Maya arrived at the academy just in time to see everyone heading for the dining hall. Perfect timing. She really needed to sit down and relax.

And, now that she thought about it, she should probably explain to everyone that she was safe and not being held prisoner somewhere, since the last anyone in the mage academy knew she'd been carried off in the middle of dinner yesterday by Rominian.

Hmm. In fact, that probably should've been the first thing she did after getting back.

Well, too late now. Was there any way she could make it sound like she'd just gotten away and hadn't forgotten that everyone here even existed and might've been worried about her safety while she was off duelling all day? Because the more she thought about it the worse it made her look.

Finally she settled on walking in as though nothing was wrong and making it up from there. She was way too tired to make a complicated plan.

The dining hall was as sparsely populated as before. Desi sat alone at her table, book in hand, and Trixy was still nowhere to be seen. Must've logged out to go to her job in real life. Not everyone could spend all day every day in game.

Maya crossed the room and sat down beside Desi, giving her a little wave of greeting.

Desi turned with a scowl already in place, then froze when she saw who it was. "Maya? You're alive?"

"Yep. Well, now I am. I did die, but then chose to respawn here. Pretty convenient." It wasn’t technically a lie, even if it conveniently made it sound like she hadn’t just gone off and done her own thing all day.

Desi's scowl deepened. "They let you die? That was careless. Not that I'm not glad you're safe, but Domitius has reputation for being absolutely brutal with the mages he catches. The only ones who've escaped are the insanely powerful ones."

Maya laughed nervously, trying to remember the previous day. It was hard, her mind was full of Venix and Kittykitty, wind and blades and the arena. Rominian felt like ages ago.

"Rominian may be a Domitian, but he didn't actually capture me for Domitius. It was a solo quest which didn't require him to keep me prisoner. He was actually annoyed at the prospect of causing a war between Shardlord and Domitius over it. But he's pretty obsessive about finishing every quest he gets. It was all just an unfortunate coincidence."

"So he just finished his quest and killed you, leaving you to respawn. Typical. No consideration."

Maya chuckled uneasily. "I'd really rather not talk about it. Can we just get on with our lives and pretend this never happened? It wasn't exactly fun being snatched away the middle of a meal."

"Of course. I'm sorry." Then Desi set up straighter. "I need to tell Shardlord. Last I heard, he was planning a counter move against Domitius."

Maya wished she could disappear. If her stupidity actually did start a war between the two largest player factions, she wasn't sure if she could bear it. "I'll tell him." Her high luck should help keep things from going too far out of hand. Assuming luck had any impact on players. But it couldn't hurt.

But Desi shook her head. "You're not authorized. Trust me. He'll take it better coming from me. We've worked together long enough that I trust our relationship. He'd probably think it impertinent if someone as new as you sought him out directly."

Dinner arrived then. Today it was a chicken dish, garnished with lemon and served on a bed of rice, with a vegetable medley on the side.

Desi laughed. "Does anyone else feel like they're making a point here?"

Maya laughed weakly, not getting the joke and too embarrassed to ask. "Where is Trixy, anyway? At her real-life job?"

"Yeah. She's actually running a bit late. If she doesn't hurry someone else could get her slot."

"About how many player slots are there for people in the real world, as opposed to permanents?"

"No idea, not that they’re set aside or anything. If a permanent logs out of a world for more than a day they’ll lose the slot to whoever wants to log in, same as anyone else, so it fluctuates. Universally, the ratio is about 4 to 1 last I heard. But that obviously differs from world to world. There are some worlds like 01, 272, 870, and 889 that are mostly permanents, while some have hardly any. I don't know 9352's ratio."

Maya nodded. "They say my brother is on world 01."

"You know someone on 01?! What are you doing out here?"

"I wish I knew," Maya said softly. "The only reason I'm permanent is because of him, I’m pretty sure. But he hasn't contacted me."

"I'm sorry. Family can be rough." Desi's voice was subdued. "We can talk about something else if you prefer."

