Maya felt momentarily dizzy, then nauseous, then giddy with ecstasy, then shivered all over as a prickly wave of sensation washed over her. Along with the return of physical sensation she felt a strange aching emotion, something like emptiness, a lonely melancholy, as though something just out of reach would never return.

But these thoughts did her no good. Memory flickered and faded, and she didn’t try to hold onto it. It was better that way. She firmly put it behind her. The game awaited.

Multiple system messages hovered just at the edge of her sight, waiting for her to give them her attention, but instead she turned in a slow circle to examine her surroundings.

She stood in a wide open plaza, paved with multicoloured triangles of stone arrayed in complicated patterns all around her. She thought at first they looked like waves, or hills; possibly leaves. Morning sunlight shone through arched gateways and between pillars, casting shadows long across the plaza and glinting vividly gold off the tiles.

Six ornate marble fountains surrounded the plaza in an evenly-spaced circle. Three represented common character archetypes - a lizardine warrior in full armor with a sword and shield, a lightly-armored harpy with bow raised to fire, and a robed elf holding a staff aloft. The other three, spaced alternately with the characters, represented mythical beasts - a phoenix, a dragon, and a griffin.

All six shimmered with a faint glow regardless of the light or shadow around them, giving the water flowing through and around them an ethereal beauty.

Between each pair of statues stood an archway. Six in total. Each arch contained a curtain of shifting light, all different colours, though faint enough that she almost overlooked it. Red between the warrior and dragon, gold between the dragon and mage, white between the mage and phoenix, green between the phoenix and archer, blue between the archer and griffin, and black between the griffin and warrior.

Maya had turned in place several times by the time she finished taking it all in, and then she finally looked up. A glass ceiling arched high overhead, a massive dome of glass stained in patterns that mimicked those on the plaza below. She could only imagine how beautiful it would be once the sun rose a little higher and shone through the glass instead of just between the archways and pillars below.

Finally, she turned her attention to the system messages.

Welcome to the tutorial! Since each world is unique, we strongly recommend you play through the entry areas to familiarize yourself with World 9352’s lore and characteristics. However, the tutorial is optional. Select here at any time to skip.

“No thanks,” she said, closing the window. “I’m going to need all the help I can get.”

She still knew almost nothing about the game world in which she’d found herself. Apart from a general desire to win, she had no idea what she should be trying to do here yet.

You have entered a safe zone. You may save and load your character’s progress from this point. Save or load now?

“Save,” she said aloud.

Save 9352-113-7-0001 created.

“Can I rename that?”

Command ‘View saves’ to see all saved games. Command ‘save’ followed by the preferred save name to save with custom name. Command ‘rename’ followed by save name followed by preferred save name to alter existing saves.

“Rename save 9352-113-7-0001, 1 tutorial.”

Save renamed 1 tutorial.

She dismissed that window, then read the next.

Each of the doorways in this area leads to a separate part of the tutorial in which you can learn about various game systems. Please visit each of them at least once, then return here to exit the tutorial. Rewards will be given based on completion.

Finally, something concrete. She chose the white door first and hurried toward it, marveling as she passed between the wizard and phoenix statues just how intricately detailed they were. From a distance she couldn’t appreciate the fine etching of feathers on the phoenix’s flaming wings and exact drapery of the mage’s robe.

Beyond the white curtain lay another plaza, smaller and less grand, with an open roof and no other exits. Windows lined the walls, allowing sunlight to fill the room. Myriad golden and white motes drifted through the rays of light.

In the center sat a young harpy woman, her feathers golden tipped with white. She raised her head as Maya entered, her beak parting in a smile of greeting.

“A new student. It has been long since we welcomed a newcomer to this land. May I ask your name?”

“Maya Starborn,” she said, feeling slightly embarrassed. It seemed a rather pretentious name now, though it hadn’t felt so at the time. “And you are?”

“Magic’s avatar in this world, or more specifically, the representative of magic to you. I must warn you, the path of the mage is not one to tread lightly.”

“But it is possible, right?”

“Of course. Everyone is born with magic’s touch upon their souls. It is as possible as anything else. Just difficult. There is a limited amount of magic in the world, you see, and everyone wants it for their own.”

“Of course they do. Magic is awesome!”

The golden harpy smiled, holding out her feathered arms to either side. “I agree. But enough about me. You are here to learn the basics of how to access and wield my power within World 9352. In this world, magic takes a physical form similar to water. It clings to itself, but can be shattered with a touch. It collects where life is strongest, or drifts the world in floating orbs.”

As she said this, a shimmering globe of liquid air coalesced from nothing beside her, hovering at about chest height.

“Go on, try to collect it.”

