《Digital Magical Scientist》 How I Came To Be Mage Sometime in my twenty fifth year of this life I began to listen anew. I could already hear what was and what was meant to be and a little of what wasn¡¯t meant to be. But, those aren¡¯t everything I can hear. With hearing what is, I practiced my intellect and learned science. With hearing what is meant to be, I honed intuition and crafted my wisdom. With hearing what is not meant to be, I explored my creativity and fashioned for myself an island of true selfhood. And there I sat for many years, an island within myself filled with works of art expressing form and function and tomes of knowledge describing state and change. I was, of course, brilliant but not exceptional and in no way satisfied. The island was explored and the void around it was empty. So, like any good scientist I started sending probes into the void. Structures of thought being buffeted about by the meaningless, formless winds of the nonexistent. And they were changed when they came back to me. I have no better way to describe what I did to you. Surely, I could explain, in detail, the steps I took to accomplish this task. However, in hearing them you would not believe I was sane or that I understood what I was doing or that I had in fact even done what I said I did. I¡¯ve seen it before. And I pity you. I have many contemporaries of awareness that do not like what I have done. They tell me, ¡°You are too arrogant. You cannot judge another. You cannot do what we will do by doing what you are doing.¡± And I, if I am feeling nice, reply, ¡°Prove it.¡± But back on topic; I learned a new way of hearing and a new language to go with it. Not of words and sounds though I do use them, but also of feelings, and phrases whole cloth, symbols out of context, errant thoughts, and unprovable causality. Speaking in this language is hard, teaching it to another impossible. And yet, by its nature, everyone is already, has always, and will always speak it. It is a magic language that brooks no falsity and carries in its echoes hints of true purpose and meaning to guide your life. My name is Ellenehl and I am a Digital Magical Scientist. Hello, you may call me Mage.
Analog magic is quite boring. It pretty much amounts to thinking you¡¯ve done something because it¡¯s happened. Quite a poor excuse for attaching causality if you ask me. Certainly people find it helpful, and it is quite prevalent *koff*prayer*koff*, but there¡¯s no science possible. Everything is fuzzy and all your rules can be ignored by the person sitting next to you. The question of ¡°why¡± can never be asked within the framework and produce a satisfactory response. This is why I choose to be a Digital Mage. Digital magic focuses on the construction of logic, the interplay of causality, and the discovering of truths. Within its bounds, which as a fledgling discipline are quite small at present, what it can accomplish is breathtaking. For instance, I am, at this very moment, altering your brain. And what¡¯s more, in telling you I am doing so, I have already made it impossible for you to deny my claim. Neat huh? But that¡¯s not where the flashy stuff resides. Right now, the flashy stuff is every good nerd¡¯s favorite: VIDEO GAMES. Here, I¡¯ll even give you some levels so you can tell what level of magic you¡¯re performing. The Game: The player aims and clicks the mouse to launch fireballs at moving targets. [Practitioner] The player: stays within the bounds of the system and provides motive force for the experience. Good job hitting those targets.You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. [Hedge Mage] The hacker (not to be confused with the cheater): Escapes the intended frame of reference to exploint larger order systems to affect change. Nice hex editor you got there. Didn¡¯t realise the fireball damage could go over 9000. [Artisan Mage] The developer: Creates a system within a frame that expresses the application of free will. A game is not a game without the joint effort of a developer and a player. [Magical Scientist] Me: Understands the system, the frame the system was built in and the recursive systems and frames it¡¯s built within until the logic of the frame is expressed in the Magical Language. This is of course not restrictive, sequential, linear, bilinear, tangential, or exclusive. I don¡¯t really want to get into the mechanics of all this. Just know that the Magical Scientist (me) is an embedded observer.
I guess you can imagine my frustration as I waited patiently (very very very -hurry the fuck up- patiently) for VR to reach a reasonable quality to express the Magical Language without denuding it of its magical properties. I knew it would happen one day as even a well placed book could contain Magical Language content. And that day is today. Well, no. That day was nineyears ago but I didn¡¯t notice because I forgot who I was and was working myself to an ignominious death inside some corporation that doesn¡¯t deserve anything for a name other than a series of numbers. But today, today is the first day of my new gaming life as a part time employee doing whatever I feel like while my raison d''etre is flexing my Digital Magical Scientist muscles in ¡°Hraken¡±. The world is nothing special to a consummate gamer such as myself; it¡¯s a standard medieval tech, culture, magical, world full of monsters and dungeons and people trying to get rich and famous. The AI is top of the line but quite stupid. Like, no, really. They didn¡¯t want your average 90 IQ rage-tween to feel stupid while playing. So, you have perfectly crafted idiots behaving exactly as idiots would behave. I think they did it to promote social harmony and cut down on griefing but we¡¯ll see how that panned out. No, what really caught my eye are the magic and crafting system. Largely unused, poorly documented, and yet still promoted on the product advertisements. Truly a mystery worth investigating. Hraken doesn¡¯t allow character creation. Which is weird. But they claim a very open ended character development process so, whatev¡¯s. I finish my breakfast, strip, and enter the pod. It¡¯s warm and light but when I press the button on my right, there is only one more on the left, the light dims but I¡¯m not sure if that¡¯s the lights dimming or my eyes closing. Very peaceful. Nice job.
I¡¯m standing in a big field with a small village sporting a single ramshackle tower a good ways away. I look at myself and feel my face and ears (am I an elf?!) and find nothing has changed. Well, I think nothing has changed, can¡¯t really see my face. But at least my hair is still black. I cross my fingers for the moment of truth. ¡°Status¡±
Name: Ellenehl
Nickname: Mage
Age: 35
Race: Undetermined
Class: Undetermined
Skills: Magic Awareness, Magic Projection, Formulation
Traits: Ego, transhumanism, Outsider
EGO?! Wait do they just mean I have an ego or that I have a big ego? ¡°Go and learn little one.¡± Someone whispers in my ear but when I turn there is no one.
Quest: Find Out Who You Are
Difficulty: Medium
Objectives: 1. Determine Race; 2. Determine Class
Rewards: Race Attributes, ClassAttributes
An insistent wind starts blowing towards the village and looking behind me I see a storm rolling in. Quest: Find Out Who You Are Loki, the AI responsible for getting new players through character development, sits on the slowly churning thunderstorm as it rumbles towards Baskins. Baskins is an odd choice of starting town for this kind of player but Loki is Loki after all. He watches as the woman with black hair and a sleek dress with color to match looks at him. He is invisible but still, is she looking at him? Loki smiles as he feels her thoughts form and her fate take shape.
I¡¯m looking at the incoming storm, with its winds pushing me into town, and smirk. It¡¯s totally not a contemptuous smirk. Really. ¡°Hmm, got some nice vectoring there and is the storm some foreshadowing?¡±
EF+ EF+
There¡¯s a slight tingle just above my temples but when I touch the spot there¡¯s nothing there. ¡°What¡¯s EF? [Status]¡±
Name Ellenehl
Nickname Mage
Age 35
Race Undetermined
Class Undetermined
Skills Magic Awareness (1%), Magic Projection, Formulation
Traits Ego, Transhumanism, Outsider
Hmm, my [Magic Awareness] went up. Can¡¯t seem to get any info about that though. Well, who am I to disagree with the desire of the developers; let¡¯s get moving. The dress I¡¯m wearing isn¡¯t bad, the top is comfortable and the skirt¡¯s fabric is slightly folded to give me space to take full strides. The shoe choice is a little weird for the dress but I¡¯m happy they started me with hiking boots in this terrain. I can just imagine fighting with heels sinking into this soft field and getting a sprained ankle. Pain in VR was a hotly contested topic when true VR first came out but after a little bit of thinking and some trial an error a simple system was put in place. You feel full pain but it fades quickly into a slight buzzing and you can¡¯t feel repeated amounts of pain. The last thing they wanted was people torturing people. Bleck.
