcane Bolt?

Daos considered his gaming experience thus far. Up until this point he’d fled a combat encounter and won a duel of words. If he were to play to his strengths, given that none of these were offensive anyway, choosing something that could help in social situations would likely be his best bet.

That leaves Mental Missive, and Chromatic Orb. I don’t know anybody in this game yet, and I’ve had good luck with my color theory so far, so that settles it. Maybe I can use it to appear ominous or non-threatening or something in social combat.

“I’d like to learn Chromatic Orb.”

Meister Reichart studied him for a moment before coming to whatever conclusion he’d been considering. “Hmm, very well. Chromatic Orb it is. Again, you surprise me. I do not think any Outsider Acolyte of mine has ever chosen that one first. Open your tome, please.”

Daos reached down for his tome, and again the chain magically extended as he raised it up in front of him and opened it to the only page it would display.

As Meister Reichart waved his hands and muttered under his breath something that Daos couldn’t quite make out, he looked down at the page. Next to the stick man in a circle and the straight-shooting star appeared, in the third square, a circle.

That’s it. Just a circle. Huh.

A clap brought his attention back to the Meister as the man was rubbing his hands together and looking thoughtful. Daos let the tome drop to his side, the chain shortening its length once more.

“Now, as I mentioned before, you’ll be ready for the Trial fairly soon. You know that Outsiders progress much faster than my native students, but that doesn’t mean you can be let out of studying entirely.

“You are trying to be a Mage, after all! That is a scholarly pursuit!” he exclaimed, once more with the energetic voice of a high school drama coach.

“And so it is with great interest that I assign you this next task. You must visit the Academy Library. There, among the stacks, you will find countless treasures in the form of knowledge. I wish you to return to me only when you can explain the six traditional Paths for Acolytes, as well as at least one example of an ancient and forgotten Path rediscovered in recent years. There haven’t been many, mind you, so the writings on this topic are few and far between.

“You may even find that they are currently in the hands of other students and will need to wait your turn to read them. Spend your time wisely as I will want to hear about each Path. Then, when you can present such to me as well as explain who it was that uncovered the unique Path you choose to present, we will proceed to the next phase in preparing for the Trial.”

The Meister waved his hand toward the door in dismissal, and Daos exited the office.

Great. Go to the library. What the hell kind of quest is this? Must be how VMO handles the reset of the tutorial and teaches all the mechanics they have to offer. Send the player on an errand, check. Send the player to figure out how to accomplish a task they do not immediately meet the requirements for, check. Send the player to learn other mechanics without just reading a game guide or pop-up, in the name of immersion, check-in-progress I suppose. Now, where’s the library…

A handful of minutes, requests for directions from passing students, and three wrong turns later, Daos located the library.

A massive expanse of shelving stretched out through the room before him. Easily three stories high, he could see ladders on railings, walkways around shelving units above his head, and reading nooks scattered throughout the labyrinthine walkways.

You know, I’ve never really been in a library, he considered as his eyes adjusted to the room. The musty smell of old paper filled his nostrils. How am I going to find my way around in here? I’m used to just typing things into a search engine.

Daos meandered a bit, weaving through a few different rows of shelving and looking at binders along the way. [History of Velli Machia in Seventy Two Volumes, Volume 1] to [Common Alchemical Ingredients from the Hidden Valley] to [Jester Handbook of the Illuvian Era] and other titles popped up as he focused on individual book bindings.

Curious, he moved back to the main walkway and instead focused on the end of a shelving unit. [Velli Machia History, Genealogical Section] – he swiped it away and looked at the next row: [Velli Machia History, Political], followed further on with [Velli Machia History, Naval Battles], and so on.

Hours passed, or so Daos assumed, as he wandered through the aisles and stacks, his brain overwhelmed with how much information was located here. You could spend years here, doing nothing but reading, and not make a dent. It’s absurd! There’s no way the developers wrote all of this, though surely, they got it started. That means the governing A.I. put all of this together?

At last he located a section on [Arcane Arts: Schools of Thought].

Ah! This looks promising. His stomach grumbled again, a little louder this time. Shit, right. Stuck in game, need food. Quest first, then food, he promised his stomach, bringing his focus back to the task at hand.

