Spirits of Mithzara - 3. Prime Scrolls

Jacob lay back in his Cube, the lid closing over him. He listened to his own quiet breaths as the machine started up, lulling him to sleep with a mild sedative.

The man opened his eyes in a large library, filled with a vast amount of stories. Running his hand over a shelf, he inhaled deeply. It was such a nice smell, the scent of new books. Unfortunately, he couldn’t crack one open today. He had another task.

Heading into Spirits of Mithzara, Jacob stepped into his avatar, instantly teleporting into the game world. He took a moment to get his bearings, finding himself on the outskirts of Lankin. The smell of books was replaced by the smell of wet dirt and grass. Glancing up, Jacob felt a drop of water hit his face, cold and wet.

Wiping the rain off, he sighed. For all its wonders, the world he was in was not immune to its struggles, one of which was raindrops falling on his head.

The elf brought up his menu as he walked toward town, not wanting to get soaked in the rain. He knew where the bookstore was; he could direct Gaius to it when he got ahold of the kitsune.

He was in luck, Gaius was online. A press of a holographic button sent a voice chat invite to the kitsune, and Jacob waited.

And waited.

He didn’t mind the wait; he knew Gaius was new to the game. The kitsune was probably having some trouble figuring out where the ringing in his head was coming from.

Finally, the ringing stopped and a voice hesitantly said, “Hello?”

“Hey Gaius, I’m in Lankin on my way to the bookstore. Do you want to meet me there?” Jacob asked.

“I don’t know where that is…”

“Do you remember where you spawned in yesterday?”

“Kind of?”

“Okay, it’s two rows of buildings across from there.”

Jacob dodged around a pair of dueling elves, scoffing quietly to himself as the two swung wildly with their staves. It was ridiculous, the way some people tried to use weapons.

“I think I see it. Yeah, there’s a sign hanging from the building that has a quill on it.”

“That’s the one,” Jacob nodded, though Gaius couldn’t see him. “Did you give the chemist her plants?”

“Yeah. I got sixty copper. That’s good, right?”

Jacob made a noncommittal grunt. Sixty copper was better than he was doing at the moment. He only had twenty nettles on him.

“It’s a start,” he said finally. “You’ll probably be out by the time we’re done though.”

“What are we doing?” Gaius asked.

“Picking your class,” Jacob replied. “I still need to stop by the chemist and I’ll meet you in front of the sign after, okay?”

“Sure!” Gaius said, a note of excitement in his voice.

Jacob ended the connection, striding purposefully for the chemist’s shop. His staff sunk slightly into the dirt, the ground wet from the rain. He was going to need a bath after all of this.

Kyle blinked as the connection was severed. It was so sudden he wasn’t sure if they were still talking or not.

Shrugging, the kitsune spun his staff lazily in his hands, waiting for Garyn to find him. This town was a confusing mess. He was surprised he had found his way here.

An elf walked past Kyle, stopping to glare at the staff in his hands. He carried a longsword on his hip, his clothes the same grey tunic everyone seemed to start with.

“Look at you, all fancy with that staff,” the elf growled.

Kyle shrugged, stopping the spin. He was just bored, trying to pass the time.

“I bet you couldn’t even handle it in a real fight,” the elf sneered.

Glancing up at the nameplate over the elf’s head, Kyle saw the elf’s name was Isildur. He barely held back a laugh.

“At least I know that Isildur was a human,” he said.

Isildur glared, his hand tightening on his sword.

“You have a problem with my name?”

“Not really. Whatever works for you,” Kyle shrugged.

“What works for me is wiping that stupid smirk off your face.”

He wasn’t aware he had been smirking. The kitsune frowned. It wouldn’t be the first time his face got him in trouble. The elf’s sword slid out of its scabbard, the sound sending a chill through Kyle’s body. He knew that weapon was meant to kill, and he also knew he had no idea how to defend himself.

“Duel me!” the elf spat.

“No.”

“Duel me!”

“Is there a problem here?”

Kyle looked over quickly, seeing Garyn standing nearby, his staff held in a relaxed grip.

“He made fun of my name,” Isildur growled

“And that is a problem because…?”