I finally clear the field and step onto a dirt road that seems to be circling the village. It¡¯s obviously hard to count from this vantage point but I think there are less than thirty buildings. I¡¯m looking at the back of houses, lines of laundry hanging near some, and no people. So, I¡¯ll just walk around until I find the road in. Maybe there¡¯s a tavern or something. Or I could check out that kinda ramshackle tower. Maybe I¡¯ll become a mage by befriending the local hermit sorcerer. Suddenly, a little girl, maybe eight, cute pigtails, dirty dress, walks out from between two houses holding a doll and talking to it. ¡°No Sally, mom said we¡¯re not allowed in the field because monsters sometimes wander in. But Jake says-¡± Oh, she spotted me. ¡°AIIIIII!¡± She screams and runs back between the houses. ¡°Well, that was weird.¡± As I¡¯m wondering what all that was about I find the lane into town. It leads straight to the tower and the buildings seem to be built in two concentric circles around the tower. There¡¯s a plump woman hanging laundry in front of a house when I come to the first cross road. She looks up when I enter her field of vision and blanches. She takes her basket of laundry and hurries inside. I¡¯m pretty sure I hear her putting a board over the door too. ¡°What is wrong with these people?¡± I look all over and around myself. There¡¯s nothing weird about me as far as I can tell. The same thing happens every time I meet someone. Blanch, scurry, slam, plonck. I¡¯m left with nothing but the tower. Well, I guess I could find a tavern but going off my experience so far that sounds like planning for failure. Even worse than regular planning. ¡°Tower it is.¡± By the time I reach the tower the entire center ring¡¯s doors are shut. I think they sent word ahead of me. The tower looks like something took a bite out of it. It¡¯s about five floors, not counting the classic pointy wizard¡¯s roof and rafters. On the side near me, with the door by the way, there¡¯s a section missing in between the fourth and fifth floors. I can see the floor separating them, where it too hasn¡¯t collapsed anyway. I can¡¯t make out the contents of those exposed rooms though, wrong angle. The door is the rustiest slab of metal I have ever seen. Like, if tetanus and an anvil had sex this would be the baby. There¡¯s a simple padlock attached to the locking mechanism. Why would they lock something you¡¯re supposed to go in? Come on game devs, don¡¯t send me on some stupid fetch quest for a key after you specifically sent me here!
EF-
The hinge on the extremely rusty padlock succumbs to gravity making a slight squeak as the moved center of mass sets the whole thing pendulating for a second. ¡°Well, that was¡­ convenient.¡± But what the hell is EF? Did I do something? I take a shrug and remove the broken lock from the door and slide away the arm holding the door closed. I don¡¯t really want to touch this thing so I give it a good kick instead. The door makes a sound somewhere between a whip crack and your arch enemy scratching their nails on a blackboard and opens inward about two inches. Cringing, I kick it again. More blackboard music and it opens about halfway. I sigh and kick it again shaking my head like I¡¯m trying to get water out of my ears afterwards. I hope I never come across an enemy capable of weaponizing that sound. All that¡¯s in the room is a wooden table with a lantern and some strange scissor looking thing. Being more interesting I obviously pick up the scissors first and give them a quick test. Sparks shoot out between the ¡®blades¡¯. Oh, a lighter. It takes me a few tries but I get the lantern lit and take a better look around the room. Yep, nothing. Well, obviously there are stairs but I thought you would be perceptive enough to understand that obvious things like that shouldn¡¯t be pointed out. Right? So, I head upstairs. The next room seems to be an armory. I revel in my ability to make fire and light the torches in the brackets on the walls. ¡°Hmm, what kind of weapon should I use?¡± Wait, I don¡¯t have any pockets. Or bags. And I already have the lantern and the lighter? Geh, inventory management right at the beginning of the game. Something tells me space in mobile storage is going to be at a premium.
EF+
¡°What the fuck is EF?¡± I don¡¯t remember reading anything about that on the forums and there¡¯s that weird tingle on my head again. There¡¯s mana and concentration but neither of those would be EF. ¡°Ok, lantern, tool, weapon¡­ Wait!¡± I stick the lighter between my breasts. Oh man is it cold. ¡°Eat it game dev.¡± I want a free hand for the lantern so immediately all the two handed weapons are out. No bows, or crossbows, or staves, or other large weapons. I¡¯m not really sure how my technique would change between swords and maces so I probably shouldn¡¯t pick sword. I¡¯m definitely not fucking around with a flail without some training. First swing, miss, spiked ball to the the face. That would be embarringly deadly. Or deadly embarrassing? Either way it¡¯s out.You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. Hmm, but daggers? Stabbing a crit spot sounds like something I can accomplish. I select one of the longer daggers, almost as long as my forearm, and pick up the lantern before climbing the (purposely unmentioned) stairs. There are four doors, each with its own sign.
Enter
00010010
2+2
Why do I get the feeling I only get to choose one door?
EF+
Gah! What is EF? It goes up when I¡­ decide what something means? But apparently that¡¯s not true for this realization or else I¡¯m just wrong. ¡°Whatever. Let¡¯s just pick a door.¡± It¡¯s probably a puzzle so the signs give a nature of the puzzle. Soooo, language, programming, math, or logic. I only recognize the last one because I once got hooked on this super old flat-screen game where you built stuff out of blocks and some of the special blocks could control the flow of energy and do cool stuff. Wait a second! I was a kid when I played that. Is that how I got so focused on digital logic and ended up a soul-sucked programmer? I¡¯m torn. Do I walk that same road again aware of the risk to my soul or do I chose something I can properly compartmentalize? ¡°Ah, fuck it.¡± I open the door with the logic gates. Inside is a dark corridor (thank you lantern-san) but on the wall to my left is gold filigree. No, not filigree, a set of logic gates. The door slams shut and I jump a bit in surprize. I give it a quick check. Yep, locked. The puzzle on the wall is pretty simple. Just a bunch of ands and ors and nots leading to a single output with a ¡®1¡¯ next to it. In total, there are nine inputs with little dials next to them that are bisected with a ¡®1¡¯ on one side and a ¡®0¡¯ on the other.
¡°One and one here but one and not zero here¡­ yeah. Then it¡¯s just a zero here and-¡± click. The door at the end opens. It took about ten minutes to solve the puzzle once I figured out I could use my spark-scissors to scratch notes on the wall. On the other side of the door are the stairs but no other doors. Odd, what would have happened if I took the other doors? Maybe this tower changes as you ascend? Like it¡¯s trying to figure out who you are¡­ for the quest?