Daos moved through the row glancing at binders one after another. Eventually he came upon titles alluding to some of the Paths he was familiar with. [Elementalists: A History], [The Early Days of Necromancy], and [The Origin of Shamanism] were all on a shelf together and he grabbed them up, intent on finding one of those reading nooks he’d seen and sitting down with a stack to ensure they met the criteria Meister Reichart set forth before digging through them for his answers.

Another twenty minutes later he’d added [History of Summoning] and [Mesmerism 101] to the ever-growing stack of tomes he carried. As he neared the end of the row, he saw a reading nook and shuffled toward it.

At the last second another book caught his eye: [Runic Inscribing]. Ah! That may give me Rune Scholar origins, so worth a shot.

Reaching for it with one hand while balancing his stack of books with the other, a voice caught him off-guard.

“I’ll be taking that.” It was soft but firm and left no room for argument.

“Look miss,” Daos said, turning to the sound behind him. “I need it for a ques-” he cut his statement off as a dark-haired woman in a leather jerkin grabbed the tome off the shelf, brandishing a dagger in her other hand.

Another test, like Oric gave me with the bullies in the alley, maybe? Daos frowned.

“Ma’am, if I could just read a few pages to get the information I need, I’ll give you the book.”

“In a hurry, kid,” she said, likely not any older than Daos if her character’s appearance could be believed. “Back off.”

Slightly put out and wanting to be ready, Daos let the other books drop to the ground and clatter at his feet.

“Listen, lady,” – Shit! Arcane Shield!

The familiar purple shimmer appeared in front of his eyes and he raised his hands to block his face as her dagger slashed across the shield in front of his stomach.

The shield dropped immediately after absorbing the attack and her eyes narrowed, annoyed that her first strike hadn’t connected. She shimmered and disappeared from in front of him.

Before he could decide how to react, he felt the dagger pierce the back of his neck, and pain shot through his entire body. It faded a moment later, along with his vision.

He thought he heard the voice say “Noob”.

[You have died.]

**** **** ****

Daos opened his eyes. He could see the sun setting over the top of what looked like the Academy off in the distance. Taking a moment to scan his surroundings, he could see he was standing in a small graveyard next to a temple just off the town square where he’d spoken with the pie vendor the other day.

The sun’s going down. How much time has passed? How long was I in the library? Actually, how long is a day here, even?

He started forward and almost tripped, just catching the steps below him. Turning around he found he had respawned in front of a statue. It reminded him a little of a cross between a Christian Archangel, and a Norse Valkyrie. Looking to the temple, he found the statues’ likeness repeated a few times in its windows.

[Congratulations! You have respawned after your first death in Velli Machia! Because you are under Level 10, there is no negative consequence to your Experience Pool. Death after Level 5 will allow your corpse to be looted for anything in your Inventory that isn’t equipped. Death after Level 10 will, in addition, cause a penalty to be applied to your current Experience Pool, to a maximum of the base value for the most recent level gained.]

Daos swiped away the message, understanding that the more powerful he got, the higher his penalty of death. This was common in almost every online role-playing game.

[There are Respawn Points throughout all of Velli Machia. In towns and cities these are most frequently found in temple graveyards. There are also statues both known and unknown throughout the land to which you can bind your character, should you die in the wilderness. Thank you, and have a wonderful immersion! – Edict Corporation Team]

His eyes widened in remembrance as he swiped the message away.

The rogue, that harpy, wench, bitch, killed me! Just as I’d found what I needed to complete the quest and get to the Trials. Gah!

Daos started off toward the Academy at a brisk walk, clenching and unclenching his fists.

It’s not enough that I’m stuck in this digital world, not enough that my body is atrophying in some medical facility while corporate lawyers are doing everything they can to cover this up, not enough that I’m freaking starving!

Daos opened his Character Sheet to check the absorption damage of his Shield as he stomped down the cobblestone path. He’d forgotten to after the first time it had been damaged.

[Arcane Shield Absorption: 12 Points of Damage]

Alright, so her attack did at least 12 points of damage since the shield fell after just one blow. She then also killed me in one blow, so let’s see…

[Daos Hit Points: 10]

Wow. My shield is more durable than I am. He checked his own offensive spell to compare.

[Arcane Bolt: 3-4 points of Arcane Damage]

The Rogue can kill me in one hit. I would only be able to kill myself with my offensive spell in four hits, three if I’m lucky. So, she is arguably three to four times as powerful as I am, minimum.