Maya reached out gently, cupping her hands beneath the ball of magic. It wobbled at her touch, conforming to the shape of her palms, but didn’t break. She felt it sliding down the back of her hand, seeping through the cracks between her fingers, but it remained touching her skin instead of dripping to the ground. She brought it closer, leaning over to look at it more closely. It appeared transparent like thin glass, but distorted the air within it like the shimmer of heat or the slipperiness of oil on water. She could imagine it being practically invisible from a distance.

Then she leaned a little too close and it slipped out of her hands and jumped to her face, like a balloon with static cling, leaving behind only a thin layer on her hands. She jumped back in shock, instinctively swatting at it. It exploded into a fine mist, vanishing from sight the moment she lost track of it.

“Remember, magic is attracted to life. Hold out your hand.”

She did so, and saw tiny droplets of the magic coalesced along her arm and fingers, lining each feather and running together into a thin clear sheen. “Huh.”

“Magic is at its most powerful when condensed together. In mist form, it can be used only for simple and very small spells.”

“Such as?” Maya asked eagerly. She continued to watch the beads of liquid power as they collected on her arms.

"I can't tell you everything. There is a great deal about magic which you must learn for yourself."

"Well, then, what can you tell me?"

“Wind Whisper will be your starting spell in World 9352. It requires you to hold magic in your mouth, breathe into your hands, then throw that magic-infused breath out toward your target.”

With a wave of her hand, another ball of magic appeared. This one hovered just in front of Maya’s face, about the size of a grape.

She leaned forward, hesitated a moment, then grabbed it in her mouth. It felt light and fragile, a tiny piece of still air that vanished the moment she touched it. But she did feel something, just the hint of something, coating the inside of her mouth. Instinctively she swallowed to rid herself of the odd sensation.

The avatar of magic laughed. “No, breathe it out. There are very few reasons to consume magic. It can't be used for spells from within your stomach, and will take some time to return to an accessible form.”

“Oh. Sorry.”

Another ball of magic appeared, and this time Maya was careful not to swallow it. She breathed into her hands, feeling very silly, then pushed her cupped hands away from herself in a quick burst.

To her utter surprise, the wind whipped out from her in a matching burst of invisible power, sending the gently-drifting motes of dust flying in all directions. She could see the path of her wind spell, reaching almost to the far wall.

“Wow! I don’t know what use it’ll be, but it’s awesome anyway.”

She licked the stray magic off her arm-feathers, exhaled into her hands, then pushed another burst of wind out in another direction. This one didn’t reach as far, nor cause as strong an effect, no doubt because of the less concentrated amount of magic.

Maya found herself grinning uncontrollably. She was a wind mage, just like that!

“And there are more spells?” she asked eagerly.

“Of course. And you can experiment as well, should you find sufficient sources of magic to do so. Spells in this world are much like skills, they can be learned or discovered or taught by anyone. Your skill in them is your skill in them, regardless of your circumstances or statistics.”

Maya glanced at her quickbar, which contained 0 of 3 abilities. She selected the first, wondering if Wind Whisper could be slotted in, but nothing showed up.

The avatar of magic smiled gently. “It is possible to use spells as abilities, but they require modification to use your internal energy instead of universal magic. To create an ability out of a spell, hold the ability slot in your attention as you cast, and the requirements to alter it will appear.”

Another small ball of magic appeared. Maya gently took it in her mouth, then slowly cast the Wind Whisper spell again with the empty ability slot still selected.

Convert Wind Whisper spell into ability: Wind Whisper? This action requires 4 drams of magic.

“What is a dram and how do I know how much magic I have?”

“A dram is a little less than a teaspoon. 4 drams is the amount in each of these.”

Another small orb appeared, and Maya cupped it gently in one hand. “How do I—”

“Place it into the conversion window.”

She carefully brought the ball of magic up to the system prompt, and the second sentence disappeared.

“Convert spell Wind Whisper.”

The ability appeared on her bar. It required 5 energy to cast, and could also be overcharged with additional energy to become stronger.

“Five energy, so I can cast it . . .”

She mentally brought up her stat sheet. 70 of 74.

“Fourteen times.” Not bad.

“Spells are versatile and unlimited. Abilities are rigid and restrained. Remember that.”

“But if magic is so hard to come by, abilities are more useful.”

“Perhaps in the short term. Do you have any further questions before you depart?”

Maya considered. “Any tips as to where I could find more spells? Maybe some fire or lightning?”

The avatar of magic shook her head. “While in this room, my knowledge of the rest of the world is locked away. I can tell you nothing about the state of the world. I could tell you its state at its creation, but enough eons have passed since then as to render such knowledge useless.”

“What was magic like at the creation of the world?”

“Boundless. Unlimited. I covered the world in power and nothing disturbed the silence. Useless, empty, purposeless. It would be a relief when people began to arrive, when my tranquility shattered and my true purpose allowed to begin.”

Maya sighed, that sourceless melancholy returning. She bowed and thanked the avatar of magic, then turned and left the room.