"Let's. How do I go about learning more magic? If I can't approach Shardlord directly, who should I talk to? This is called a magic academy. Are there actual lessons? Classes? Private tutors?"

"Yes, all of the above. Magic here is a lot more like physics than anything else. Yes, you make wiggly magic motions with your hands and things appear out of nowhere, but all has an underlying structure to it. Some parts of that structure are codified into spells already, like the spell list you can buy at any magic shop. But understanding how and why those effects exist, what causes them to occur, and figuring out how they fit into the rest of the universe, that's a lifetime's study and then some."

"Has anyone been studying it that long? How old is this world anyway?"

“I’m not sure exactly. But it was mostly abandoned before Shardlord and Domitius started their rivalry thing. As for learning about magic, we're still at the earliest stages. We've begun to discover some things that work, but not yet why. Most of what we've learned is through trial and error.

“Those of us going at it scientifically haven’t actually been making much headway compared to those just trying generic fantasy things and seeing what sticks. Of course, anything they provide is able to help narrow the gap for the rest of us. With all of us working together, I'd expect a unified theory of magic to be codified within the next 50 to 100 years. It is just a game. How complicated could it be?"

Maya leaned back in her chair. "That depends on the technology. I mean, computers were able to do some pretty amazing things even in back the 2020s. With another 300 years of development? I can't even imagine the levels of detail, randomness, procedural generation, AI, and whatever else has been invented since then. I’m sure the developers would have access to incredible CG complexity now."

"That's true, it is entirely possible to create a system that is opaque and cannot be discovered. But this was a created world, not one generated by an NN or AI. Yes, some parts of it rely on computer augmented technology, but the initial parameters were input by a human. Otherwise, I would expect none of our experiments to have succeeded. The universe would be so complex as to be indecipherable. We'd have exactly the spell list that's given to us and no hope of more.

"But we've discovered a lot. A lot of things which feel like they ought to work in a fantasy world have worked here, and that wouldn't be the case if it were a computer behind the magic system. The fact that there are so few spells, but spread across all the elements, makes me think that it was intended as a puzzle for us figure out. We've already discovered variations upon all of the base spells. Whoever made the world gave us just enough spells in just enough areas to get a feel for how magic could be manipulated, then left it to us to build the specifics from there. It's really quite a robust system."

Maya grinned, and not just because dessert had finally arrived. "I can't wait to get started. Which returns us to my initial question. Where do I start? What do I need to do? How do I sign up? How can I get in on this awesome exploration of the complexities of magic?"

"You haven’t learned any spells outside the tutorial yet, have you?”

Maya shook her head.

"Then you’ll be surprised. Don’t be discouraged if it takes longer to learn a spell than you expected. It’s not as easy out here, not at all like the tutorial. I know, working with the avatar of magic directly makes you feel you can learn any spell in seconds, but Spark is an exception since it’s the most basic spell in the game."

"Wait. Spark? Don't you mean Wind Whisper?"

"Spark is the basic attack spell. You have to pay for Wind Whisper.”

"Well, where do I learn Spark then?"

"You skipped learning Spark? If you wanted to be a mage, why would you not complete the entire—"

Maya shook her head. "I did! I finished the magic tutorial and learned Wind Whisper! I've never even heard of Spark. What does it do? Can you teach me? How much magic does it require? I have some here."

"Spark is the simplest spell ever. You take magic, hold in your hand," Desi demonstrated as she spoke, teasing a few beads of magic down her arm and into her palm. "Then you snap your fingers to ignite it and that's it. You can throw it at people or keep it around as a light."

Desi snapped her other hand's fingers, igniting a spark from nothing rather than expending her magic. Maya didn't blame her. Magic was a limited resource, it made sense to use the ability system as much as possible since energy came back so quickly.

Maya imitated her actions, scooping up a little bit of the magic still clinging to her arm. She hardly had any left, after all her experiments with Wind Whisper in the arena, but she had enough for this. She clicked her fingers to ignite it, and the magic burst immediately into a small ball of flame. She stared at it, a little shocked. It wasn't hot, exactly. It floated just above her palm and she knew instinctively that she could relocate it at will. She mentally instructed it to move to just above her shoulder. It hovered there for a few seconds, brightening the area slightly with its fiery glow, then disappeared.