That bully’s spell from the other day took my shield down in one hit, too, so those blue robes are also capable of significantly more damage than I am. Good to know.

Daos reached the Academy just as the sun’s light turned the sky in a purple glow and darkness descended. Torches were already lit inside the main hall. He could smell the smoke as he made his way to Meister Reichart’s office.

The door was shut and when he knocked, the only answer was silence.

What do I do for the night? Hell, what do I do for food, he wondered, one hand on his stomach as he crossed the main hall for the spiral staircase that would take him up to Meister Oric’s office. He kept his rising concern at bay, knowing he was running out of resources if the old man wasn’t in.

“Enter!” the man’s voice greeted him as Daos knocked on the Meister’s door.

“Ah, Acolyte Daos, office hours are over and I’m about to head out. What can I do for you? Make it quick, please.”

“Meister Oric, I was hoping to find out what I should do for the night? I’m seriously hungry, and I have no place to sleep. I also have no money.”

The old man stared at him for a moment, looking confused. Then he reached into his pack and pulled out a cloth bundle, tossing it to Daos.

“It’s not much, but this bread will get you through until morning when the Academy kitchens are open once more. As a student, you’re allowed two meal rations per day. What’s this about the night, though?”

“Well, I have nowhere to sleep. I mean, I assume I have to sleep in this game.”

Meister Oric continued to stare at him.

“World – in this world, I mean.”

“Oh, I know some of you Outsiders don’t’ take us seriously and think Velli Machia a game, but that is precisely why I’m confused. I’ve never seen an Outsider who needed a place to sleep. Usually you lot just… disappear for a while.”

“Well, I mean… first time for everything? I have nowhere else to go, and I can’t, uh, disappear.” Daos added.

Meister Oric’s eyes narrowed in thought. “Tch, well there’s always the Academy dormitory, but you won’t be able to register for a room until tomorrow. I suppose you could pass the time in one of the lounge chairs in the Library. It’s open day and night to students. You could catch a solid nap there, at least.

“Now, feel free to ask Meister Reichart about lodging tomorrow, and enjoy the bread. I need to leave for an appointment.”

With that the Meister once more shooed Daos out of the room, following close behind and locking his door. He walked down the stairs without another word, leaving Daos alone in the hall.

Library it is, then, he sighed, following the old man down.

Through sheer luck, or perhaps with the aid of his Perception skill, Daos managed to find the same row in which he’d died. There wasn’t a trace of his murder. Even the books he’d dropped were back up on the shelves.

It took a good ten minutes but eventually he tracked them all down, except for the Runic book. Unfortunately he didn’t see anything else similar, and so sat down with the others.

He munched on the bread while skimming a few pages of each book, looking for overall descriptions of each Path.

I can actually taste this bread! It’s like one of those soda breads I’ve heard about from Ireland. Dry, but bits of fruit. I’m so hungry it wouldn’t matter, but it tastes good! VMO you never cease to amaze, even if I am stuck here against my will.

Each of the five Paths he paged through were disappointingly straightforward. Elementalists harnessed the power of the elements, casting spells from schools such as Pyromancy, Hydromancy, Geomancy, and the like. Based on the size of the book and others he’d seen on the shelves, he figured this was the most common Subclass that players chose.

Necromancy and Summoner were likely the next most common, followed by Shaman and then Mesmer. He did find mention of Runic magic in [The Early Days of Necromancy] which at least let Daos know that the Path was all about inscribing arcane symbols to serve as traps, wards, and the like which could be applied to surfaces or even weapons and armor, temporarily.

Daos suddenly jerked his head up as a student passed – apparently, he’d fallen asleep. Light was just starting to creep in through the window he could see from his reading nook, and he felt rested enough.

[Congratulations! You have unlocked Analyze. This skill affects, and is affected by, other skills such as Perception. It is a utilitarian ability. Analyze is a passive skill that increases in /unknown/ ways. Analyze: 1]

Neat, I guess? Daos swiped the notification away.

He stood, feeling no need to stretch despite having stayed in one position for hours, and went back into the stacks in search of a Unique Subclass tome. I guess that’s one of the benefits of living in a game world – no soreness or cricks in the neck.