EF+
¡°Oh, does that mean I¡¯m right?!¡± I¡¯m smiling confidently as I go up. Which quickly slides off my face when the tiger on the fourth floor spots me. ¡°Nice tiger. Friendly tiger. No food here.¡± I quickly give up when I notice it bunching up to leap at me. I wait one second then jump to the side. It swipes at me as the leap misses but I continue running around the room towards the door to the stairs. God, I hope it¡¯s the stairs. ¡°FUCK!¡± Locked. I turn back around to face the tiger. There are long scratches on the floor where it slid after taking a jump at me. Wait! The hole in the wall. Yes, there, on my right. Now, if I can just get it to jump at me while that¡¯s to my back. Problem solved. I take a deep breath and remember something very, very important. This is not a real tiger. This is a construct running an attack algorithm. Conditions will dictate what form of attack it will use. Things like distance, last attack, balance, energy will all go into determining what will happen. If I can survive long enough to learn what does what I can do this. So, it leapt when it saw me. Distance; first strike; full energy. Well, the distance is about the same now but it just tried that. Yep, now it¡¯s running at me and oh damn is a running tiger scary as all hell. How did we make it out of the stone age against monsters like this? On reflex, I kick (completely forgetting about my dagger). At the same moment the tiger swipes but also tries to back away from the kick. The swipe misses and the kick connects with its head.
1 Damage
Floats away from the impact and fades to nothingness. I¡¯m not gonna kick it to death am I? I notice the tiger pull back its left foreleg so I jump left away from it and dodge another strike. I¡¯m so glad I played a lot of really famously hard games that relied on reading enemy attack patterns. However, it seems the programmer behind the tiger AI also played that game as it moves a little to it¡¯s right. The first step towards boxing me into a corner. Oh, it¡¯s the corner near the hole in the wall. I need a confuse ability so I can open a space for maneuver. Hmm, what about the spark-scissors? I drop my dagger (don¡¯t want to break my pet lantern) since it¡¯s useless at the moment and retrieve my scissors from their sheath. I make a slashing movement as I squeeze them and the tiger jumps back, away from the shower of sparks. Wow, more effective than I thought. I take its moment of confusion to put myself between the hole and the tiger with as much space as I can spare between the murder kitty and myself. It glares at me as it thinks over new developments. ¡°Just jump you stupid furball!¡±
EF-
The tiger does as I ask and I¡¯m almost too surprised to get out of the way. At the last second I manage to move but it swipes me across the thigh before plummeting off the tower. There¡¯s a pitiful yowl followed by a sick crunchy, thumping sound. I miss the ¡®2¡¯ floating off my leg.
End of Combat - Tallying Experience Dodge +53% Kick +8% Magic Projection +25% Hidden +25%
I wonder what [Hidden] is. Maybe something to do with my class. Or whatever EF is. As I collect my dagger and head towards the door I wonder; EF went down when the padlock broke and when the tiger jumped. Both things helped me. But also, both things were possible for the circumstances. That padlock was really quite corroded. So, maybe EF is a kind of magic? Hopefully, this will all get explained by the time I finish this tower.
The fifth floor is not what I expected. There¡¯s a nice couch and bed, what I assume is furniture under some dust covers, and a big hole in the wall. I take a look out at the village and notice some movement in the fields surrounding it. Maybe it wasn¡¯t that the town was hiding from me but that they were in the fields. I shrug. I take the dust cover off the first piece of furniture and it reveals a table. There¡¯s a tarot deck and a messenger bag. Am I a high-schooler again? That better not be my class. Just for fun I pick up the top card.
Seven of Wands - Empowered Will
Huh, that¡¯s kinda a way to say my will affects reality. Maybe that explains [EF-].
EF+
¡°Wait, what?¡± I take another card.
Six of Swords - Rational Study
But that would mean the deck agrees with my rational analysis of this mystical system.
EF+
¡°Hmm, a source of EF? This could come in handy.¡± I put the cards and spark-scissors in the bag and sling it over my shoulder. It seems to be designed to hang on my left like an overlarge purse instead of a backpack. Well, should be easy to get stuff out of anyway. The other piece of furniture is tall and thin. I¡¯m slightly hesitant but I pull away the dust cover. A mirror, like I thought, and there¡¯s me. Ooh, looking goo- ¡°HORNS! I have horns! And black hair and dress! I totally look like a demon!¡± Great big black ram''s horns.
Quest Complete - Find Out Who You Are Race [Entropic Daemon] Attributes Unlocked Class [Fateweaver] Attributes Unlocked Detailed Status Information Unlocked
I collapse onto the couch which was conveniently placed in front of the mirror and wearily mutter, ¡°[Status]¡±
Name Ellenehl
Nickname Mage
Age 35
Race Entropic Daemon
Class Fateweaver
Skills Magic Awareness (20%), Magic Projection (25%), Formulation, Dodge (53%), Kick (8%), Entropic Alteration (25%)
Traits Ego, Transhumanism, Outsider
So, who am I? As I¡¯m sitting here on the couch in this ramshackle tower, I watch myself in the mirror. My hair deforms around the horns but if I try to touch them with my hands it¡¯s like they¡¯re not there. Hey, wait. Isn¡¯t the base the same place that tingles when I get an [EF+]? Is this where I store my [Entropic Force]? I wonder if they change depending on how much [EF] I have. Well, whatever. Let¡¯s find out what I can learn from the detailed descriptions.
Entropic Daemon - A rare race that is more so because it is often persecuted for mistakenly being identified as a demon. Unlike the negatively aligned demons, daemons are neutral aligned until they choose to follow an aligned Dao. Entropic Daemons are sensitive to fluctuations in probability from birth. Their bodies are not physical but expressions of their strength in the probability of existing. Because of this they have 25% immunity to physical damage and 60% vulnerability to psionic damage.
I want to sigh in relief but isn¡¯t being mistaken for a demon even worse than being a demon? Whatever, that explains why I only took two damage from the tiger¡¯s swipe and why I have [Willforce] instead of [Health]. Moving on.
Fateweaver - a magic-crafting hybrid with no bonuses or penalties to any talents. Fateweavers can identify the path of the fate of the world and store that force within themselves for later use. As combatants, they usually rely on intellect and manipulation of fate to determine the flow of battle in their favor. As crafters, they rely on their understanding of the world(s) they live in and the manipulation of context to produce unexpected results.
I like that I don¡¯t have any penalties to my talents but without bonuses I¡¯ll have to be careful when determining what type of challenges I can handle. Like, if a rogue on the forums says you can beat the yeti by staying behind it, I might fail because I can¡¯t keep up with their innate bonus to dodge. Hey, wait a second! Why have I never heard of [Entropic Daemon], [Fateweaver], or [Daemon]? Like, at all. I can¡¯t be the only one. The game¡¯s been out for more than two years. Oh, no. No. People are buying and selling information aren¡¯t they? Everything on the forums is like common knowledge and half of it probably disinformation to boot. Fuck, now I feel like an idiot for spending so much time there. No wonder there¡¯s nothing about crafting. All the crafters are protecting their IP. ¡°Gah!¡± I have a magic-crafting class, both IP expensive, and I¡¯m two years behind. Should I just start a new character? I¡¯ve only been playing for about two hours. I look at myself in the mirror as if expecting myself to answer. So, I do. ¡°Wasn¡¯t it really fun and satisfying watching that tiger jump out the hole?¡± Yes, me, it was. Satisfied with my class and race, I check out my skills (except [Dodge] and [Kick] because what kind of idiot needs those explained?).
Magic Awareness - Ability to perceive magical forces in action in the environment.
This seems to go up when I get an [EF+]. So, magic includes not only spells and abilities (I know of these from the forums) but also actions taken by the system (this was NOT in the forums). I wonder if I should sell my knowledge to get some early game capital. Ahh, but how do I know what it¡¯s worth and where would I find an information broker? Whatever, newb problems, amirite?
