Clyde appears in a white void, his emotions from the battle washed away, a sense of peace washes over him. He looks around and sees eleven doors, two of which have been opened. As he peers inside one, he sees the battle with the Direbear. The other door shows peasants farming.

He looks at the other doors, noticing each one has different carvings representing a different class. The largest door is plain. These must be the pathways to unlocking the classes, Clyde thinks to himself.

Does this mean if I go into another door, I can unlock another class? he wonders.

Clyde approaches a door with carvings of spell mandalas and magic incantations. He pushes the door open, but he cannot see through it- a veil of absolute darkness is all that lies before him. He reaches his hand through the veil.

He felt absolutely nothing as his hand passed through. "Huh, neat. Well, let's try it," he says with a shrug. He takes a step back and throws himself through the doorway.

As he passes through the threshold, he is whisked away to a forest. It is well-cleared and managed, with some of the trees felled and seedlings planted near them.

A window appears.

The Goblins have kidnapped the Maiden. Save her to unlock Mage! To open and close your spell list, say [Open/Close spell list].

Clyde examines his armaments. He has a thick linen coat, topped with a hood that has a flap attached to it that covers his lower face. The flap has a strap that connects to the other side of the hood. On his belt, the left side has a dagger and a short sword. On his right side, he has a bag of six wooden balls the size of baseballs, and on his left he has a short-sword and dagger. On his chest a slender holster with a wand retained with tension. He looks at the corner of his vision and examines the HUD:

HP: 1

MP: 12

AP: 1

"Open spell list.”

1 2 3 4 5 6 Archetype Teleport (1) 3x Torpor Ball (1L) Seal (3) Stiffen Fabric (1L) Mind Shift (1L) Presence of Mind (1L) - Force Ethereal (2) - Ambulant (1) Dual Casting (P) Counter-Spell (2) -

Well, that isn't a very good list, and no archetype. What kind of idiot uses this. Thank god for stiffen fabric at least, magic armor is pretty good. Let's stock up on some magical armor points. I want two magic armor points, so that's ten incantations. Let's do the first five and see what happens.

"I weave threads of mana into thy fabric." x5

(Stiffen Fabric: The player gains one magic armor point for each point of mana locked. A total of three magic armor points may be gained this way. The player may spend 1 MP to repair one magical armor point. May be used with armor points.)

Clyde could feel the magic flow through the fabric of his clothes. He slaps his chest to see if he could feel it, but it felt like he was wearing plate armor.

That's amazing! But what about my face? He slapped his face, giving his cheek a red imprint. I guess the rules of this world can deviate from the LARP… In the LARP, magic armor covers the entire body, but here it only covers what your clothes cover. Hopefully, I won't have to test it in combat.

Clyde recites the incantation again, granting himself two points of magic armor. He counts the balls in the bag and finds that there were six of them. I guess I'll lock two mana. I have Dual Casting, so I can have two spell balls active at the same time.

But how was he supposed to lock mana for the balls? In the game, it was automatic. Clyde takes a wooden ball from the bag and, while holding it, recites the incantation. "The strength of dreams is mine to invoke,” x3. After finishing the incantation, the wooden ball transformed into a dimly lit grey ball. He looks at the other balls and saw that they were still wooden. He repeats the incantation five more times, one for each of the remaining balls.

(Torpor ball: The player must hit the target or target's equipment with a Torpor Ball. The target gains sleep for 60 seconds. )

(Engulfing: If a player is hit anywhere, then that player is affected by the state even if it doesn’t deal a wound or damage armor. This includes the player’s shield, weapon(s), armor, equipment, and clothing.)

(Sleep: The player is unable to take any action or move until wounded; sleep is removed when the player is wounded.)

HP: 1

MP: 8

AP: 1

MAP: 2

A shiver runs down Clyde's spine as he thinks about the Direbear. "I don't want to have to fight that thing again…" he mutters to himself.

"You're about to die," says a female voice from inside Clyde’s head. "So, you should hurry."

Clyde's eyes widened in shock. "What? I'm about to die?!" he says, looking around frantically. After a moment, he calms his nerves. "I must be hearing things." He shakes his head and begins traveling through the forest.

Clyde eventually stumbles upon a solitary goblin. The little green creature is no larger than a five-year-old child. Clyde quickly hides in the bushes, unnoticed by the goblin, and scans the area to see if there are any others nearby. Phew. Just the one.

The goblin looks around before bending over to relieve itself. Seeing his opportunity, Clyde quickly pulls out his short sword and grabs a Torpal ball from his bag. He begins to cast the incantation, "The strength of dreams is mine to invoke," x3 over the Torpal ball.

As he finishes the incantation, the ball changes. It is no longer dull grey, but instead clear with a grey mist inside. Clyde can feel the mana inside the ball moving around, ready to be unleashed. He knows he is ready to face whatever challenges may come his way.