Isildur opened his mouth, then shut it. He scowled at Garyn and stormed away, his sword sliding back into its scabbard.

Garyn and Kyle stared at each other, Kyle glancing away quickly.

“I can’t blame you,” Garyn chuckled suddenly. “I would have joked about his name too.”

“I thought he was going to kill me.”

“He couldn’t kill you unless you agreed to duel him. It’s supposed to be an anti-griefing thing.”

Kyle nodded, the demands for a duel making sense suddenly.

“I’m surprised he gave up so easily.”

“What was he going to do, admit that he let his feelings get hurt? I doubt he’s man enough to do that,” Garyn scoffed. “Well, let’s head inside. I don’t want to get rained on.”

Kyle followed the elf into the store, gazing at the shelves of scrolls and leather bound books that lined the walls of the shop. He was in love at first sight. From where he stood, the parchment around the store seemed rather old, a depth of history to them that excited the kitsune.

“We’re here for a book. The kind of book depends on you,” Garyn said. “Do you want to follow the path of a fighter, using brawn and brain to physically deal with obstacles? Or are you more of a mage, moving things with the power of your mind and body?”

“Definitely magic,” Kyle said immediately.

Garyn pointed to a stack of scrolls in the back of the room.

“You’re looking for the Basics of Gramyre,” he said. “The scroll will teach you a couple basic spells, but you should get a journal so you can write them down. You can’t cast a spell unless you have taken the time to learn it.”

Kyle hurried to the shelf Garyn pointed at. He could take the time to read. Especially if it meant he could learn to throw fireballs.

Jacob smiled at the kitsune’s enthusiasm. He remembered when he had first cast a spell in the game, back in the beta. It had been a simple shield spell, and he had gotten it all wrong, but still, the slight shimmer in the air had been a sight to behold for him.

The elf crossed the room, searching through another stack of scrolls. He smiled as he came across a scroll with a green band painted around it. A Healer primer.

He really should start with the magic primer, he knew, but he also had read the magic primer twice before, and knew the basics of casting. Now he was graduating to healing.

Grabbing a blank journal in dyed green leather, Jacob carried the scroll and book to the shop owner.

“How much?” he asked.

“Twenty five copper,” the kitsune said.

Sighing, Jacob took out all of his money, handing the coins to the fox. He still needed a quill and some ink.

Making his way over to Gaius, Jacob tapped the kitsune on the shoulder.

“Hey, I need to go pick a few more plants,” he said. “Are you good here?”

Gaius looked up from the blue scroll he was reading.

“Oh, uh, yeah, I’m fine,” he said. “I suppose I should pay for this…”

“Don’t forget ink and a quill,” Jacob added.

He left the fox to it, heading out of the store. Shoving the scroll and journal into his inventory, he hurried out of town, making his way back to the field of marigolds.

The next half hour was spent picking flowers. The chemist always needed more marigolds for her health potions. A basic vial of ink and a quill shouldn’t cost more than a couple copper, but it was nice to have extra money. Jacob would need it to get some armour later anyway.

Heading back to the chemist, the elf dropped off the flowers, leaving the shop one silver heavier. The walk back to the bookstore didn’t take long, and he found Gaius sitting just inside the door, reading his new scroll.

Jacob bought his pen and ink, sitting next to Gaius with 97 copper coins jingling in his inventory. He pulled out the Healer scroll and opened it, beginning to read.

Kyle frowned at the words on the page. It was just instructions on creating a shield. They were in depth instructions for sure, but it wasn’t the fireball he was looking for, or even a magic missile.

He copied some notes on the spell into his new journal anyway. A shield would be useful in a fight, even if it was only effective against physical attacks. Maybe there was another shield for magical attacks.

Standing, he jumped a little when Garyn cleared his throat next to him.

“If you’re going to practice, you better take it outside. And be careful. If you hurt someone, the guards are going to come for you,” the elf said.

Kyle nodded, stepping through the door. He groaned as rain poured from the skies. Sliding his journal into his bag, the kitsune stepped away from the building into the downpour.

He set his hands in a diamond shape in front of him, focusing on the image of a solid bubble in his mind. The kitsune felt a little stupid, standing in the rain waiting for something to happen.