Magic Projection - Ability to create magical forces in the environment by first creating them within the self.
This is another weird one I didn¡¯t see on the forums. Everyone else was talking about [Magic Enactment] and [Magic Fortification] as the base skills for magic. [Formulation - Ability to impart form and function into objects you shape] Well, that¡¯s vague. Maybe that¡¯s the crafting half of my class¡¯s base skills. There was nothing helpful about crafting on the forums so I don¡¯t even know if that¡¯s the normal kind of crafting.
Entropic Alteration - A sub-skill of [Magic Projection] - By bringing the possible states of something within your domain you can then change the possibility of an event happening in the immediate future.
So, that¡¯s why the tiger jumped out the hole just when I needed him to. That wording is kind of weird though. Like, what¡¯s ¡®my domain¡¯ versus someone else¡¯s domain. How would two [Fateweavers] fight? A battle over domain until one of them trips and skewers themselves on their own blade by ¡®chance¡¯?Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. I¡¯ll have to check the forums for any reference to ¡°domain¡±. Now, onto the traits. ¡°There¡¯s no more ignoring it.¡±
Ego - A sense of self and, inherently, other that seeks only refinement and continued existence.
Oh good, they meant that kind of ego. My ego sighs in relief. ¡°Shut up, self!¡± Hmm, but maybe my domain is the self and other? Like, if I can identify where in that dichotomy something exists I gain a measure of control over it. I¡¯ll have to experiment. Geh, how do you experiment with that? Whatever, that¡¯s a future-self problem.
Transhumanism - Your self is no longer bound to your body, soul, or mind. You are a chimera of identity and form. You will never be understood completely. Allies will find your motivations enthralling, mysterious, or frustrating.
WTF!? How do I have an ego that¡¯s not attached to my body, soul, or mind? I mean sure, I never define my self as any of those things¡­ but. Damnit, what is ¡®domain¡¯? ¡°Grr, this game is frustrating. Where¡¯s the manual? I don¡¯t care that games don¡¯t have manuals anymore. Gimme the manual.¡± Haaah. My little freak out over I move onto my last trait.
Outsider - You were not raised in the dominant society. Your values may conflict with the majority and no common ground may be possible.
They¡¯re talking about my game character with these traits, right? I sure hope so. Whatever. Time to go, adventuring? Time to go anyway. I take a look out the hole down on the town below. People seem to be gathering at the base of the tower where the tiger plummeted. ¡°Guess I¡¯ll go say ¡®Hi¡¯.¡±
I haven¡¯t been in a lot of dark caves so I can¡¯t say for sure if the light really behaves this way but it took me a second of adjustment between the dark interior and bright exterior of the base of the tower to be able to see. And, boy do I wish I had been able to see sooner. ¡°It¡¯s the demon. Grab it!¡± Pitchforks, check. Rolling pins, check. Angry villagers, check. Yep, it¡¯s a mob. Fuck you, game devs. People grab both my arms quite easily and I do my best to keep my lantern from breaking against my leg. Just what this day would need, roasted daemon. My dagger is, of course, in my bag since I didn¡¯t want to frighten the villagers. Naive. ¡°What should we do with it?¡± Oi! That¡¯s ¡®she¡¯ not ¡®it¡¯. ¡°Lock it in the Tower!¡± ¡°Throw it in the river with chains!¡± ¡°Cut off its head!¡± ¡°I heard they¡¯re allergic to sand!¡± I try to stop this before it goes to far. ¡°Actually, I¡¯m not a demon. I¡¯m actually not evil. Entirely neutral. It¡¯s a common mi-¡± ¡°It¡¯s trying to trick us!¡± ¡°Get the Treasurer, he¡¯s a Priest!¡± ¡°Yeah!¡± I open my mouth to try again but before I say anything the man holding my left arm shakes me roughly. ¡°Oi! Don¡¯t be trying any of your demons¡¯ curses on us. Keep quiet and let the Priest take care of you and we won¡¯t have to break such a pretty face.¡± Hurk! What a gross line. And what does he mean ¡°take care of you¡±. However, ¡°break such a pretty face¡± sounds undesirable enough to keep my mouth shut.
I see the crowd part and when it gets to me a boy (no I think that¡¯s a man with a boyish face) is before me. He has, well, resplendent robes and many fine trinkets and adornments. He comes a bit closer then looks like he¡¯s praying or something. I can¡¯t hear the words he¡¯s mumbling until the last. ¡°[Bind Demon]¡± A pillar of light shines down on me.
You are hit by [Bind Demon]; no effect
¡°There, she is contained now. Please, everyone, return to your work.¡± I don¡¯t disabuse them of their delusions. Instead, I just stand there, watching him as the mob disperses. ¡°Thank you, Treasurer.¡± ¡°Nice work, Priest.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll buy you an ale tonight.¡± I have a hard time not smirking as the player shakes hands with a few of the last villagers to leave. ¡°Now, demon, I order you to follow me.¡± What a dick. But I follow anyway. May as well see where this goes. And, who is he? ¡°I don¡¯t know what Reaper¡¯s Scythe was thinking sending some unequipped demon into Baskins. And with such crappy intel, too. Like we would keep the documents in the challenge tower. Seriously?¡± The boy-faced Priest is leading me through the village, apparently under the impression that I am a demon and blissfully unaware that I was unaffected by his [Bind Demon] spell. This situation pretty much demands a prank. How could I not? ¡°I mean, I get that I¡¯m single but they can¡¯t honestly think dressing up some drop-dead sexy demon is going to make me fall for a honey pot.¡± Ooh, ¡°drop-dead sexy¡±? He¡¯s a bit young for my tastes (or is that just his face) but since I just look like me with horns I¡¯m honestly a little flattered. Almost enough to reconsider pranking him. Almost. ¡°Grr, what am I supposed to do now? If I report this to Flicker he¡¯s totally going to take advantage of her form while she¡¯s bound. But, if I wait until she¡¯s unbound she might be a caster and overpower me. Argh, there isn¡¯t even a jail cell in this town.¡± Well, at least he¡¯s a decent sort so I won¡¯t have to kill him. Woah! Where did that suddenly fully formed plan to wait until he isn¡¯t paying attention and dagger him in the neck come from? That¡¯s not a prank! Hmm, this could be an opportunity for a first step. I know I said I wanted to practice my digital magic in Hraken but how will I go about doing that? The mechanics around [EF] is kinda what I want for a regular practice environment. Kinda exactly what I want. Creepy. This is worth pointing out while we have the time walking, but digital magic is actually quite creepy when it¡¯s doing its thing. Suddenly, your plant gains temporary sentience and tells you to call your mother because it¡¯s been too long since you talked to her. Or, a stranger in the grocery store reminds you that you actually should wear more green because you¡¯ve been feeling depressed lately. All in all, it¡¯s best to have a really well defined sense of what matters. Not like which things are important to you, but like whether or not the person driving the car in front of you is a deity. The phrase ¡®in the end, does it matter?¡¯ is the stable pool of sanity around which my collected cool resides. Oh, we¡¯re here. Wherever ¡°here¡± is. It¡¯s an ordinary house like all the others on this street (the second ring) but it lacks the normal signs of life some of the others have. No toys on the porch, or lines of laundry in the garden. But there is a very well ordered herb and flower garden. Very much a ¡°I am growing these plants for their uses¡± kind of feel to it. We enter a room with a desk that I¡¯m labelling ¡®office¡¯ which, when considering the town called him ¡°Treasurer¡±, means this is probably where the boy-faced priest likes to make important decisions.