Maya immediately coalesced the spell into an ability, depositing 3 drams of magic into the interface as payment. Its description said it would deal 3 damage, and cost 5 energy. The same energy cost as Wind Whisper, but less damage. And unlike Wind Whisper, it couldn't be overcharged for extra damage. Maya’s envy over not getting an attack spell in the tutorial faded. She really had gotten lucky, Wind Whisper was a far better starting spell.

Still, Spark would be much better than useless Sense Balance. She'd swap it into her active abilites next time she had an ability slot free. Which meant she should probably invest in some intelligence when she leveled.

"Thanks. Now I only need to find teachers for the other spells. Well, and enough magic to learn with." She might have ten or twelve drams of magic left, not enough for even the weakest and least expensive spells.

Her arena payment was itching to be spent, but it might be wiser to hold off until she could get new spells. She needed new gear, yes, but after fighting Venix and Kittykitty she knew she needed more than wind and knives in her arsenal. Besides, at the rate she was leveling up, she'd be obsoleting anything she bought now within a few days anyway.

Desi was staring at her with an indecipherable expression. "You're telling me you actually learned Wind Whisper in the tutorial instead of Spark? Wind Whisper is one of the most useful utility spells there is. I definitely would've remembered if I got in the tutorial."

"Yep! I guess I just got lucky."

"I've never heard of such a thing happening. Everyone gets Spark." Then Desi's face cleared. "Ah. It could be an update. Making things easier for new players. I haven't played the tutorial in a couple years. I didn’t realize this old world was still getting patches."

Maya shrugged. She didn’t really want to get into luck and her trickster class. She finally had a second spell, and she couldn’t wait to learn more. It had been a long time coming, and it didn’t at first seem to be a very good one, but she would take it. She’d gained or improved so many abilities today, she couldn’t wait to play around with Spark.

Which reminded her. "So, magic lessons. You were telling me how to enroll?"

"Yes. Right. Most teachers are also research group leaders. By joining a class, you're also becoming a part of their project group. Basic classes last about a month and teach you one of the eight spells and give you some background into derivatives. Advanced courses have at least one accompanying spell for each of the eight base spells. The lower level ones each have several.

“The further away from default the spells get, the more complicated the triggers become, so there's a lot of practice before you're entrusted to try it with actual magic. Of course, if you have enough of your own magic, you won't be entirely reliant on class resources.

“Technically you could skip right to execution. But I highly recommend you go through the practice anyway. It's not hard to snap your fingers, but some of the more complicated spell triggers demand incredible precision. As a general rule, the weaker the spell is the more forgiveness there is for imprecise motions. The most powerful spells require near-perfection."

Desi paused and frowned, looking over Maya's arms. "It would probably be a good idea for you to put that away somewhere until you need it. It's not uncommon for powerful mages to carry magic on them at all times, but you're not exactly master level. Not to say anything against our fellow mages, but I would definitely not trust everyone here. We do tend to be a power-hungry lot."

"What would they do? It's mine. And there's not much of it left."

"Right now it is. But…" Desi reached out and slipped a finger along Maya's arm. When she pulled it away, her finger was coated in the clear power. "See? It doesn't take much. Magic isn't like an inventory item, it's not bound to you in any way. It has no inherent connection to your character or account. It's a physical part of the world. It can be interacted with, but never owned. Not as far as the game is concerned. All someone would need to do is brush up against you to take more magic than they could find in a month. Shardlord is strong enough to get away with flaunting his wealth and power. I don't think you are. I'm certainly not."

She offered Maya her magic-coated finger so Maya could retrieve her power, but Maya shook her head and motioned for her to keep it. It's not like half her tiny remaining amount of magic was much of a cost for the information and spell Desi had given her. "Thank you for telling me. But I don't know how to get magic off once it's on me. Where would I even keep it?"

