“You attacked the green named frogkin?”

“Yep.”

“So you just walked past their village and started massacring the villagers?”

Ana’s eyes were wide with mirth as she took in the sight of Emily flopped over in defeat. Her friend was completely stumped about how she’d overlooked such a simple mistake.

“Their village is hidden entirely under the water! I was just on the outskirts.” Emily continued to squish her forehead against the cool table as she became embarrassed thinking over the events of yesterday.

TidalWave and Third had gone back to check the area she’d been ambushed in while she went to the library to try and find out more about the species. They all thought she’d somehow stumbled onto a hidden quest or maybe they’d missed some sort of event.

It turned out that there was a far simpler answer.

While she’d been thinking about how to find a dragon to slay she had completely missed the sight of the frogkin’s names turning from red to green. So instead of killing hostile frogkin enemies she had actually begun absentmindedly attacking the perfectly peaceful and allied frogkin villagers that were completely defenceless against her. It made her feel kind of bad.

Unlike the red-named frogkin, every NPC with a green name was known to be peaceful. Lass, Barnacle and every other NPC in Lum had a green name hovering over their head.

Third and TidalWave had sent her the message almost the instant they walked into the area. And the books she’d been reading agreed with them. It turns out that there are two kinds of frogkin; those with magic potential and those without it.

The frogkin apparently had incredibly tough rules around who can or cannot be considered a ‘true’ frogkin in their society. The village and its NPCs that allied with Lum were all budding magi and the frogkin that opposed them were exiles that had been rejected from frogkin society due to their lack of magic potential. Those exiles had then formed their own society and began invading the inner Signet Woods area where they attacked any and all travelers.

They were also attacking the frogkin village which is why the guards had been so responsive to Emily’s attack.

“That’s really rough.” Ana shuddered, “I didn’t think about any of that stuff when I was murdering the hell out of them.”

“I know right.” Emily finally brought her head up, “They’re giving me a headache.”

Emily couldn’t help but think about the frogkin since she’d started reading about them. She was starting to feel really bad about walking in and massacring their innocent villagers. Even if they were just a bunch of fake virtual reality creatures she couldn’t help but feel for them.

“Dang it.” She groaned, “So how am I going to make peace with them? Shoot me full of ideas Ana.”

Ana rolled her eyes as she was hit by Emily’s pleading gaze, “I’m more of a smash stuff and think later kind of girl. You know who you should ask?”

“Third?” Emily answered without thinking.

“Heck no. That Roxxy girl.” Ana thought of the buckler wielding tank that hopped around the place like she was a rabbit, “She seems like she could get anyone to like her. If the frogkin can be negotiated with she’s probably your ticket back to their good side.”

Emily thought about it and then shook her head, “From what I read these frogs don’t like people that use swords or just don’t use magic. But apparently they love magi and other types of magic users.”

“So they’re racists?” Ana’s smirk widened, “Racist frogs?”

“Exactly!” Emily agreed vigorously, “And why would I want to get on better terms with racist frogs. That’s not my style.”

“Yeah.” Ana agreed as she saw Emily getting wound up, “Dang frogs. Who needs them anyway. You can get by perfectly fine without needing to be friends with them.”

“Oh!” Emily thought about the encounter she’d had, “But that Trog the frog guy really had some cool spells.”

She remembered the blast of purple light that had washed over her and made her unable to move or use magic. Then her eyes sparkled as she remembered the two coiling snakes that flew through the air and were completely created from water. She’d been jealous of how cool and powerful they looked right up until they strangled her to death.

“I want to shoot out water dragons at people. Or water narwhals.” Emily’s eyes glazed over as she thought of the possibilities.

If she had that kind of magic she’d be able to create a whole zoo full of animals and creatures.

“He was holding an orb right?” Ana tried to bring Emily back into the conversation before her friend drifted off for hours into imagination land, “You don’t use an orb right?”

“Gah.” Emily was brought back to reality by her friend’s logic, “Yeah. Third does though. It has something to do with wizards and the control stat. I bet Trog the frog uses it to create spells he can control. Sort of like a focus point.”

“Righttt.” Ana was still suspicious about focus points, considering she couldn’t see them or make them, “So why don’t you just get an orb and ask those magi guild people? They seem like they’d know a lot of spells.”

Emily thought back to her visit to the magi guild. She’d been there a lot but the only time she really got into the main building was when she’d taken the test to measure her skill. Other than that she only ever visited the shop.

She bet that massive building could probably be hiding a massive library of spells or something.

‘How do they transfer spells?’ She had only ever been given skills by her class advancement.