Clyde stealthily approaches the goblin, making sure to check for other ones. As he grows closer, a terrible stench reaches his nose, one of sulfur and death, almost making him gag.

The goblin, finishing up his bowel movement, stands up, only to be greeted by Clyde's sword. The goblin instinctively puts its arms up, blocking the slash that comes down on it.

Clyde's swing, while not very powerful, still cuts through the bone on the arm, chopping it off but stopping on the goblin's collarbone.

Afraid for its life, the goblin flees and Clyde gives chase. With the Torpal ball in hand, Clyde throws it at the goblin, hitting it on the back of the head. When it hits, a grey mist dissipates from it, forcing the creature to fall on its face, fast asleep.

Clyde wipes his forehead. "I'm glad I hit my mark there. That was rather lucky, since I'm not left-handed."

He cautiously approaches the goblin. Amazingly, there is little blood from his strike. Clyde raises his sword and brings it down onto its head, killing the goblin.

He picks up the ball that he had thrown, and places it back into his pouch. He looks in the direction the goblin was fleeing to, and spots a thin trail. Unsure of where to go for his objective, he follows the trail for a lead.

As Clyde carefully walks along the path, it quickly becomes overladen with dense brush, forcing him to crawl. While crawling in the dirt, he comes to an opening leading out to a field, with small tents pitched around a moderately-sized fire.

Clyde observes the camp for some time, counting the goblins and their movements. Sleep will only last for 60 seconds and there are at least 15 goblins there. Some of them even have armor. If I was in full plate and could funnel them in, this wouldn't be an issue. But, with my current spell list, that’s all spell control. Why the heck is this my spell list? It's an F-tier list. Especially with this number of monsters. When was the last time I played Mage?"

Clyde thinks back to the last time he played the LARP. Ugh, that's right! The last mage I played was an NPC that was fodder for a quest! And the last time I played warrior was with my Juggernaut list, so this all makes sense… Dammit, why couldn't it have been a slinger list? At least the goblins are weak. But, damn, there is strength in numbers.

Clyde then sees the goblins carry a woman into one of the tents. She has a pristine white dress on, only sullied by the goblins dirty hands.

Is that the Maiden?

Not long after, Clyde hears the woman screaming from inside the tent. Clyde's mind fills with thoughts of what the creatures might be doing to her. Yet, he feels uncertain, as he knows very little about the world and what monsters actually do, especially these goblins. He thinks of Catherine and how she almost lost her life. While in thought, the screaming stopped.

Screw it.

He takes out two of the spell balls and says the incantation for Torpor Ball, charging both in his hand. He sprints across the field to the back of the tent they took her into, trying to stay low while doing so. He swiftly lifts up the tent entering from the back, he sees the woman bound, with two goblins cutting her clothes off recklessly, leaving cuts on her.

Spoiler :

Clyde throws both of the balls at the goblins at the same time, hitting one of them. The other scurries out of the tent.

Clyde focuses on the bound woman instead of giving chase. “Help me- please!” she begs.

Clyde smiles and puts his hand on her shoulder and, out of habit, begins casting, "by the power of magic, I send you through the void to [spawn]" x4.

(Teleport - The player becomes ethereal and may move to the location specified in the incantation. At the location, the effect ends and the player has ethereal removed.)

(Ethereal - Incapable of interacting with game objects or players. Players cannot move from their starting location unless otherwise specified. If players put the state on themselves, they can end it by saying "I return to the physical plane" x2.)

MP: 7

As he finishes the incantation, her appearance changes, becoming shadow-like, a mere reflection of herself. Her form then fades through her bindings as she brings herself up to stand. Without hesitation, the maiden runs off through the tent walls, toward the direction Clyde came from.

Clyde breaks out in a cold sweat as he hears "Extend, by the power of magic, I seal the void,” from outside the tent. He realizes that the incantation is a sealing spell that would kill the ethereal maiden.

(Seal: The ethereal target dies.)

Dashing outside the tent, Clyde sees goblins near the fire, one of them pointing their staff at the shadowy maiden. The goblin utters the second incantation, "By the power of magic, I seal the void."

He’s a mage! Clyde sprints out of the tent knocking it over, He continues to sprint between the incanting goblin and the woman, sliding on the ground while pulling out his wand, determined to be within 20 feet of both.

The goblin mage completes the incantation with "Seal" just as Clyde reacts with "Counter-spell!"

(Counter-spell: The player negates one verbal spell within a second of it being delivered.Must be within 20' of the caster and their target.)

Clyde glances toward the maiden, seeing that she has made it to the woodline, traveling through the trees and brush as if they were nonexistent. Relieved, Clyde clambers back up, only to find himself surrounded by goblins, including the angry goblin mage.