"Your room should have a magic box in it. It'll look like a little terrarium with plants to hold the magic. Magic is attracted to life. The plants are specifically designed to make magic easy to store and retrieve. Just slide it off into that and you can grab what you need each day."

"Again, thank you. That's something I never would have thought of. I'd assumed magic on my person was like clothing."

"No, magic is its own thing."

"So how do I sign up for one of these groups?"

"It's pretty informal so far. We don't have admissions or anything. Just talk to any of the group leaders and let them know you're interested."

"What about you? You're in a group, right? A leader or something?"

"Yes, but mine is different. We research everything. Everyone in my group knows every default spell in the game and everything we’ve discovered. You'd need at least a few months, if not a year or two, of serious study before you'd be considered qualified to join my group."

Desi looked around the dining hall. "Raidah over there is leader of the introductory fire magic class." She pointed to a large androgynous elf with dark reddish brown skin and armor painted with flame patterns.

Maya grinned. "It won't be hard to find him again. Or her?"

"They, actually. It's a brother and sister who share the account. You never know which one you're talking to. Between them, one or the other is online almost all the time, but they like to keep us guessing. I'm fairly certain the boy's in school and the girl works nights, but they switch it up all the time."

Desi continued looking around the room. "Ah. There. That's Mysterine. She's the head of Earth studies."

Mysterine was a small sprite, her skin deep forest green. She had long white hair and tiny translucent butterfly wings, shimmering with iridescence.

"And of course, Farrison Durand, our wind master."

Farrison, another elf, looked almost like a child. He was small and thin, wearing a crown of leaves woven into his long black hair. His pale face stuck out vividly against the deep brown of his armor. Maya couldn't tell if he wore leather or tree bark.

"Shardlord personally oversees the volcano division, but that only accept applicants who've already completed Earth and Fire. Yistarra is in charge of storm, which requires air, water, and a few other specific sub spells. If you don't want to join a research group, you could hire a private tutor. It's more expensive, since with the research team you're basically paying your own way with your work toward the project overall, but a private tutor can teach you individual spells faster."

"I understand. Which is better?"

"That would depend entirely on what you're after. If all you want is to be able to cast basic spells? Private tutor is clearly the way to go. They'll teach you exactly what you need and nothing more. Fast and efficient. The research groups are more for those interested in progressing beyond the game's defaults, and we tend to take a slower, more thoughtful approach. In a research group, you won't be casting something new every week."

Maya ran a hand through her feathered crest. She didn't want to be tied down here forever. But it was a mage academy that actively studied magic, trying to invent new spells! If she were going to tie herself down anywhere this would be the place. And it was in the same city as the arena, where she already had obligations that would last some time.

"How long would I be required to stay if I join one of the research groups? I know you said one month, but on a daily level. Is it all day? A few hours? Would I still be able to go out into the city and do quests, or am I expected to stay here at all times?"

"It can be as much or as little as you want. The base requirement is officially two hours each day, but even that has some leeway. The main lesson takes place at noon, but there's always people in the study rooms throughout the day. You don't even have to go to the official class if you're willing to miss some of the details and just want to catch up later. And you can ask for and receive special dispensation if necessary. It's not nearly as formal as anything back on earth. I know some dungeon groups require two or three days for a raid, so some of our students are very part-time."

"Bottom line, it's flexible?"

"Yep!" Desi grinned.

"Where would you suggest I start? I already know Wind Whisper. Is that an advantage in studying with Farrison? Or would I be better served starting with fire? Or earth?"

"I wouldn't presume to direct your learning. You know better than I what you want out of your time here. I can offer advice, but not make up your mind for you."

"Honestly, I think I'd like to go into Storm. Or possibly your Omni division. I want to learn all the magic and then create more." Then something else occurred to her. "Do we get experience and levels for this? This is a player run facility, so they wouldn't be official quests or anything."

"You get XP for doing things. We don't know exactly how much or for what, since XP is a hidden statistic which we can never view, but plenty of people have leveled up from learning spells, creating spells, even from things which you think were unrelated or useless. One of my students gained a level while watering her flowers."