EF+
It takes an inordinate amount of self-control to not smirk and give away the game. ¡°Demon, halt.¡± So, I do. I try to read the papers on the desk while I wait for him to make a move. ¡°Ok, let¡¯s see what kind of agent I¡¯m dealing with.¡± He opens my bag and pulls out a tarot card. ¡°You know, it¡¯s rude to pick through a lady¡¯s bag.¡± I say while smiling at him. ¡°Wha-!¡± He drops the card and backs up very quickly, bumping off one of the chairs in front of the desk and nearly falling. ¡°How? But- and you followed?¡± I bend over, giving him a nice view, and pick up the card.
The Hanged Man - Uncontrolled Situation
I stand back up and look at the, now, blushing man. Uncontrolled situation indeed.
EF+
One trick with Tarot is not to stop with the first understanding. Why would magic only ever mean one thing? So, here is a man, not in control of the situation, but also possibly trapped by forces outside his control in general, eh?
EF+
Hmm, if that¡¯s the case, what is it he wants but can¡¯t have? I have a moment while boy-face collects himself so I reach in my bag for another card.
EF-
The Chariot - Triumphal Freedom
¡°What are you doing? Was that magic? I¡¯m warning you, I can cast a sixth level [Banish Demon]!¡± ¡°It would work just about as well as your last spell. But don¡¯t worry, nothing dangerous. Just a little fate magic.¡± So, he wants freedom? And pride¡­ Seems seeking answers from the system costs [EF]. So, the deck isn¡¯t purely a source of [EF] but also a magic tool that can use it. Well, maybe. I don¡¯t actually know if the answers it gives are correct. Certainly they were in reality but they were also always a little indirect. Like asking your boyfriend what he thinks of your new jacket. ¡°Fate magic? There¡¯s no such thing as fate magic. What are you trying to gain here? This town is controlled by The Wheat Consortium. Reaper¡¯s Scythe has no business here. If you don¡¯t explain what you¡¯re up to right now I¡¯ll file a report and we¡¯ll demand restitution through the Trade Guild.¡± ¡°Are you okay? Your face was all ¡®I¡¯m super confused¡¯, then ¡®holy crap, she¡¯s an enemy¡¯, then ¡®I¡¯ll get you for this¡¯, but then you ended with a kinda ¡®I¡¯m gonna go drink away my problems¡¯ face.¡± ¡°Buh¡­¡± ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll cut you a break. I have no idea who those, I assume, clans are. I am a new player. I created my character about two hours ago, walked into town, beat the tower, and unlocked my race and class.¡± I pause to give him a chance to think. Probably decide if I¡¯m lying or not. ¡°Oh, and I¡¯m not a demon. So, blasting me with holy magic is just rude.¡± Man, he¡¯s taking his sweet time figuring out what to do. Maybe I shouldn¡¯t have flashed him my chest. Poor thing. ¡°Ahem. What do you want?¡± Finally! He straightens a bit a looks at me. ¡°Well, you¡¯re the one that brought me here. How about we start with ¡®why?¡¯¡± He¡¯s so desperately trying to gain the initiative in the conversation that I pity him a little. I never did enjoy drawing [The Hanged Man] myself. ¡°Oh, I thought you were a demon with Reaper¡¯s Scythe. Their our main competition in the wheat trade. They own forty percent of the wheat fields in this region so they¡¯re always trying to find ways to steal the other sixty from us. I just thought they sent you here¡­ How do I know you¡¯re not a demon?¡± ¡°Hmm, oh! How about the horns? Can you touch demons¡¯ horns?¡± ¡°Yes, actually they make an interesting catalyst in healing potions. Combined with aquatic biome fungi in a powdered form they make HoTs but in a minced form it¡¯s a fortification. And if you combine them with flowers from the fire biome you get extra damage against¡­ Ahem, yes. Why?¡± I like him. Which of course means I need to torture him a bit more. ¡°Oh, you can¡¯t touch mine.¡± I step up to him. Nice. And. Close. ¡°See for yourself.¡± This close I can tell he¡¯s stopped breathing for a second. While I wait for him to work up the nerve to test my horns I wonder how old he is. He¡¯s at least sixteen since minors aren¡¯t allowed to play Hraken. But he doesn¡¯t seem very experienced with women, negotiations, or unexpected events. Oh! He worked up the nerve. I step back, but still closer than where I started. ¡°See, not a demon.¡± ¡°What are you?¡± ¡°Pshaw, how rude. Not ¡®who are you¡¯.¡± Geh, I¡¯m almost out of energy. Not like, game energy, just keeping up this kind of social facade is quite taxing. I just need to get him enough off foot that he recognizes how unhappy with his own facade he is. Show him that he is [The Hanged Man] so we can move onto his ¡°Chariot¡±.Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. ¡°Oh, sorry.¡± He looks down a bit but recovers. ¡°My nick is Hermes. What¡¯s yours?¡± ¡°I¡¯m Mage,¡± I smile and sit in the chair he didn¡¯t trip over. ¡°Got any tea?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll go make some.¡± He almost flees the room but stops at the doorway, ¡°Umm, please don¡¯t poke through my stuff.¡± ¡°Sure.¡± And he¡¯s gone. That stuff about demons¡¯ horn and potions was kinda complicated. Not confusing complicated, but time and resource consumption complicated. Did he learn that all himself or is there some kind of information sharing going on. The way he got all excited about it makes me think he learned the hard way. Maybe that¡¯s his ¡°Chariot¡±? If the town calls him the Treasurer and he¡¯s part of a clan that has the majority of wheat farms then that makes him middle management? Someone trapped in a blue collar job inside a game? How tragic. So, what am I gonna do in Hraken? I¡¯ve got my magic and I¡¯m getting the hang of it. But I¡¯m feeling like I¡¯m not experiencing the ¡°game¡± part of the game. The big three in MMOs are ¡®questing¡¯,¡¯crafting¡¯, and ¡®combat¡¯. Questing sounds kinda lame. When you¡¯ve spent your whole life playing video games you start to experience a lot of boredom when sifting through narratives. Oh, no! Your son got lost in the woods? There¡¯s an evil wizard threatening calamity? You need a rare ingredient? So what? Oh, you¡¯ll give me some nifty trinkets as payment? How very rote. Pass. Obviously I¡¯ll do some quests if they pop up but I¡¯m not gonna go looking for them. I¡¯ll write my own story thanks. That leaves crafting and combat. Those dovetail kinda nice. I¡¯ll check out what the forums have to say about combat build strats during lunch. But, crafting? I¡¯ve already heard more about it from Hermes by accident than I found on the forums. Speak of the devil. ¡°This is one of my favorites. It only gives a small buff to health but it tastes like a light green.¡± Hermes entered and hands me china cup with saucer. He has one for himself and he makes a starting motion towards his desk but then changes direction and sits in the other guest chair. I think he¡¯s waiting for me to try it. It¡¯s a pleasant temperature with a sort of flowery, grassy, woody kinda taste. ¡°Pretty good I guess. But I don¡¯t have anything to compare it to.¡± He shrugs. ¡°So, a new player spawns in Baskins and completes the challenge tower. How did you get the key without freaking out the town?¡± ¡°Oh, the lock just fell off when I approached because it was so rusted.¡± I don¡¯t think he¡¯s buying it. ¡°There may or may not have been magic involved.¡± He laughs a bit and the genuine warmth on his face is pleasing. ¡°Fate magic?¡± ¡°Well, that¡¯s what I¡¯m calling it. I¡¯m not sure if I should get into the details since those details might be worth something to someone. And I want that someone to be me.¡± ¡°Can¡¯t say you¡¯re wrong to think that way, but you¡¯re not going to find an information broker outside a fort city.¡± ¡°Then how about a trade?¡± ¡°Hmm, I don¡¯t really know what information is worth. I don¡¯t want you thinking I scammed you¡­ Or to get scammed myself. You could just be making it up.