The Heart is a Void: Ashes to Ashes

Chapter 1: Visions of a Dying Swan's Twisted Wings

[New Trait unlocked! Spellcaster | Trait: +10% INT, -10 AGI]

Cael almost tripped over himself onto the dirt road, as he felt himself having to focus on trudging his armoured legs forwards instead of just jaunting on effortlessly. As he tried to regain balance, his right foot struck against a hard, taupe rock besides the path, and he had to crouch down in order to avoid falling. He dryly made note that he shouldn't nerf his Agility while in mid-step. The Trait system had just unlocked, a feature which he had heard was important to determining players' builds, so his enthusiasm got the better of him this time. This path between towns was fairly peaceful, as it was around a starting town, but he'd have to watch his step in higher-level areas.

The town of Kruxol stood a short distance before him, and just before entering he cast [Conjure Light], a spell that provided its user with a light source held in the palm. It was probably most useful in dark caves and dungeons, but, since he had few other spells yet, he didn't really mind the MP cost of lighting up the dusky evening and making navigation easier. As the glowing sphere of light appeared in his hand, he noticed that it was shining much more brightly than he remembered. He could clearly see the road ahead of him, illumined and flashing white. He reasoned that it might be the effect of the Spellcaster trait. The cost of the spell was still the same, 5 MP per minute, but its glow was much more radiant. Cael wondered just how strong his offensive spells could become, but he still needed scrolls or quests to unlock decent ones.

He had grown attuned to the grandiose, heroic tone of 'Freihet: Wings of Heaven,' a game which would boast large dragon bosses, Norse gods, and wars in Heaven by the endgame, and which was accordingly designed with a main character whose abilities were grandiose enough to stand up to such challenges. Cael had instinctively decided to take advantage of this with a Mage, who could develop a strong power base through the INT stat and passive skills, then channel this into versatile, powerful forms of magic. He was pleased to see that the effect of the INT stat was even higher than he had expected.

He entered the town, walking briskly past two guards, and saw a few new players who were just starting up.

"Hi, Cael. The quest says to find Bakir the archer, do you remember finishing that?" one asked, approaching him. The name 'NöblesseOblige' was suspended over the new player's head, not yet augmented with a title or Guild name.

"No, I was told to find the mage trainer, Sayyed. It must be because we're different classes. Look around town, Bakir must be somewhere here. Good luck!" replied Cael. He had been about to softly correct the player and say that his name was Karel, a habit he had acquired from living in the USA, but then remembered that he was using the name Cael in-game.

"Alright, I'll do that. Thanks. I'm sure I'll find him eventually," said the new player cautiously.

"You're welcome. Here, you can have this gold to help you out at the start," said Cael, holding out 50 gold.

"No thanks, we'd rather do this by ourselves," said the archer, gesturing towards the small group of new players next to him, "because it feels more worthwhile, and we like the feeling of a challenge."

"Oi, maybe I'd like to feel generous," laughed Cael, "Why don't we split it, you can take 25 gold and I'll keep the other half?"

"OK, fine," said NöblesseOblige. After nodding appreciatively, the new male archer scampered off to search the town, followed by five other newbies, with his bow slung over his shoulder.

Cael shrugged lightly and looked around the area where he stood, feeling the faint warmth of candles pressing his skin in the cold evening air. A few candles were placed around the borders of the town, providing a very faint, flickering light in the encroaching darkness.

The immersive, virtual-reality world of Freihet was pioneering, and far more developed than previous games. Many early reviews said that it felt like the futuristic games often imagined in novels, anime, and films. Due to this, there was understandably a lot of excitement, and plenty of new players split among the 10 starting towns. It was a very ambitious project, and absorbed many users who had been playing augmented reality games and simpler VR games in the search for realism and immersion. It may have even been rushed slightly, to take advantage of the current gaming environment where realistic immersion wasà la mode.

Having returned to the town, Cael took a right-turn past a weapons store, and came to a round building marked 'Alchemist's Store.' He stepped inside, and took a look at the many drawers circling the store interior. There were many potions, as well as some staffs and scrolls locked in containers. The game's magic system didn't rely on having a staff or wand, but they came with many benefits, including the ability to inlay gems in them in order to increase spell damage, reduce spells' MP cost, and other such buffs. Cael didn't feel like he had enough spare gold for a staff, as he would still require spells to use it with, and he had no gems to use on a staff either. Due to this, he went up to the shopkeeper, and asked about what scrolls were available.

"At your current INT level, the following scrolls are useable," said the shopkeeper, proceeding to list them off, "Meditate, Minor Healing, Minor Illusion, Enchant Dagger, Spark, Mana Strike. Do you wish to purchase any of these?"