"And it wasn't a quest or anything?"

"No. She had flowers in her room because she thought it looked pretty. She was taking care of them one day and, pop! Level up. And she's not the only story I've heard. It's a weird game. If you take the time to research it, you'll find a whole lot of bizarre."

For a few minutes, they ate in silence. Then Maya thought of another question she'd been meaning to ask.

"Is there any way to get messages out to other worlds?"

"Not here, no. World 9352 is about as close to off the grid you can get in here. It doesn't have any integrations. I'm not surprised Rominius was able to hide here for so long without being found out. Domitius, now. Even a simple screenshot requires a hack to work around 9352's sheer obsolescence. If you want to send a general message, you'll need to log into another world with access enabled."

"And if I want to get in touch with someone on world 01?"

Desi shook her head. "Unlikely. There are so many people clamoring for attention as it is, I'm afraid it would take a great deal to stand out."

Maya nodded and took another bite of her dessert. Somehow, the fact that it tasted as delicious as ever struck her as incongruous.

"If you want to talk to anyone tonight, you should do so soon," Desi said, returning Maya's attention to the present. Indeed, people were starting to get up to leave.

"I'd like to talk to the fire guy. Person. Persons?"

Desi shrugged, took one last mouthful, then stood as well. "And I should go clear up your capture with Shardlord before we end up in a retaliatory war."

Maya hurried over to the table where Raidah stood talking with two others, each with similarly painted armor, albeit not as vibrantly colored as Raidah’s.

Maya didn’t want to interrupt, but the trio was gradually working its way toward the exit as they conversed. "Um. Excuse me! I'd like to join your fire… lesson group thing. Is that okay?"

"—but that would leave us. . . Oh hello! New student?” Raidah gave Maya an uncertain look, and she wished she’d gone clothes shopping before coming back. But apparently her unconventional getup wasn’t enough to break Raidah’s professionalism. “Of course, you are welcome to join us. We're just about done for today, but Nalana here can show you around. Right, Nalana?"

"Sure." The gold-furred felinis beside him - no, them?; this was harder than Maya had anticipated, no wonder everyone seemed to assume she was a guy - waved cheerfully at Maya. "I'll be sure he knows his way around."

Maya sighed. "She. And thank you."

Raidah clapped Nalana on the shoulder. “Standish! I’ll see you both tomorrow.” Then they turned back to Maya. "Oh, I never got your name?"

"Maya."

"I am Raidah. Nice to meet you Maya. This is Nalana, and StarStar," he gestured to the other student beside him, an albino lizardine who nodded gravely in acknowledgment of the introduction, then returned his attention to a small fiddly object in his hand. Maya wasn't sure what it was, but it glinted metallic. “As I was saying, we can’t rely . . .”

"This way, Maya!" Nalana said, as Raidah and StarStar walked away deep in discussion. "Do you already have a room assigned, or do we still need to take care of that?"

"I do have a room. I came in yesterday. Actually, I was the one who got kidnapped during dinner by Rominian last night. It's kind of embarrassing."

"That was you?!" Nalana stared at her in disbelief. "And you're alive? And you can still do magic?"

"Yes, I'm alive. He didn't need to do anything weird to me, he just needed to talk to me for a quest."

Nalana's brow furrowed as she frowned. "That's weird. Whatever kind of quest requires you to kidnap a fellow player? And, wait, did you say it was Rominian? The Rominian?"

"Um, yes? That's what he introduced himself as. Why, is he… special or something?" Maya hadn't had a chance to look him up on the leaderboard yet to see where he was ranked, but from what he'd said, she assumed he was pretty middling. "He's channeling most of his reputation gains straight to Domitius, so I don't think he's that impressive by himself."

"No, you don't understand! Rominian is the stealthbreaker. He analyzed every skill in the game, figured out the perfect synergy, and created a guide which everyone playing a thief or ranger uses these days. It's harder to find someone not using his system then otherwise. Domitius wouldn't be half as much of a threat without Rominian."