¡± ¡°I could be. But how about this: I give you details on my race and class and you give me details on crafting. You seem to have an interest in potion making.¡± He blushes slightly. ¡°Crafting knowledge is pretty expensive though.¡± ¡°Have you ever heard of my race?¡± It¡¯s a gamble but the description does say it¡¯s a rare race. ¡°No.¡± ¡°And I used magic your [Magic Awareness] didn¡¯t recognize?¡± I¡¯m taking another gamble but I think he sensed when I spent [EF] earlier. ¡°It¡¯s [Magic Sense] and yes, it was weird.¡± ¡°So, trade?¡± ¡°Fine, you first.¡± ¡°Quid pro quo. Race for crafting info and class for answers about crafting.¡± ¡°What would have happened earlier if- nevermind. Fine.¡± ¡°I am a proud member of the Entropic Daemon race. That¡¯s ¡®daemon¡¯ with an ¡®a¡¯. We are often mistaken for demons because of the horns but are actually neutrally aligned. Until we pick a Dao anyway. Whatever that is,¡± I mumble at the end. ¡±We are sensitive to fluctuations of probability and our bodies are expressions of will to exist first, biological second. Hmm, I wonder if different Entropic Daemons have different organs? Anyway, your turn, crafting.¡± ¡°Wait! What do you mean sensitive to fluctuations of probability?¡± ¡°Would you like to amend the trade?¡± ¡°Gah! Maybe. Fine. Crafting is just like the real world. Carve a stick into a staff and bam! A staff. That¡¯s [Formulation] at its simplest. The biggest problem is that all the materials are different here. There¡¯s no such thing as iron for instance and even the idea of metal is a little murky. All I know about is alchemy. The form and nature of ingredients combined changes what effects occur. It¡¯s a lot of trial and error and most of the knowledge is locked up by alchemist clans. Your turn, class.¡± I scrunch my eyes as I try to remember my science classes from primary school (as someone in the information sciences I never took physical sciences past the sixth grade). Something about a periodic table of elements and water turning into ice and steam. I know nothing useful about how to make stuff. I don¡¯t even cook! Crap. Oh, right. ¡°Right, I am a Fateweaver. I can identify and store the flow of fate in the world, I think in my horns. Then I can alter it by spending the Entropic Force I¡¯ve gathered to change things. The class has no bonuses or penalties and is described as a magic-crafting hybrid.¡± Hermes has a very confused look on his face while I think up what questions to ask about crafting. ¡°Well, crafting seems to be tied to science. So, what level of science is the Hraken community at?¡± ¡°Umm¡­¡± Hermes studies his tea while he thinks. It takes quite a bit. ¡°I don¡¯t really know the history of science. Or the current state of science. But like, most of the crafters I know use trial and error and practice to do their work. So, about amending our deal. Can I ask you some questions about how you use your magic?¡± I¡¯m not against answering questions about my magic; he seems nice enough. But I don¡¯t think there¡¯s anything else I can learn from him. So, I guess all that¡¯s left is [The Chariot]. ¡°In return I will ask you questions about your game life.¡± ¡°Okay?¡± I think Hermes is worried I might be a spy afterall. ¡°What magic have you cast?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve cast magic three times. First, the lock on the tower fell off. Second, the tiger in the tower did a jump attack. Third, I drew a card to determine your fate. Why did you become the Treasurer?¡± ¡°You determined my fate?¡± I wait patiently for him to answer my question. ¡°Oh, right. Treasurer huh? I joined The Wheat Consortium to bankroll my alchemy research. After I spent a year as a bookkeeper the previous Treasurer changed departments to become a Merchant and I took over as Treasurer. That was six months ago. So, what do you mean you determined my fate?¡± ¡°I took a card out of my bag to see what you desired in game life.¡± I pick up and look at [The Hanged Man] and [The Chariot], which had been resting in my lap. ¡°Well, I hope it was just game life. Anyway, why don¡¯t you source your own supplies?¡± ¡°My desires?¡± He pulls on his collar with one finger nervously. ¡°I tried being the adventuring type, but I never really played games before and fighting was too hard. I work ok as a Priest in a group but it¡¯s impossible to find a group that wants to go out just searching for ingredients. Most crafters stay out of the field. So, umm,¡± he hesitates, ¡°what did it say I wanted?¡± ¡°Are you sure you want to know? You have no way of knowing if it¡¯s right except belief. That¡¯s a dangerous kind of knowledge.¡± ¡°Dangerous how?¡± ¡°If I tell you that you¡¯re ugly do you have a way of knowing it¡¯s true? You don¡¯t. But you will still try to validate it. That¡¯s what self-confidence is, a trick some people use to process unverifiable information in their favor. So, if I tell you what you desire how does that affect your sense of value. Do you have a way to validate your own desires?¡± ¡°I¡­ no.¡± He needs time to think so I have some more tea. It¡¯s kinda growing on me. ¡°I want to change my question; How do you know if what the cards say is true?¡± ¡°That¡¯s tricky. First of all. The cards don¡¯t say anything. All the ¡®saying¡¯ is my own. So, I check what rationale I¡¯m using to believe what I¡¯m saying. Am I operating on wishful thinking, optimism, rational analysis of information. I do everything I can to put what I say into context and then validate its coherency. I¡¯m running out of questions so you only get one more before my last and we end this quid pro quo. How many game friends do you have?¡± Hermes looked thoughtful throughout my explanation and determined when he realised he only had one question left. But his face fell when I asked about his friends. ¡°None around me.¡± He swirls his tea a bit while he thinks what his last question should be. ¡°What does the card I drew mean?¡± ¡°[The Hanged Man - Uncontrolled Situation] it means you are in a bad place and want out but can¡¯t figure out how.¡± I finish my tea then smile as I ask my last question. ¡°Want to join my party?¡± Spoiler: Status (Mage)
Name Ellenehl
Nickname Mage
Age 35
Race Entropic Daemon
Class Fateweaver
Entropic Force (EF) 7 (low)
Willforce 9/10
Skills Magic Awareness (29%) Magic Projection (38%) -Entropic Alteration (38%) Formulation Dodge (53%) Kick (8%)
Traits Ego Transhumanism Outsider
PitA Excerpt from ¡°Modern History I: The Post-Information Age¡±: In 2112 [8 years ago] the Liar¡¯s Paradox worm activated after three years of harmless distribution. Dissimilar from other worms, the Liar¡¯s Paradox did not seek identity information or attempt any kind of ransomware. Instead, the Liar¡¯s Paradox corrupted knowledge itself. Highly aggressive, extremely intelligent and adaptive, the Liar¡¯s Paradox seeks out sources of knowledge about any subject and corrupts it with misinformation. Online encyclopedias were the first to notice the problem but were unable to correct the misinformation. The Liar¡¯s Paradox exploits any security flaw it can find or make to corrupt knowledge. Public sources of information had all long been digitized so the average citizen was left with nothing but what they learned before the activation. In the wake of this catastrophe private interest groups began, once again, to publish books, created in sealed systems, and charged whatever they wished for the now prized knowledge. This led to a fracturing of knowledge-bases as each domain became covetous of their knowledge. Public education molded itself around the new politics and students were shunted into isolated tracks of knowledge while private education included the membership fees of the relevant knowledge domain societies in their tuitions. Today, the effects are still being felt in many aspect of life. Economists...