“Okay, okay, okay.” Emily shot up with bright eyes, “I know what to do now.”

“Grab some fried chicken with me?” Ana responded immediately, “Then talk about how Andrew is super annoying now, and after that, you’ll go check out all that stuff you probably should have already known about the game?”

“Yes, yes, and yes.”

Emily responded eagerly.

“God chicken sounds amazing right now.”

****

“Miss Seven.”

Lass stared at Seven with a curious expression, “I did not expect you to return so soon.”

Seven smiled at the formal attendant and put on her sweetest expression.

“Magi cannot be bribed by sweet words or smiles, Miss Seven.” Lass almost let a grin slip through his lips as he saw straight through Seven’s ploy, “Tell me what you are curious about. Perhaps I can help.”

“I’m curious about magic.” Seven admitted to him, “I was wondering if there was a library I could use to help me find some spells. Not the ordinary library… a magical library.”

She whispered the last few words conspiratorially.

Her teammates were still farming so this was her chance to do some exploring by herself.

“Yes. We have one available to the public.” Lass spoke slowly as though not understanding how Seven could have gone through the guild so many times without knowing this, “If you pay one hundred gold you may access the first level of the library for a day. If you wish to access higher levels you would need to gain a higher score in the Magi Guild of Lum’s test. Unfortunately, with your current score we cannot allow you into the second floor or higher for fear of you hurting yourself.”

“One hundred gold coins?” Seven almost choked on her words, “That’s a small fortune, Lass. What kind of ordinary bystander has that kind of money.”

“The kind that wishes to explore the secrets of magic.”

Lass waved his hand and a door appeared in front of Seven. She took a step back at the object’s sudden appearance and laughed nervously. She wasn’t sure if that was a spell she’d eventually be able to use or if the NPCs got access to things she would never be able to use.

Seven grumbled as she received a notification stating that for one hundred gold she could gain access to the library. Even though she had received literal mountains of gold from slaying the Corruptor and taking the dragon’s treasure she was still a miser. She had hardly spent any money since receiving the gold and this was by far the biggest purchase she’d made.

It cost more than all the other purchases combined.

With one final grumble Seven walked towards the door and as she approached it a flash of light similar to the time she’d walked into Barnacle’s hut engulfed her.

“Oh. My. God.” Seven came out the other end and her mouth gaped open in awe.

This was far bigger than she’d imagined.

The door closed behind her and she took in her surroundings in silence. The entire complex was a giant spiral engulfed in radiant blue light that splashed onto the shelves and tables and seemed to cause every particle it touched to glow.

[Buffing magic; Toshna’s Splendour has been activated.]

[You have gained the ability to interpret languages with ease.]

[Mana regeneration +500%]

[The buff's influence will wear off once you have left the radius of Toshna’s Splendour.]

Seven was bombarded with messages as she felt the light wash over her.

She had been blessed by whatever magic had been placed here by the magi guild.

‘What do I need it for?’ She wondered.

She could see why the language interpretation could come in handy in a library, but she didn’t know why they would also buff the mana regeneration of visitors. Other than herself and the rows upon rows of books she could see three other people visiting and reading in the magi guild.

Each one was an NPC.

She passed by a sprightly old man sporting a grey beard and walked around to try and discover what she could find in here. She wanted to read up on rooting and silencing magic but from the scope of the place it seemed that she was missing out on a lot of magic she had no idea about.

Seeing the circular building she decided to head to the nearest bookcase and scanned the board above to see what section she’d entered.

[Buffing Magic.]

‘Ohh.’ Seven’s eyes shone.

She could see dozens of books dedicated to this single area of magic. Each one looked ordinary and was leather-bound but she had no doubt that they contained powerful magics. She picked one up and was startled as a message appeared on her screen.

[Spell: Bloody Tears; You patience and faith provide you with the ability to instill courage in an ally. +10 Attack for 5 minutes. Costs: 20 Mana. Cooldown: 2 minutes.]

[Time required to learn this spell: 3 Days. Do you wish to learn this spell? Spells learnt; 0/4]

‘Woah.’ Seven suddenly found herself staring at the books in amazement.

Each and every book was a spell that could be added into her arsenal.

“Three days?” Seven suddenly became keenly aware of the second message.

She rummaged through the other books and felt like crying.

[Time required to learn this spell: 15 Days. Do you wish to learn this spell? Spells learnt; 0/4]

[Time required to learn this spell: 11 Days. Do you wish to learn this spell? Spells learnt; 0/4]

[Time required to learn this spell: 12 Days. Do you wish to learn this spell? Spells learnt; 0/4]

It looked like ‘blood tears’ was one of the quickest spells to learn. But if she spent three days straight learning the spell then it would cost her at least three hundred gold coins. The other spells would lead to even higher prices. That wasn’t even mentioning the time it took to learn them.