He draws his sword and looks around at the goblins, noticing that there are fewer of them at his flank. The goblin mage then shouts at the other goblins, ordering an attack. With this, Clyde pivots 180 degrees, and rushes at the goblins behind him. He cuts the head off of one, but the other stabs him with a spear, reducing his magic armor point by one.

HP: 1

MP: 5

AP: 1

MAP: 1

He bolts toward the tree line. After gaining just a little bit of cover, he places his wand on his chest. "By the power of magic, I send you through the void to [to the girl I teleported] x4" he says, completing the incantation just as an arrow hits his chest, removing his last magic armor point.

Clyde watches and feels his body shift into the ethereal realm. The arrow that was stuck in his clothing falls to the ground, as if his physical body had completely disappeared, leaving only his soul and spirit behind. He passes his hand through a tree, which offers no resistance to his ghostly form. So cool.

Up ahead, he sees a light in the distance beckoning to him in the midst of a pitch-black void. Clyde can’t see anything past 50 feet in emptiness, which was slowly approaching him.

He drew close to the edge of the pure darkness. It gave him an uneasy feeling, and he knew better not to touch it, let alone approach any further than he already was.

He turns to follow the beacon of light, running as fast as he can as he passes through trees, boulders, and brush. With every stride, Clyde felt light, and his movement was effortless. Upon reaching the light, he steps into it, leaving the ethereal realm, becoming physical once again.

Coming back to the physical realm, the gravity felt heavy, the air cold, and light on his skin, hot. He was completely devoid of all senses while in the ethereal realm, and it shocked him, almost akin to being in a hot spring for a while before jumping into a cold river.

Clyde takes in his surroundings. Alone, again.

Without warning, a skeleton cloaked in black robes over transparent flesh appears before him, floating slightly above him. The skeleton reaches out with its hand. Instinctively, Clyde tries to take a step back, only to find that his body is frozen and unable to move.

The skeleton attempts to put its hand inside Clyde’s chest, but repelled by some force.

“What?” the skeleton asks in disbelief.

Clyde tries to draw his dagger, but his body won’t budge. "What are you trying to do!?”

“I see… It’s the same as the Valkyrie.” The skeleton mused, ignoring Clyde’s question. He raises his empty sockets to Clyde’s eyes.

“I will see you later then.” The skeleton warned, before fading away.

Clyde drops to his knees as he clutches his chest. A terrible pain grew through deep throbs. “Damn, I have to hurry and finish this.” He stands back up, working to push the pain from his mind.

Clyde examines his surroundings, and notices he’s back at the beginning of the mage test’s realm.

He calls out to the maiden, “Hello? Are you there?”

The girl appears from behind the cover of a tree, unaware of the reaper that has just appeared. She thanks Clyde, but keeps her distance.

"I need to get you to safety," Clyde says. "I don't know when more goblins will show up."

"There should be a town not far from here," the maiden replies cautiously.

"Do you know the way?" Clyde asks, looking around for some kind of road or path.

"I think so, yes.”

"Okay, I'll follow you then," Clyde says, sheathing his sword and pulling out two Torpal balls. He speaks the incantations, and follows the girl on the small trail, being sure to tread carefully.

Upon leaving the forest, the two enter into a broad field, where the town is just ahead in the distance. The sun is setting, casting a beautiful glow on the sky. Clyde feels a sense of peace, but quickly disappears, as the pain in his chest reappears.

While walking a path, he hears a chanting. At first, he can't make out what they're saying, but he hears the last part of the incantation.

"Extinguish thy soul."

He looks back at the maiden- she’s completely engulfed in flame.

(Extinguish Soul: Target player dies.)

Clyde drops one of his spell balls and quickly flicks out his wand from its holster on his chest. Before the wooden ball hits the ground, he yells "Counter-spell!" . Luckily, he just barely managed to negate the spell.

The goblin must have used presence of mind to shorten the incantation! Clyde looks around, spotting one goblin flanking him in light armor, with two goblins in front of him – the mage and his guard. The guard is fully covered in plate armor.

Clyde turns and sprints toward the goblin behind him.

"PLEASE DON'T MISS!" he cries out desperately, as he gets into range, close enough to throw his ball as hard and as fast as he can. The ball hits the goblin square in the face, inflicting the sleep state upon it.

Clyde then slides to a stop and, facing the mage, yanks a dagger from his belt to launch at it. Its guard blocks it as if it were a toy, making the creature give a nasty chuckle.

Irked and dismayed, Clyde falls back, leading the goblins away from the maiden. Once satisfied with the distance he created from throwing his dagger, he draws his sword.

"Run away," Clyde says. "I don't know if I can beat them."

HP: 1

MP: 3

AP: 1

MAP: 1

Clyde steps between the girl, and the goblins. Clyde and the mage lock eyes- the goblin looked down upon Clyde, almost as if Clyde were a small hurdle in his path to greatness.