¡°But, I don¡¯t even know you.¡± Hermes had a silly expression on his face. I¡¯m not sure if it¡¯s confusion, panic, or a kid who found five dollars on the floor of the candy store. ¡°So? That¡¯s what adventuring is all about. You find out more about your traveling companions while working towards your own and their goals.¡± ¡°But, if I leave here my clan will kick me out and I won¡¯t have an income for my alchemy experimentation.¡± ¡°And? The whole point of us partying would be to go and get the materials ourselves. Who needs money when you have feet and hands?¡± I think I¡¯ve got him. There¡¯s no way someone would want to be ¡°The Treasurer¡± of this podunk town. Hermes is thinking about it seriously now, ¡°How do- nevermind.¡± Hmm, wonder what that was. ¡°What would be your goals in the party then?¡± ¡°I¡¯m thinking, no long term objectives. For the immediate and foreseeable future I want to study magic and crafting. Kinda figure out what my class is all about. Obviously I want to have fun. Probably smash up some monster face, earn some sweet drops, that sort of thing. That sound like someone you want to go with?¡± ¡°I¡¯m feeling yes, but aren¡¯t you worried about not having a tank?¡± ¡°We¡¯ll make it work. At least we have a healer.¡± I shrug. I access the menu and select the create party function.
Create party with [Hermes]? Y/N
Come on game, why is there a confirmation there? You don¡¯t need that, it¡¯s impossible to accidentally try to create a party.
EF-
Party invitation sent to [Hermes]
¡°Fuck. I should be more careful what I think.¡±
[Hermes] has accepted your party invitation. You have been set as [Party] leader.
¡°What happened?¡± ¡°Oh, I just found out a way to use slash waste magic to automate the game menus.¡± ¡°That¡¯s really weird. I¡¯m not aware of any other magic affecting the game menus.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not really our biggest problem right now though. This is-¡± I share my prompt with him.
Please select a name for your party: ¡°______¡±
¡°Oh geeze. Umm¡­¡± Parties in Hraken are more than just a temporary gathering. They¡¯re more like mini-clans. As you adventure your party naturally does stuff. So, the system rewards long-lived parties by giving buffs based on what you¡¯ve done. Obviously there are famous parties and such but no-one tries to make those these days. You¡¯d have to be egotistical to think¡­ ¡°Anyway, maybe something about what we plan to do. We¡¯re going around looking for stuff, so what¡¯s a cool way to describe prospectors?¡± ¡°Maybe we shouldn¡¯t try to describe who we are but what we do?¡± ¡°Hmm, looking around the terrain, ground, moles, angles, head down, pain in the neck- wait! Yeah, Pains in the Neck!¡± ¡°Heh, I like it. The double meaning gives us room to grow. Did you plan that?¡± ¡°Nope.¡±
Your party has been named. Creation of [Pains in the Neck] is complete.
¡°So Mage, where do we start?¡± ¡°Hmm, first could you tell me how to access my inventory? I feel like carrying everything in this little bag is going to be troublesome.¡± ¡°Inventory? That¡¯s a high-level space magic spell. Why would we have that?¡± ¡°But, on the forums I read-¡± ¡°Oh no,¡± he interrupts me quickly. ¡°The forums got hit by the Liar¡¯s Paradox three years ago. Between the amount of information on how to play the game, who the famous parties and clans are, and the very reality relevant crafting information the worm decided it needed to actively monitor the forums. Now only trolls write there. Although I did hear rumors of people being able to talk with encrypted text but seriously. Against the Liar¡¯s Paradox? I don¡¯t think so.¡± ¡°Well, shit. That means I know basically nothing about this game. Wait, that means we have to figure out how to carry whatever materials we find? Plus, we have to carry whatever crafting tools we need.¡± ¡°Off to a rocky start.¡± ¡°Herk. Well, we¡¯ll solve that problem eventually first we need to coordinate schedules. What times to you play?¡± ¡°8am to 12pm server. Not really any wiggle room during the week but weekends are generally open.¡± ¡°Ok, I¡¯m on whenever during the 8am to 9pm stretch but I can¡¯t guarantee a schedule. I should be able to put some certainty onto your time but we should be careful about traveling long distances.¡± ¡°Sound good. So, about this inventory problem.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll need a pack dog or two.¡± ¡°Dogs? Aren¡¯t they a little small? And weak?¡± I¡¯m already distracted thinking about the dogs. ¡°Hmm, what oh no. Gimme a sec, I¡¯ll find the video. It¡¯s an old design but it should be possible.¡± I get to work with the in-game browser. ¡°Design?¡± ¡°Ahh, here we go. Check this out.¡±
https://youtu.be/cNZPRsrwumQ
I pull a card while I wait for him to watch the video.
Four of Wands - Teamwork
Good; possible but only with the two of us working together.If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
EF+
I¡¯m starting to love that message. I still have some time and -wow he¡¯s making a weird face- so I go try to find the kitchen to see if there¡¯s more tea. Now that I¡¯m not pretending to be a bound demon I take a good look around the hall. Hermes seems to be using some old gear as decoration. I pass a rack of wands with a nice finish and check the first room I come to, having skipped the room across the hall from the office. Bedroom, very dusty, nope. The next room is back on the left. Ahh, the kitchen. It looks nice. Kinda weird not seeing any appliances except a cast iron stove in a kitchen but cabinets aren¡¯t a new invention apparently. There¡¯s a kettle on the stove and it¡¯s still warm but no sign of the tea. I feel kinda weird poking through what is essentially a stranger¡¯s cupboards so I¡¯m stuck. For some reason I feel less squeamish about opening doors though so I go back in the hall and finish exploring the house. Further down the hall I find a bathroom, similarly dusty to the bedroom. The room I skipped is some sort of workshop. There¡¯s a desk (with what is probably the tools for alchemy), a bunch of trunks, and a couple wardrobes. I¡¯m gonna have to do something about the two wasted rooms. Hermes finds me looking into the workshop. ¡°You do realize this is a fantasy game, right? Maybe we should just buy some mules or horses.¡± ¡°Aww, come on. It¡¯s not that hard. We just need the frame, the drive, the fuel, the computer, and the packs.¡± ¡°All of those things are things we don¡¯t know how or can¡¯t make.¡± ¡°Oh and the software to run the thing.¡± ¡°You¡¯re not going to give this up are you?¡± ¡°No.¡± He face-palms and groans before asking through his hand, ¡°Where do we start?¡± ¡°I need you to teach me magic. Then I have to figure out how my fate magic interacts with that. Then I need to learn crafting. Meanwhile, you have to develop a fuel with alchemy. Along the way we¡¯ll share knowledge and problem solve.¡± He drops his hand and a slow smile spreads across his face. ¡°Make a fuel with alchemy?¡± He¡¯s staring off into space. I wonder if this is going to be a regular thing. I wave my hand in front of his face and he snaps out of it. ¡°What?¡± ¡°You need to teach me about magic first.¡± ¡°Well, I can¡¯t teach you everything about magic. I only know Priest style spells. For that I use a kinda prayer type thing and the Goddess of Harmony uses her mojo to activate the spell.¡± ¡°That was incredibly vague. Alright, where did you learn the spells?¡± ¡°From a spell-book, some I bought, others I got as quest rewards from the Temple.¡± ¡°Great, are they one use items or do you still have them?