Next she walked through the gold archway, entering a wide hallway as different from the meditative room of magic as from the plaza outside. A deep reddish-gold wood floor shined to a mirror surface, matching walls of carved wood panels with a clear polish coating that made them richly hued, skylights lining the hall to provide light from the midday sky above. A carpet runner of silver and gold filled the center of the hallway, and at the end an elf man stood with his hands clasped behind his back, facing the sole window. Or, perhaps not quite a window, since it didn't look out into daylight.

He didn't react when she approached, entirely focused on the panel of glass behind which was an ever-changing flood of numbers and words in such small writing she couldn't make them out at first. She didn't think she'd ever seen so much writing in one place. How was he reading it all? It filled the room beyond, tiny scrawls that shifted moment to moment.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"Watching the fluctuations of the world's economies, of course."

"Is that important?"

"Do you even need to ask?" His voice sounded a bit irritable, a bit testy.

"Well, no, I mean, obviously it's important. I mean . . . I um . . . what am I meant to learn here?"

"The value of what you have. Because you gain it freely, without struggle, and begin at a level most others would envy, many of you do not appreciate what you've been given. This room, my task, is to show you how valuable it is and just how fortunate you are."

"I suppose that makes sense," Maya allowed. "But I don't think I have time to learn everything about the world's economy. We'd be here for years."

He finally turned away from the window and faced her. "I am not going to teach you everything there is to know. Just the most important pieces. And the very most important of all is magic."

"It's rare, the avatar said."

"No. Not rare. It's one of the most common commodities within the worlds. However, it is valued. Collected. Traded. Stockpiled. Hoarded. Controlled."

"How? It's hard to keep, isn't it?"

"It is attracted to life. All life. Any life. And without that attraction it would indeed be difficult to control. But all that is needed to keep it contained is a sufficient quantity of living beings who are themselves contained."

"Like a herd of cows, for instance?" Maya asked.

"Something like that. Cows are slow, unintelligent, and need to be relatively accessible. But there are any number of other creatures which can be more fully contained and not poached from."

"Bats! They're cave-living critters, you could keep them in a vault so long as they were able to hunt for bugs and stuff."

The elf chuckled. "Indeed, you could use bats. They are not the most efficient, and I don't know if anyone actually does use them. But that is beside the point. The exact creatures used varies from town to town and country to country. What we are here to discuss are the wider principles. Such as the fact that walking around with drams of magic all over your feathers will be seen as arrogant."

She glanced down to where tiny droplets of magic still clung to her arms. It didn't seem particularly noticeable to her, a slight sheen of liquid, barely discernible from having been out in the rain.

"Arrogant how?"

"You could sell the magic you're wearing for a week's wages."

Maya coughed and stuttered a moment before she was able to speak again. "A week? For this? I can cast Wind Whisper once or maybe twice, or . . ." she trailed off.

"Exactly," the elf said. "Most newcomers don't understand this, and expect magic to be a commonplace solution for every problem. It is not. It can be, but it isn't."

"So when the system allows me to convert spells to abilities . . .?"

"You become uniquely powerful. And it would be unwise to flaunt that power in the wrong places. By all means, utilize it as necessary, I wouldn't discourage you from using your gifts, but keep in mind that it is a thing which will set you apart if others know about it."

"I'll definitely keep that in mind," Maya promised. She thought about the magic she’d accidentally swallowed earlier, wishing she could sell it instead. “Is there any way to get magic out of a person?”

“Everyone is born with the ability to use magic, and that ability cannot be stolen or destroyed.”

“No, actual magic. I accidentally swallowed some earlier. Can I . . . get it back?”

“Siphoning power is a notoriously complicated process which has been a major goal of alchemists for generations. Alas, it is not that easy. Otherwise, everyone could eat or inhale whatever magic they found, and bring it out for use later. Which, by the way, is not a good idea. Magic clings, and it will build up over time in your body if you aren’t careful. Unless being used directly for a spell, such as Wind Whisper which requires it, treat magic as something which ought to remain outside your body.”

“Is it impossible?”

“No, but magic clings far more strongly to living beings than to anything else. Attempts to mechanically or alchemically detach it from a person, particularly from the inside of a person, are doomed to failure. There are some parasites or invasive surgeries which can succeed, but none are pleasant. Unless you’ve been breathing so much magic it’s messing up your airway, or swallowed so much you can’t eat, I’d recommend against such drastic measures.”

Maya shivered at the thought. “Yeah, I’ll just keep it where it is for now.”

The elf half-turned, glancing back through the window at the flickering writing beyond. “You’ve come to our world at an interesting time. The factions are beginning to align behind their champions. Trade is becoming polarized. The price of magic is only rising. Goods fluctuate hourly as one side or another decides it needs them in bulk.”

“What are the factions like? And what’s the tech level?”