What in the world had Maya gotten herself involved in. "He seemed pretty reasonable to me," she said, a bit uncertainly.

She fell silent as she followed Nalana across the Academy grounds to a wide two-story building, round, flat-topped, and composed entirely of obsidian triangles. Maya never stopped being impressed by the beauty and diversity of the structures here. From Shardlord's crystal spire, Sapphire Hall, the dining area, and now this. The closer they got, the less black the structure seemed. It shimmered and glinted, refracting the light into dark rainbows.

"This is Opal Hall, and it's where most of our flammable research takes place." Nalana pushed open the door and Maya tried to follow her, but an invisible force prevented her. "Oh, right." Nalana's ears twitched backward in apology. "I forgot to add your permissions. Oops! Sorry about that."

Nalana waved her hands in the air, presumably manipulating her personal interface, then the invisible force disappeared so quickly that Maya stumbled forward. She followed Nalana into a narrow, almost cramped hallway. Doors lined either side. Nalana let her down most of the hallway to the sixth door on the right.

"Room 11! This is us." Nalana pushed the door open and tapped her hands through the air again, this time successfully adding Maya to the permissions before she reached the door.

The room they entered did not look anything like what Maya would've expected from a magical research lab. It strongly resembled an extremely untidy but otherwise ordinary classroom, desks and tables scattered throughout, a dozen chairs facing roughly toward the front of the room. There was a stage, just a couple inches high, enough to make it clear that it was a stage, but not to elevate the speaker very much.

Each table was absolutely covered in books, papers, writing utensils, and other detritus of seemingly ordinary scholarly work. Maya was disheartened to note the number of mathematical implements. She counted at least three protractors, and rulers and compasses were scattered liberally among the papers and books.

"So this is where you do research into fire magic?" She saw no evidence of either magic or fire, but she supposed the black opaline crystal walls were ideally suited to conceal scorch marks.

"Yep. This is it. We haven't discovered anything new yet this month, mostly we've been reviewing the basics. Last year they made a breakthrough with Spark as the base, if you can believe that.”

“Spark is the newcomer tutorial spell, yes?”

“Yeah. They somehow created a shield out of it, if rumor is correct. It’s in testing for verification and hasn’t been distributed yet. I can’t wait to get my hands on it! Fire magic is just the best, don’t you agree? Of course, why else would you be here.”

“It is pretty awesome. I’ve always been more of a lightning girl myself, but fire is a close second.”

“Hoping to get into Storm one day?”

Maya nodded. “I’d like to go into the Omni group eventually.”

“Omni? Is that the one run by the arrogant weirdo who sits by herself and ignores everyone?”

“Desi may seem standoffish at first, but she’s actually really nice once you get to know her.”

Nalana took a few steps back. “Desi? You call Desmerelda Phoenix by a derivative and haven’t been immolated? How? And when? I thought you said you arrived yesterday!”

“Well, technically I've been in the game two days now, but I only came to the mage academy yesterday. After Shardlord said I could come in Trixy introduced me to Desi at dinner, and today Trixy hasn’t logged in yet, so. . . I was hanging out with Desi. She’s the one who pointed me toward your group.”

Nalana was staring at her wide-eyed. “Oh. My. Goodness. You’re actually a future Omni member. Is that what they’re calling it now? And did you say Shardlord did your entrance interview himself?!”

“I don’t know its official name. I call it omni. And, yes, I met Shardlord in person.” She probably should stop mentioning him. It was growing tiresome to explain to everyone she met.

“You might even be able to get into Volcano,” Nalana said reverently. “I wish I could join Volcano. But it’s super exclusive. Even Raidah hasn’t gotten in, and they’re a teacher.”

“I’m sure teachers don’t have time to participate in other groups as well. They’re probably too busy running their own groups to apply for—”

But Nalana was shaking her head. “No, they’ve applied multiple times. Shardlord always turns them down.”

“Then I’m sure I wouldn’t have a chance. Besides, I like Desi and I’m sure I’d be happy in Omni. I might even be happy in Storm. Or here. Who knows?”