Cael knew that Meditate was used to increase MP regeneration, and that might be useful if he was going to hunt wild creatures nearby for Experience gain. However, he needed some stronger offensive spells first. He surmised that Mana Strike would be similar to a spell that he already had, Mana Push, which allowed you to shove people and creatures from a distance using some of your mana. While the Strike might be more damaging, he still decided that it didn't sound powerful enough. He opted to buy the other offensive spell, Spark, although he wasn't entirely sure what its effect would be like.

Meditate and Spark came to about 300 gold in total, with Spark costing 200 gold. He still had 800 on hand after that, from low-level quests, so he decided to get Minor Illusion as well, for 150 gold. Curiously, the game labelled the scroll for Spark as [Providence Spell Scroll], even though the scroll clearly indicated that the spell was named 'Spark' rather than 'Providence.' Shrugging, he placed the new scrolls into a spellbook he pulled out of his bag, and began to study them. The scroll for Meditate had no words on it, and could be learnt quickly. The scroll for Minor Illusion was decorated with an illustration of a green snake circling across the top of the page. He read the scroll's text:

"To create the illusion of a small object, such as a key or a coin, is the power of Minor Illusion. This illusion should not be touched physically for longer than a minute, or it will wither. This basic illusion is summoned by concentrating small amounts of mana into a single node that stimulates the senses of onlookers, causing them to see an object where there is none.

"Mana is typically not sensed clearly by men, so it is possible for it to send rogue information to the senses. However, be cautious when using this ability among more powerful mages. Though they might see the illusory object, they will be used to using mana, and will probably notice the mana being used to produce this illusion."

The cost would be 25 mana per minute, of the pool of 260 that he had already. As he read the scrolls in his spellbook, the game registered them as new abilities for his character, and he noticed messages appear on his left:

[New spell! Meditate. 10 MP.]

[New spell! Minor Illusion. 25 MP/min]

[New spell! Spark. 30 MP]

He was still slightly uncertain of what Spark would do, although the scroll described it as using mana to seize part of an enemy's body and deteriorate it. He left the shop, and walked around it to get out of town, onto the dusty and dark area outside. He scanned the area for creatures to target. Most grinding spots were slightly further out, including a few near the archery range to the West of Kruxol. However, he spotted an unfamiliar small creature in a dark, black-brown tree nearby, with the word 'sable' in orange hovering above it.

Orange signified a wild creature, which would probably attack if disturbed. Red meant a hostile creature that would seek conflict, yellow represented a neutral creature who would only attack if attacked first, and green would be a friendly or tamed creature. Creatures this close to the town were unlikely to be red, or they would have already picked a fight with the guards. He felt a bit hesitant about attacking this creature, as he wasn't familiar with the species' capabilities and didn't know how difficult the fight would be, but he was planning to log out soon and that required you to be in a town or building. He figured he'd have to take his chances on a fight here. He let his light source disappear, to save mana for the fight. The sable was still lit faintly by the wan light of the candles around the edge of Kruxol.

Looking closer at the sable, it seemed to be a small creature covered thickly in a silky, brown coat of fur, with a light white-grey patch on its throat. It had 'lvl 12' written right beneath its species name, in smaller, white text. Cael used [Mana Push] to force it out of the tree, and the sable took 15% of its HP in fall damage as it landed on the dusty ground beside the tree. The push was more firm than he remembered it being, pushing the sable cleanly off its branch, and he reasoned that this must be because of his increased INT stat. Due to the disturbance, the sable was aggressive, and as it clambered back to its feet it bared a set of fine, sharp teeth. With its nimble feet lightly brushing the ground, the sable began to run towards him. While he was glad that the sable was at a fairly low level, it looked like its attacks would be fierce. As it approached him, he held out his right arm towards it and cast [Spark].

Suddenly, the sable stood still, stopped in its tracks. Cael watched as ripples of mana soaked the sable's body, constraining it like a small cage of thorns. Shivering faintly, the sable slowly slouched to the ground, as the mana undermined its muscles and left it unable to stand. As the sable's last HP withered away, it seemed to be trying to scream, but this scream could not rise through the waves of mana caging its body. Cael was taken aback by seeing the graceful creature go through such an unbecoming end.

In the beginning, a spectre of the Crucifix. The spectre is as pale as Venus' light.

To bow in Providence's yoke is disempowerment. This anchors the common tale of the devil's fall. Lucifer in Heaven suffers, for his life of obedience feels to him like crucifixion. The fallen angel suffers, for he exchanges his natural splendour and light to be impaled helplessly upon the fires of Hell. At Satan's behest, Christ suffers upon the cross. The crucifix is the bloom of Lucifer's light across Calvary, rejuvenated as if he had never fallen, and yet it is also his Vale of Tears. There is no contradiction. Satan's wings cannot lift him from hellfire, and so he understands and wields the prisoner wings of a crucifix.