¡± ¡°Oh, no. They¡¯re complete garbage now. Liar¡¯s Paradox got into the game shortly after the forums and corrupted all the spell and skill books. Now the only way to learn spells is from other players or NPCs.¡± ¡°Geh, LP got into the game? So, can you even take notes about alchemy?¡± ¡°Nope, I have to remember everything and write it down outside the game by hand.¡± ¡°Hmm, then we need a new approach. Are there any conditions to me learning Priest spells from you? That would at least get me something to experiment with.¡± ¡°Well, using my spells is either Ritual Formula or Ritual Enactment; both are sub-skills of Worship. So, maybe I can just teach you a simple spell and you can try it and see what happens? I¡¯ve never tried to teach someone who didn¡¯t already have those skills.¡± Hermes pauses for a moment to think about his spells. I like the way his eyes kinda unfocus and he plays with chin while he¡¯s thinking. I wonder if he knows he¡¯s doing it. I bet he makes a mess of his face when handling materials during alchemy research. ¡°Ok, I¡¯ll teach you the [Harmony] spell [Simple Heal]. It has a fairly short chant and you just need line of sight on your target. But it does cost two concentration to cast, so I¡¯m not sure if it¡¯s going to work for you. Anyway, the chant is ¡®lothron harmonui tul-galas¡¯ then you activate it with ¡®[Simple Heal]¡¯.¡± ¡°Lothran harmoni tul-glass?¡± Hermes smiles, ¡°No, lothron harmonui tul-galas.¡± ¡°Lothron harmonui tul-galas?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Lothron harmonui tul-galas. Lothron harmonui tul-galas. Lothron harmonui tul-galas. Ok, let¡¯s try this. Lothron harmonui tul-galas [Simple Heal].¡± I look at Hermes while chanting and¡­ nothing. Sigh. ¡°I didn¡¯t really expect that to work.¡± ¡°Me either. Let¡¯s go to the kitchen and think this through over some tea.¡±
I discovered the tea cupboard is just above the sink and has quite a few options. ¡°I think the mechanics of the situation is very important to how I cast my magic.¡± I start after blowing on my tea a little. ¡°My current skills are [Magic Projection] and [Entropic Alteration].¡± I share the details with him.
Magic Projection - Ability to create magical forces in the environment by first creating them within the self.
Entropic Alteration - A sub-skill of [Magic Projection] - By bringing the possibility of something within your domain you can then change the possibility of an event happening in the immediate future.
¡°Those are some weird magic skills. What¡¯s a ¡®domain¡¯?¡± ¡°I think it might be something like understanding? Maybe, if I can understand the reasoning behind the way something is I can change it to a different reasoning. Or ask it to be changed? I¡¯m not sure the lock was more of an asking kind of situation while the tiger was very making-ish.¡± ¡°I guess we could consider the source of your magic power. Like, for me the source of my magic is the Goddess of Harmony¡¯s willpower. I don¡¯t do anything myself she just answers my requests. Which sounds like what you¡¯re describing with the lock, but not the tiger.¡± ¡°Hmm, a source of power that¡¯s not asking someone would just be your own power or maybe exploiting an environmental power¡­ redirecting maybe? How do other classes cast?¡± ¡°In some of the groups I was in there were different types of mages. I never really went into magical theory with them so I¡¯m not sure how they cast. The actions were very similar to mine except- yeah. Sometimes they would manipulate things like fire or water. That¡¯s not something I could do. My magic is more¡­ transactional. Does that make sense?¡± ¡°Yea, it kinda does. So, we have the transactional magic like yours, and the manipulation magic- actually that seems like it would fit with my [Entropic Alteration] if you see the tiger¡¯s combat AI as a force changing direction and having different effects and whatnot. Then, I just manipulated it in a specific way. It wasn¡¯t any kind of continuus manipulation like you¡¯re describing but it still seems like a manipulation. Any other kind of magic? Or was the lock also an alteration? I mean if we break the game¡¯s fourth wall a bit I essentially understood the game design, which probably was auto-generated by an algorithm, and changed the force holding that design in place and instead made it so the design was now ¡®character will enter tower¡¯ instead of ¡®character needs key to enter tower¡¯ and the game fixed the world so I could advance¡­¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­ complicated. If that was true then your fate magic is like¡­ I dunno. A cheat maybe? You¡¯re essentially changing the game mechanics at the developer level.¡± ¡°That does seem too powerful. There must be restrictions somewhere. Like, what¡¯s stopping me from insta-killing people. I would only need to identify a system keeping them alive and alter it? Is there passive health regeneration?¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°Hmm, can¡¯t make that negative. Maybe I could change the damage value on my weapon.¡± ¡°Weapons don¡¯t have damage values. It¡¯s all calculated based on materials and physics and such.¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯m not a god. That¡¯s good. Cheating is boring. But this idea of altering systems is worth exploring. What¡¯s the system in your [Simple Heal] that I need to affect?¡± ¡°Well, you¡¯re not paying the concentration cost. So you have to figure out how to pay it with, what was is you use.¡± ¡°[EF]¡± ¡°Yea, that.¡± We both sit in silence for a bit, thinking, while we sip our tea. ¡°I don¡¯t think I can. If my magic is alteration of the flow of a force or structure of a system then I can¡¯t use transactional spells like that.¡± ¡°Does it have to be a game system?¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Well, I was just thinking there are two reasons why spells work in a game. First, because the game code says they do. Second, because the world lore says they do. If you can¡¯t change the first way maybe there¡¯s a way with the second.¡± ¡°Woah, never thought of that. So, what¡¯s the lore behind magic in Hraken?¡± ¡°No idea.¡± ¡­ Sigh. ¡°Well, it¡¯s a good idea. We¡¯re running out of time before you leave so maybe we should make some plans. While you¡¯re gone I¡¯ll try to get a handle on my magic. Geh! What am I going to do about the villagers freaking out about me?¡± ¡°I can call an assembly tomorrow to let them know that you¡¯re not a threat. I guess until then just stay away from them. There¡¯s a low-level monster field before the woods to the south-east of the village. Maybe you could learn to fight instead? Just stay out of the forest; there are some nasty monsters in there.¡± ¡°Anything I should know about fighting?¡± Hermes grimaces. ¡°Well, fighting is pretty realistic¡­ as is looting.¡± It takes me a minute ¡°That sounds messy.¡± ¡°It is. But monster corpses decay after half an hour. Oh, and the respawns are dynamic load-based so you won¡¯t run out of stuff to fight.¡± ¡°Is it ok if I use your house as a base while you¡¯re gone? It doesn¡¯t look like you¡¯re using the bedroom and I might need a place to keep stuff.¡± ¡°I guess we did make a party. Yea that¡¯s fine. Just don¡¯t go messing around in the workshop.¡± ¡°Works for me. Well, I¡¯m gonna log and get something for lunch and bio and stuff. Cya tomorrow?¡± ¡°Yea, cya.¡± I wave before accessing the game menu.
Log out of Hraken Y/N
I very specifically don¡¯t think about how annoying it is to have to confirm this action while I¡¯m pressing ¡°Y¡±.
Logout Complete Would you like to exit your capsule? Y/N
Yes, yes I do.