Nalana sat down at one of the tables and began searching through the papers strewn about. Maya waited, unsure if she should stay or leave. But a moment later Nalana found what she was looking for, tucked a folder under her arm, and stood to leave.

“If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask.” She nudged Maya’s arm companionably with her elbow. “You’re one of us now.”

Maya nodded. “Thank you.” She couldn’t think of anything important to ask, so she nodded toward the folder. “What’s that?”

“What, this? Some of my research, and my presentation for next week. I’d like to keep working on it at the library, I feel like I’m getting close to understanding something. The flow of heat, the way magic is created, it all fits together somehow. I’m sure of it. Magic itself acts a lot like fire, you know? The way it moves, the way it feels. I think fire is magic’s most natural transformation. It certainly does it easily enough.” Nalana’s voice trailed off.

“I always thought magic was more like water myself,” Maya said. “How would you say it moves like fire? Doesn’t it always gather into droplets?”

“Not droplets. Spheres. Spheres that float. Water always falls down. Magic drifts, upward, downward. It gets caught on trees and animals, flickers around stone and moves on. Much more like the way sparks fly. But maybe magic is the element in between fire and water. I don’t know. But there’s something here and I intend to find it.”

Maya nodded and listened as Nalana began going into greater detail about her theories. Despite Nalana's enthusiasm, Maya quickly found herself struggling to pay attention. What Nalana described took magic to a much more mundane level than Maya had ever considered it. It sounded little different from physics or electrical current or any other science Maya didn’t personally understand.

Well, she did say she wanted to learn and study magic. She couldn’t give up so soon. She tried very hard to make any sense at all of the conversation, but by the time they reached Sapphire Hall and parted ways she was just glad it was over.

Maya hurried up to her room, then sat on the edge of her bed with a sigh of relief. It had been a long, long day.

She should have asked Nalana about where the library was. And she should definitely go shopping for new clothing first thing in the morning.

Then Maya lay back and snapped her fingers to ignite a Spark, grinning at the little ball of flame in her hand. It had been a long day, but a very good day. She'd improved both her attack abilities, and gained two new ones. Spark may be a technically worse spell than Wind Whisper, but it was still a new spell.

Which reminded her of her magic, still out in the open where anyone could bump into her and steal it. After Shadow’s arena team had gone to so much effort to get it back for her, it would be inconsiderate not to take good care of it.

She stood and began searching the room. Sure enough, beside the window she found a plant terrarium containing what looked like aloe. She couldn’t be sure. It was smoother, perhaps, but still long thick blades without any leaves or branches. Tentatively, she collected together some magic into her hand and tried to coax it onto the plant. As promised, the magic didn’t object to the move and slid easily off her hand instead of sticking stubbornly like usual.

Once she’d carefully deposited all her collected magic - which really looked like a lot more when gathered together like that instead of all spread out - she re-equipped her beginner tunic and leggings, feeling more comfortable less exposed. While she was at it, she also equipped the level 5 footwraps she'd gotten from defeating Kittykitty now that she was high enough level to do so.

Then she lay down to sleep. It took a while, her mind full of everything that had happened and everything that she had yet to do. She kept remembering something she wanted to do, somewhere she ought to go.

She needed to do some more quests, and see how their rewards stacked up against the arena.

She had to upgrade her equipment. She felt so much slower and weaker without the epic arena getup Shadow had provided.

She had to visit the book store.

She desperately wanted to learn more magic. Even with only the two spells, her mind was flooded with ideas. Could she combine Spark and Wind Whisper like she'd done with Wind Whisper and Throw Knife? Create a gust of fire? And what about Wind Whisper itself, what if she overcharged it to the max, then set it spinning? Could she make a tornado? What would that do? And what if she threw fire into the mix? She couldn't wait to get started.