“Shield,” he said, closing his eyes.

He felt something, a push of some sort, energy leaving his body. Opening his eyes, Kyle let out a whoop as he saw a translucent bubble of force stretched out in front of him. He was tired, but the enormity of what he had done kept him on his feet. The shield flickered as he lost focus, but with a concentrated thought, Kyle reinforced the bubble, holding it firm.

The kitsune lowered his hands experimentally, smiling as the bubble remained. He took a step, and then another, the shield floating forward with him. It was difficult to focus on the bubble and nothing else, but Kyle had the spell now, and he would practice it every night until holding it became second nature.

“Good job.”

The shield vanished as Kyle turned to face Garyn. The elf stood a few feet away, studying the kitsune.

“Do you mind if I practice on you?” he asked. “I’m working on a healer, and my spells are supposed to support others.”

“Um, sure,” Kyle said. “You’re not, like, going to throw a fireball at me, are you?”

“No, just a modified shield.”

Kyle held his arms out wide.

“Shield away,” he said.

Garyn took on a look of concentration, his hands mirroring the diamond pattern Kyle had just used. The kitsune thought he looked really hot with that look on his face, but he held back from saying so. The last thing he needed was to freak Garyn out and lose the one person trying to help him.

“Shield,” Garyn said, thrusting his arms out.

A bubble of force appeared around Kyle, blocking the rain falling on him. He looked up in wonder, watching the liquid splatter over his head.

The shield suddenly broke, water splashing down into Kyle’s eyes. The kitsune yelped, rubbing his eyes as he looked down.

“Dude, that was so not cool!”

“Sorry,” Garyn laughed. “I didn’t know it was collecting water over it.”

“Okay, great, I think we have shield down. Now how do you throw fireballs?”

“You don’t. Not yet at least. You have the basics of casting spells now. But you still need to learn how to control your spells. Maybe tomorrow we can start a quest to find the next scroll,” Garyn said.

“The next scroll… How many scrolls are there?”

“Ten per path. So, ten general magic, ten healing, ten genreal physical, ten archer, ten offensive magic, ten defensive magic, ten illusion-”

“Okay there’s a lot. I get it.”

Kyle frowned.

“Does that mean there’s only ten spells for a general purpose mage?”

“Well, ten spells to start with. You can learn new spells as you travel. You’ll see,” Garyn replied.

“Do we have to wait for tomorrow to start looking?”

“We don’t have to. I just don’t feel like walking in the rain,” Garyn shrugged. “And I’m not sure where to start. We should do some research before running off into the wild. Besides, you should learn how to defend yourself without magic.”

“Left!”

Thunk.

“Right!”

Thunk.

“Head!”

Thunk.

Jacob let off his attack, giving Gaius a moment to relax.

“Good,” he said to the kitsune, noticing Gaius’ hands had stopped shaking. “Your body’s getting used to the force of blocking blows.”

Gauis shook his hands, his staff tucked in the crook of his arms. Jacob understood the mild pain the kitsune was dealing with. He had spent nearly a month attuning his body to the force of blows when he had started training with weapons. Hopefully Gaius wouldn’t need to take that long.

“This is all stuff that is in the physical primer,” he added. “Basic stuff for fighters to practice.”

“How do you know?” Gauis frowned.

“I started as a fighter in the beta. I have some real world experience. Unfortunately ten goblins didn’t care about my experience. So I had to restart and I picked a mage next.”

“Wait, you use weapons in real life? Like a cop?”

“More of a sword enthusiast,” Jacob shrugged.

“That’s so cool!” Gaius beamed, his eyes full of wonder.

He frowned, closing his eyes briefly.

“Aw crud… Hey, I have to get going.”

Jacob nodded.

“We’ll meet up in front of the bookstore tomorrow. I should have a good idea of where the next scrolls are then,” the elf said.

He checked the time, sighing as he realized he had an hour before his alarm went off.

“I should get going too. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Later,” Gaius said, before fading from view.

Jacob followed his lead, logging off for the night. He was going to get an early start on the day, and hopefully someone online could help locate the next scrolls.