The immersive MMO had grown in popularity by selling players the role of being a noble, heroic protagonist, but in a few seconds the sable's rare majesty had dissolved as if it was never there. Cael's light conjuration had taken on a greater brilliance as his magic grew in power, but could this light also go out someday here with less than a whimper? Then the painstaking cultivation of power would be for nothing. While players were supposed to be guarded from pain and wounds, Cael was still slightly disturbed by how bleak and torturous this spell's design had looked and resolved to find another offensive spell that was less like the fabled iron maiden. However, he still found the spell's decisive effect on the battle impressive.

Cael checked on his inventory, and saw that a 'Lesser sable fur' had been added automatically when the creature died. He checked its details, and found that it could be sold for 4000 gold. That was quite a tidy sum, in the early game. He guessed that the fur of high-level sables would be much more valuable, but he was in no position to fight them yet. Besides, sables were a rare sight, and not easy to find unless you were lucky enough to run into one. This game, like many others, had a rarity mechanic which made the appearance of certain creatures seem more meaningful to players. In the spirit of Johannes the Seducer, the aesthetic of seeking or encountering a rare creature was often considered more fulfilling than actually getting what is sought. A theatregoer may already know that a play is a 'Tragedy,' but knowing about the ending does little to ruin the play.

He walked back towards the nearby town, with the faint light of candles illuminating his way. As he walked, he quickly calculated that he had enough gold to get a staff and some extra spells tomorrow. That would be a significant progress by this stage, and he might gain some stronger offensive spells to test his spellcasting strength. This would be important in dungeons. In the meta so far, powerful elemental spells were proving to be the most effective way for groups of players to successfully tackle dungeons.

Stories have their own peculiar vision of Providence. In the end, the powerful villain's strength fails against the hero, the conniving villain's plans falter. They cannot move, and are haunted by the shape of the crucifix like a black dog. It is their greatest foe. Yet the crucifix is a weapon of sorts, and when Providence strikes the villain will have no other weapon left. "Wither me down, destined to fail, we get up just to fall down, withering." (Subject2change.)

When he entered the town, he reached towards a black strap on his right arm, just below his hand, and pressed a button on it to bring up the main menu. A few options hovered in front of him. Before logging off, he decided to check the rankings. Pressing the text saying 'Rankings,' he saw an ordered list of players with the highest levels, along with a number of tabs to the left of the list allowing him to see other categories of ranking.

He saw that some people were reaching level 40 already, and the highest level recorded was 41. Glancing at some of the highest-levelled players, he saw names like DragonKing, rEdTrEe, Cyperus, NavigatorGhost, and FineYouthfulLad. Most of them were melee fighters, as those could jump straight into a fight, and gained offensive abilities faster in the early game, whereas Mages' spells often had non-combat effects.

He was surprised to see that his own level was now 21, and realised that he must have levelled up after the sable fight, and was likely too distracted by the [Spark] effect to notice. This wasn't among the highest levels, but it was respectable. He had only been playing since the late afternoon, so when he joined the game there were already people who had been playing for 6-10 hours. The ranking list only showed the top 100 players, which did not include him at present, but some text below it indicated to him that he was in the top 700 of players in terms of overall EXP gained. He figured that, apart from the few players who were levelling much faster than the rest, the EXP required for levelling would eventually grow until most people weren't many levels apart. It was only the first day of the game, so people who had done research or prepared a strong team to help them were growing quickly through the lower levels, and things would probably slow down eventually.

He checked on a ranking of players with the highest INT, and found that, predictably, it was mostly Mages. Other classes did show up occasionally, mostly high-level players with above-average stats across the board, and people with higher-level equipment that gave a notable stat boost. The highest INT listed there was 790, probably because they had prepared a guild with strong team-mates and had managed to find some powerful INT-boosting equipment in a chest while completing dungeons.

Cael wasn't sure about joining a guild before he had some idea of what guilds were available and how much they hated each other. His own INT, 347, was apparently in the top 300. That was good news, he figured, as he had been focusing on it to increase the power of his spells. Skipping through the tabs, there were also rankings for the other stats like STR and DEX, as well as some empty rankings for content that wasn't yet unlocked. Cael pressed an 'X' in the corner to return to the main menu, and then logged out.

As he pulled off the VR suit and a few sensors attached to his body, he found himself alone in his bedroom with a red T-shirt saying 'I'm a Saviour'. He had purchased that from Thailand a long time ago, and it seemed that the text was some brand's slogan. There was a small logo, of a red castle with pink and green banners unfurling around it, on the top-left of the shirt. Looking out of the window across the room, he could see a few trees faintly lit by the moonlight, and his own faint reflection, with his straight brown hair a bit disordered after the drama of the VR experience. He walked away from the VR equipment, and prepared to sleep.

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