She wanted to get to know her new acquaintances better. Maya liked Desi, even if she did seem to fluctuate between eager researcher and distant loner. She wasn’t sure how she felt about Nalana, who was all eager researcher and then some, with maybe a bit of fangirl mixed in. Trixy had been nice, but Maya hadn’t seen her all day. Shadow and his team were basically co-workers. They hadn’t been around each other long enough for her to guess how their relationships would shake out.

There was so much to do, so much to learn, and she hadn't even explored a fraction of the city yet.

She didn't even notice when she finally slipped from thoughts into dreams.

Character Maya Starborn Average Androgynous Harpy Level: 6 Affinities: Magical Physical Tier: 1 Class: Trickster Specialization: Path of Life Total Base Items Modifiers Sturdiness: 8 8 0 0 Momentum: 17 12 2 3 Agility: 11 8 2 1 Control: 27 8 19 0 Attunement: 16 15 0 1 Focus: 9 8 0 1 Intelligence: 14 12 0 2 Flexibility: 9 8 0 1 Luck: 40 35 - 5 Unassigned: 0 Health: 121 of 121 Will: 18 of 18 Stamina: 78 of 78 Energy: 79 of 79 Speed: 105% Switch penalty: -33%, 8.3 secs Stealth: 84% Chain bonus: +5% Awareness: 84% Cooldown: 95.5% Max abilities: 3 Abilities: [5 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] 1.9 sec

5 dmg

(wind) Throw Knife

[5 stamina] Throw a knife at a target with high accuracy. Requires a knife. 0.8 sec

3 dmg

(physical) Windborne Blade

[45 energy, 5 stamina] Cast Wind Whisper in a loop up and behind, aligning with throwing arm.

Throw knife straight at target with wind as augment. 4.3 sec

33 dmg

(physical) Spark

[5 energy] Draw magic into palm and snap fingers to ignite into a spark of fire.

Can be used as a light or thrown at a target. 1.1 sec

3 dmg

(fire) Sense Balance Discern if an area is lacking in or has an excess of any materials, creatures, etc. Equipment & Inventory Item Name Slot Stu Mom Agi Con Att Foc Int Flx Ordinary Gloves of Control Hands 13 Minor Chestpiece of the Dancer Body 1 1 Minor Waistwrap of the Dancer Legs 1 1 Acrobat's Footwraps Feet 2 Lesser Bracelet of Control Arm 1 4 Trickster's Mask (Mage) Special Money: 3 Silver 262 Copper Quality Item name Details Soulbound Trickster's Dice Soulbound Trickster's Orb 3/5 uses remaining Flimsy Shary's Orchard Brochure Normal Apple x2 Consumable Special White and Blue Orb 3/3 uses remaining Special Key - Arrival Plaza Apartment Expires in 29 days Normal Basic Throwing Knife x11 3 damage (physical) Special Key - Room 6, Sapphire Hall Flimsy Newcomer's Tunic Flimsy Newcomer's Leggings Special Arena Equipment Token Registered to Maya Starborn Missions Mission Description

Time Reward Arena (Shadow) Spend at least one day every week fighting in the Arena. Ongoing Variable Trickster Day 3 Lose a fight to another player in the arena. DONE Ordinary Gloves of Control

+5 reputation with The Trickster Gazebo Construction Construct a new gazebo for Maylon the Poet.

[Optional] Also varnish the entire structure once built. DONE 3 silver 50 copper

+5 reputation with Maylon the Poet Trickster Day 2 Lose a fight to another player in PVP. DONE Lesser Bracelet of Control

+5 reputation with The Trickster Windy Creek Reconstruction Locate the missing workers' tools.

Construct a new dam to redirect Windy Creek to the mill run.

Clear the wreckage of the old Windy Creek Dam.

Complete construction of the new Windy Creek bridge. DONE 5 silver, 80 copper

25 reputation with Windy Creek village Trickster Day 1 Side with a person who is losing an argument or disagreement. FAILED -5 reputation with The Trickster Missing Delivery Find the overdue delivery boy. Ensure his safety and the successful delivery of apples to Shary's Produce Stand. DONE 5 copper

3 apples

+10 reputation with Shary and Elaph