Then a book caught her eye. It was shimmering bright blue and seemed to call her to it with its uniqueness.

[Constitution: Buff Body; All buffs placed on your person are permanently increased in power by 10% for their duration.]

[Time required to gain this constitution: 14 Days. Do you wish to gain this constitution? Constitutions; 0/1. Constitutions can be changed after application.]

Seven had never heard of a constitution but it looked tempting. It was kind of like a permanent buff. Except it only applied for buffs.

“Damn.” Seven sighed in regret.

It seemed like a really good thing but she didn’t need it right now. She also couldn’t afford to be taken out of the game for two weeks learning one thing. That would just be boring.

She quickly distanced herself from the book and walked down the rest of the isles.

[Fire Magic] [Water Magic] [Poison Magic] [Ice Magic] [Spirit Magic] [Summoning Magic] [Lightning Magic]

“Good lord.”

There were dozens of bookshelves with all kinds of spells.

The dragon’s treasure was nothing. She could spend all of it and not even make a scratch on the amount of books that were contained within this place.

But she only had four spell slots to learn things.

“Maybe that’ll increase later.” She said to herself.

“Are you just going to keep flopping around aimlessly like a fish or is there something you need in here?”

Seven felt a chill as a harsh voice suddenly entered her ears.

“Excuse me?” She turned around to find the grey-bearded man eyeing her warily, “Can I help you?”

“No-no,” The old man shook his head, “I asked you if I could help you. I don’t need any help, but clearly you do.”

[Librarian: Tharaer]

“Tha-Thre- hello.” Seven tried to pronounce his name and then gave up, the old man was already glaring at her harshly enough, “I can use some help actually.”

She explained what she was looking for and the encounter with Trog. She tried her best to describe the spells that he’d been using and despite her terrible vocal skills she could see that the librarian had gotten the gist of it.

“Ah yes, the archmage. That young upstart that thinks he’s so amazing.” Tharaer rolled his eyes and Seven could physically see his forehead crinkle, “Spends a few years stuck in this place and suddenly people think he’s the greatest thing since Verm."

“Um.” Seven wasn’t sure how to respond.

“No missie,” He saw Seven’s confusion and smiled, “It appears you have the wrong idea. The silence and rooting spells are most definitely learnable in this library. However, the water elemental magic you speak of is only found in the realm of sorcerers. You will have to ascend to the second or third floors if you wish to learn such powerful magic.”

Seven visibly deflated, “Well, I suppose two out of three isn’t bad.”

“Perhaps.” Tharaer chuckled, “But the spells will not be nearly as potent as the ones the frogkin used against you. He is an archmage and you are but a simple nimble magi. The distance between your magics will be like the difference between the heavens and our realm.”

Despite his words, Tharaer still brought the spells to her. Instead of wandering down the aisles like she had, he brought out his wand and with a single wave and a gust of air the books started floating towards him.

“I see, I see.” Tharaer looked at the books carefully, “These spells are potent, yet not particularly difficult to learn. Are you absolutely sure you wish to learn these spells? I would recommend you search through the library for other spells.”

Seven agreed with him but held onto the books. She could see that both spells would take four days to learn. Luckily Tharaer confirmed that the spells could be learned concurrently, however, she would still have to take the time of the longest spell to finish learning them all.

“Thare- Thra- So actually,” Seven turned to the old man as he was about to walk away, “what spells do you think will be the best for me to learn? Just considering your expertise.”

“Hmm.” Tharaer turned back to her and hummed, “What kind of magi do you wish to become? Do you wish to be a magi capable of defeating any foe in single combat? Or do you wish to deal damage to many foes at once? Do you seek to poison, to curse or perhaps cripple your enemies? Casting spells that allow you to control their every movement and sway them to your side? Or perhaps you wish to master the elements and seek enlightenment from nature.”

Tharaer chuckled as he saw that he was beginning to overwhelm Seven, “The question you ask is something only you can answer. Perhaps I can guide you to the spells you wish to find, but it is only you who knows what you truly want. Call me if you wish to discuss this further. But for now, I have other matters to attend to.”

Tharaer left with a flourish of his beard and Seven found herself staring at the two spells she had been given.

‘Do I really want these?’

She had definitely become obsessed with them for the past day. But that was mainly because they had seemed so powerful when they were used against her.

No.