He still had the heel of the loaf Meister Oric had given him last night and chewed on it as he walked row after row, not entirely sure what to look for. An hour passed, and he still hadn’t found anything that would conclusively tell him who unlocked a Unique Subclass, or how.

As he was about to give up and see if Meister Reichart had arrived at his office yet, one title caught his attention: [Chronomancy: A study of Time, and the Corruption Therein].

Aha! That’s not one of the six main Paths Reichart talked about! Chronomancy, I bet that’s how VMO handles spells other games call Haste, Slow, and the like.

Later – probably afternoon as the sun could no longer be seen through the window, Daos was ready to see Meister Reichart. He left the book on the side table and stood to leave.

A Mage by the name of DeathLag – that has just got to be a player, based on name alone – had originally chosen the Path of Necromancy, years ago. At some point, having advanced through the Path faster than any Mage before him, he discovered forgotten magic that allowed him to transform his body into that of a Lich, effectively granting him immortality – or at least agelessness.

Then, approximately four years ago the Lich, DeathLag, did something no other Mage in written history had done: he acquired a second Path, without giving up the first.

In every instance of a Mage discovering a new Path and focusing their studies on that, the result was the loss of all progress in their previous studies. They were only able to focus on the new Path moving forward. DeathLag, however, remained a master of Necromancy while rapidly increasing his power as a Chronomancer.

He had the ability to slow time around him and increase his speed or the speed of his allies. It was said he could even age the undead to the point where they crumbled to dust in a matter of moments.

Yeah, DeathLag must be a player – and the fact that it mentions this happening four years ago means he’s probably one of the Alpha testers who is stuck in game! I’ve got a lead to follow now.

With renewed energy he reached Meister Reichart’s office and knocked.

“Yes, yes, I’m almost done here,” the professor said from inside. After a short pause, he followed with “Enter!”

Daos opened the door and walked in, excited to turn in the quest, take his Trials, and leave this town in search of DeathLag.

“Ah, Acolyte Daos! I did not expect you back so soon, having troubles with the task, eh?”

“Not at all, Meister Reichart.” Daos launched into a brief explanation on each traditional Path of arcane study.

“Well done, but now the interesting part. What did you uncover regarding a Unique Path of study?”

“Chronomancy.”

The color drained from Meister Reichart’s face. “Go on,” he said, his voice deadpan.

“So, this guy, DeathLag, who I’m guessing is an Outsider given what I read about him, was originally a Necromancer. He surpassed all others and became a Lich. This probably triggered something in the A.I., er, in the… fabric of magic or whatever, since living forever sort of messes with time, at least the way we perceive it.

“He then apparently found some ancient tomes in a forgotten ruin far east of here over the mountains, and unlocked Chronomancy,” Daos finished, quickly taking another breath.

“I think the trigger that led him to find this unknown magic was becoming a Lich. The tome I was reading said something about unlocking chakra choke-points through sheer willpower and gaining the ability to speed himself up, but that just kind of sounds like guesswork on the author’s part.”

Meister Reichart cleared his throat. “Very well, Acolyte,”

“Actually, there’s one more thing,” Daos interrupted. “What the hell is up with security around here?”

The older man raised an eyebrow, waiting for more context.

“Some Rogue came in and took the one book I’d found on Runic magic, and attacked me with a knife. She killed me, dude! Here, in the Academy!”

The Meister went still. “Describe her to me, this rogue.”

“Dark hair. She had on a leather jerkin and it was stained dark too, not just normal leather color.” Thinking more, he remembered: “Oh, she had a small black tattoo above her right eye, like an upside-down raindrop.”

Silence stretched out as Daos stopped talking, and he waited for a response.

“The Rogue.”

Daos looked at him, confused. “Yeah. A rogue.”

“No. The Rogue, she is here.” The Meister took a breath before continuing. “She is a known follower of the Death Lich, the Time Lord, or DeathLag as you called him earlier. She, too, is an Outsider and does his bidding. If she is here, then it may not be long before he too crosses the Eastern mountains and brings his reign of terror to these lands.”

Meister Reichart opened his mouth to say more, but was interrupted by a loud, gong-like bell in the distance. It was soon joined by other bells, some closer than the first.

The professor looked from the window to Daos. “It is an alarm. The city is under attack.”

Daos watched as he began gathering scrolls and books, shoving them into a satchel.

“Come. It seems your Trial will have to wait.”