I can’t hold anything back, Clyde thinks, I’m going to go all.

“Mind shift,” he says

(Mind Shift: Lock 1 MP, restore 3 MP.)

Clyde grabs his head, feeling the effects of the spell. What the hell…? His head grows heavy, and his thoughts a bit muddled, but only for a moment.

MP: 6

Locked MP: 5

Clyde points at the guard with his sword, powering through the brief befuddlement.

"Come at me."

He then pulls out a Torpal ball from his bag and begins the incantation. The mage throws a Mana Bolt at Clyde, forcing him to interrupt his chanting to dodge.

(Mana Bolt: Engulfing - The player is staggered. A wound is dealt to the hit location. When a weapon is hit, it is destroyed. When armor is hit, 3 armor points are removed.)

Seeing the guard flank his side, Clyde allows it to enter his range, smiling as it falls for his feint. Clyde knocks away the attack with his sword, then swipes at the goblin, forcing it to back up haphazardly.

"Presence of mind," Clyde says. "By the power of my magic, I force thee incorporeal."

With that, the goblin guard gains ethereal, becoming a shadowy figure locked to its position.

(Force Ethereal: The target becomes Incorporeal.)

MP:4

Lock MP: 6

The goblin mage counter spells, forcing Clyde to return the counter with his own. Knowing his target will be out of mana if he recasts once more, the mage chuckles and counters yet again.

Catching on to the game, Clyde yet again returns with counter-spell, only to immediately follow-up with another "mind shift!"

The pain in Clyde’s head returns ten-fold, as he falls to his knees, dropping his sword to grab at his head. Struggling to remain focused, he points his wand at the guard goblin, a stream of blood now running from his nose.

Locked MP: 7

MP: 3

"Presence of mind," Clyde says through clenched teeth. "By the power of magic, I seal the void."

The goblin guard's shadow evanesces, as if the darkness is devouring him. It screams and flails its arms desperately, but no sound can be heard from the void. Though faint, Clyde could see small insect-like creatures swarming the guard as he faded from view.

Locked MP: 8

MP: 0

The mage studies Clyde, questioning his choices. Even the most experienced mages would never use mind shift twice in a row, opting instead to stay away from it altogether.

"Mind shift!" Clyde shouts.

Awestruck, the goblin is stunned. Yet, Clyde was not moving either, as the side effects are far worse than before. The pain is extreme- Clyde felt like a mouse was trying to dig its way out of his head, digging a tunnel only to stop and start another. The blood from his nose spurts, and even more pours out of his ears. He is in a trance, fixated on his goal: remove nuisances.

Locked MP: 9

MP: 3

Afraid for its life, the goblin turns tail to escape, sprinting away from the fight. Clyde wrenches himself up, casting ambulant, to move and cast at the same time, he gives chase to the mage. "By the power of my magic, I force thee Incorporeal." x3

(Ambulant: The next ability that requires an incantation does not require the player to be stopped, and the incantation can be said while moving.)

The goblin was quick, but its short legs weren’t fast enough to outrun its pursuer. It turns to face Clyde, who suddenly shifted realms- or rather, the goblin itself did. It was frozen in place, the ethereal effect seizing its body.

"30 seconds on him," Clyde says, doubling back to retrieve his sword.

He took out the other goblin that was sleeping, with the plunging of Clyde’s sword into its chest jolting it awake to feel death’s sting. Finally, Clyde could refocus his attention on the mage.

He faces the goblin as it watches from inside the shadow. “7, 6, 5…” Clyde counts down, his eyes locked on his prey. Freeing a dagger from its belt, the mage, readies to attack once free from the void.

“3, 2, 1…”

As soon as the ethereal veil dispels, the goblin lunges at Clyde with its dagger. Allowing the mage to remove a point of magic armor with a stab to his torso, Clyde then grabs the small creature by the wrist, yanking it into the air.

The goblin thrashed and struggled to escape as Clyde placed the tip of his sword on its chest, slowly sinking it into its chest. He stared into the goblin's eyes as it died, holding it there until it drew its last breath, only to cast it to the side like a discarded toy.

The maiden, slowly approaching from the sidelines, reaches out her hand toward Clyde. “Are… Are you okay?” she asks meekly.

"Didn't I tell you to run?" Clyde says sharply, a tinge of annoyance in his hoarse voice. He casts a glare at the maiden.

"Yes… I'm sorry,” she replies, taking a small step back. “I was just worried about you…”

Clyde’s trance-like state still muddies his thoughts. Just staring at the maiden irritates him. Why didn’t she leave like she was told to do? Why didn’t she just listen?

Clyde turns and steps toward her, sword readied, mind clouded with a fog.

Get rid of her. She’s just another nuisance now- better off dead.

He walks towards her, holding his sword tightly in hand.