It was because she had been so powerless against these spells. She was a magi and she relied solely on her use of magic. What would happen if she learned the silence spell? Would she be able to use it as effectively as Trog? After all, she would be fighting a lot more than just magic users while playing. She would be sacrificing a valuable spell slot just to learn something that would impact only a certain group of players and monsters.

The rooting spell was definitely helpful as well, in its own way, and would be very useful for single combat. Unfortunately, it would be almost useless against large groups such as the mass of frogkin that had ambushed her before.

The only spell that had seemed completely out of her league and useful were the water snakes. If they could be controlled to constrict players and also deal damage then she would love to grab ahold of them.

‘Looks like I’m going to take a while.’

Seven was suddenly glad she had access to this place for the entire day. She wasn’t going to make a rash decision about something that would probably change her playstyle drastically.

She sent a message to her team and quickly found herself being grilled by a very excited Third and Roxxy. Apparently, while she’d been stuck in here they’d been inventing some skills of their own.* And she rolled her eyes as they began to grill her about every aspect of the library.

-I’ll be right there.-

Third soon picked up on her unwillingness to respond to all his questions and immediately sent his reply to her. Roxxy said she was going to check something out and could hardly contain her excitement.

‘Phew.’ Seven was happy that she was avoiding a potential waterfall of questions.

She had only gone through a few of the spells, let alone the dozens that Third wanted to know about.

Then she saw something glimmering on the table in front of her.

[Sorcerer Constitution; Permanently increase affinity with magic Spells become easier to cast and control.]

[Time required to gain this constitution: 10 Days. Do you wish to gain this constitution? Constitutions; 0/1. Constitutions can be changed after application.]

‘Interesting. I can use this.’ Seven felt the book in her hands and suddenly had the urge to start learning it immediately.

She didn’t know what it meant to control spells but she could definitely guess. After all, Tharaer had told her that Trog was using spells that were considered to be ‘sorcerer’ spells.

“You are a nimble magi. Yet you seem so curious about sorcery. What kind of spells are you looking for young one?”

‘Gosh does everyone like to interrupt people in this place.’ Seven suddenly found herself facing a woman with a long nose and a pointy hat.

She looked like a witch.

“That’s because I am a witch.” The woman responded, “Muriel is my name.”

“You can read my mind?” Seven was taken aback.

“No, but your face is very easy to read, and your eyes are glued to my hat.” Muriel switched her attention to the book in Seven’s hand, “I saw you talking to the old coot.” She peered towards Tharaer as he walked around, “I see you are interested in sorcery dear. May I ask why?”

“Because it seems strong.” Seven was brutally honest, “I got smashed to pieces by a sorcerer in seconds and now I’m trying to learn what he used against me.”

Muriel’s face warped in surprise and suddenly she cackled with laughter, “That’s as good a reason as any youngling. I’m sure many a sorcerer has come into their arts with an idea of revenge. But before I make any assumptions, may I ask what you think sorcery is? Perhaps being more informed will benefit us both.”

“Oh?” Seven was curious and Muriel was still holding her book, so she decided to give the witch more of her attention, “Well, sorcery is just another type of magi isn’t it? That’s what the archmage- I mean, that’s what the person who defeated me was. He was an archmage… which is a type of magi?”

Seven wasn’t sure so she turned the last sentence into a question.

“I would say you are correct.” Muriel sniffed, “With the exception that you are completely incorrect.

Muriel smacked the book onto the table with a bang and Seven almost jumped out of her skin with the woman’s sudden change in attitude.

“Younglings like you who seek yet more power through mastery of the mystic arts are nothing but fools. Power? Fame? Glory? Revenge? These are not possible to achieve if you wish to become a true sorcerer. What use is knowledge to one whose very being instinctively knows how to guide magic? Who would have a use for wands and staffs if they could call mana from within themselves.”

Muriel’s hand hovered over the book and suddenly Seven found herself staring at the hand as it began to glow a deep blue.

“Allow me to clue you in youngling. What you will discover now is not a mastery of magic but instead an integration with one. For you who seeks the knowledge of sorcery allow me to guide you into discovering a true path, one far different from that of the magi.”

Seven’s vision began to swim with blue lines as the light of the witches’ magic and the light of Toshna’s buff began to merge together.

She was vaguely aware of Tharaer looking at her from the other side of the room but before she could question the witch on what was happening the room around her disappeared. There was nothing but a blue space surrounding her from every side.

“What is this?” Seven didn’t panic.

If the game had wanted her to die then she would have already.

“This is my world. Now youngling, I will show you true magic.”

Muriel’s voice floated towards Seven but she couldn’t spot the witch anywhere around her.

“I will show you sorcery.”