“I can only tell you about the factions within the city, those beyond are outside my knowledge. There are technically seven, though by now they’ve basically condensed into three alliances. The Merchants used to be a major power, but after the Coalescence they’ve become all but subjugated to Domitius. They’re still in charge of around 60% of the trade in and out of the city, but everyone knows they’re no longer independent.”

Maya raised a hand to interrupt him. “What is the Coalescence? What’s Domitius?”

“The Coalescence is what I call the period of time during which group alignments reshaped themselves, very quickly, from independents to one of the three current alliances. Domitius is the leader of one of these.”

“Domitius is a person?”

“Indeed. A very, very powerful vampire, with numerous disciples and followers firmly in its thrall. It appeared within a day of Shardlord, the other newcomer to have claimed such vast power. They constantly vie for greater control. I fear each year could be the last in which our city maintains its independence.”

“If Domitius is dominating the trade and merchants, what’s Shardlord’s main powerbase?”

“Shardlord is one of the main driving factors behind the continual rise in the price and rarity of magic. He is an Archmage of incredible personal power and a great many allies, though fewer followers than Domitius. He took over countless sites which were known to produce or store magic, and established a near-complete monopoly on libraries and schools with magical knowledge. For now, the uses of magic are still commonly enough known that he hasn’t caused lasting harm yet, but if he continues to gain control over who can learn what spells he'll hold immense leverage against any newcomers who seek to follow that path. I fear for the impact this silent war may have on future generations.”

The elf glanced again at the droplets of magic clinging to Maya’s arm feathers. She self-consciously brushed them against her leg, which did little except to spread the power more thinly across another area.

“It seems likely that you’ll find yourself in his alliance, should you intend to pursue magic more deeply. It’s known that he performs research into the deepest mysteries of magic’s potential, and we’ve seen more spells created during his reign than for decades before. But I mistrust anyone who refuses to share their knowledge, who hoard it for personal gains.”

“Do Domitius and Shardlord each have only one faction allied with them?”

“Those are their primary sources of power. Domitius’s is economic, while Shardlord’s is magic and information about it. Domitius also holds sway over the thieves’ and assassins’ guilds, and Shardlord controls exclusive access to the southern dockworkers. There isn’t much trade that can’t be done quicker overland, but so long as he holds the sea access he can hold off Domitius’s attempts to dominate trade.”

“And the third faction?”

“The city government. The Council offered its protection to any group which desired to maintain its freedom from the outsiders seizing control. The northern farmers agreed, as did a handful of merchants who disagreed with their guild’s decision. The Guard is stationed all throughout the city, doing its best to maintain order and prevent any actual fighting from breaking out. Thus far Shardlord and Domitius haven’t fought each other directly. They’re each racing to gather power. Both have approached the Council, but so far the city remains free.”

Maya counted up the factions. Thieves, assassins, farmers, dockworkers, the Council, the merchants, libraries and mages, and the Guard. She wasn’t sure she’d be able to keep track of it all.

“Surely those aren’t the only groups.”

“Certainly not. But they are the only ones large enough and powerful enough to be important on a citywide scale. You could strive to gain favour with a particular shopkeeper, for instance, or with a group of beggars, or a village, or with an individual member of the council. There are no limits to the possibilities, if you’re creative enough to find them and determined enough to act on what you find.”

She spent another half hour inquiring about the state of the city, more details about Shardlord and Domitius, and how the factions worked. The elf was patient, knowledgeable, and courteous, but as time went on she noticed his glances at his window grew more and more frequent.

Finally, content enough with her information from this gateway, she bowed in farewell and left him to his work.

Character Maya Starborn Average Androgynous Harpy Level: 1 Affinities: Magical Physical Tier: 1 Class: None Total Base Items Modifiers Sturdiness: 8 8 0 0 Momentum: 11 8 0 3 Agility: 9 8 0 1 Control: 8 8 0 0 Attunement: 9 8 0 1 Focus: 9 8 0 1 Intelligence: 10 8 0 2 Flexibility: 9 8 0 1 Luck: 5 5 - 0 Unassigned: 0 Health: 45 of 45 Will: 18 of 18 Stamina: 72 of 72 Energy: 70 of 74 Speed: 77% Switch penalty: -52%, 10.2 secs Stealth: 78% Chain bonus: +3% Awareness: 63% Cooldown: 95.5% Max abilities: 3 Abilities: [1 of 3] Wind Whisper

[5 energy] Blow into cupped hands, then push the air toward the target.

Creates a light breeze, a quick gust, or a damaging slash.

[Overcharge: +5 energy, +0.2 sec cast time, +50% force/duration/dmg] 2.2 sec

5 dmg

(wind) [Empty] [Empty] Equipment Item Name Slot Stu Mom Agi Con Att Foc Int Flx Newcomer's Tunic Body Newcomer's Leggings Legs