Chapter 10

Limitations

(Author's Note: I just realized that the chapter I thought I had scheduled to automatically be posted for last weekend had actually not been posted. I'm sorry about that. I was certain I had done what was needed for it to be released automatically, but it seems I was wrong. I've been very very busy these last few months, and haven't had the time I've wanted to spend on this blog. It has been all I could do to post one chapter every week, but hopefully that will change very soon. I'm finally done with what I've had to do to free up some time, and now I'm going to spend the next 6-8 weeks almost wholly on writing.

This chapter is the one I was supposed to post last weekend, but it will have to be this weekend's chapter. But don't worry, I will give you this weekend's real chapter before Tuesday, another chapter before Friday and also a chapter next weekend; this is the compensation I offer because of my negligence. Hopefully this will be an acceptable apology.

I could post two chapters today, but I feel extremely tired and only want to sleep right now, which isn't a good state of mind to edit a chapter in, so I'll have to push today's real chapter forward one or two days.)

Jay soon found that something seemed wrong with the underground village; it was too quiet. No sounds at all could be heard, except an eerie wind whistling through the gaps between the green crystalline buildings.

“Come,” Asarj said, pulling on Jay's sleeve. “I go home. Need sleep.”

“Sure,” Jay didn't mind helping, but as they walked down onto the main street in the village, Jay couldn't help but frown. All he saw were open doorways leading to empty rooms with earthen floors. On each floor, in each house, there were between one and three mounds of dirt, but nothing else. It puzzled him. What was going on in this village? It almost seemed desolate in its complete inactivity.

“Here,” Asarj said when they arrived at a slightly larger house in the deepest parts of the cavern. “Home. I sleep now. Bye, Little Master.” she tottered through the doorway, but fell to her knees.

“Don't be stubborn. Let me help you,” Jay said, going up to help the old Beastwoman up. When she got back on her feet she patted Jay slightly, but said nothing.

Inside the pale green crystalline cottage, the already dim light grew even dimmer. Jay could barely see anything, but it didn't matter much; his Eye of the Magi filled in the darkness with its own unique perception of reality, and he could see well enough to not be bothered by the darkness.

Asarj sat down on the earthen floor, wrapping her body in her dark brown cloak, rattling the branches and leaves that hung on it. “Soon, I sleep. Have any questions? Ask now if you want answers.”

Jay thought for a while, but didn't really have anything urgent to ask. The only thing he really cared about was something he had seen some hundred meters away from the crystal cottage he was now in. The parts deeper inside the large cavern was blocked by roiling, churning mist that glowed especially in Jay's special eyes. The constantly moving patterns of bright white, black, dark blue and amber brown colored Mana that were constantly changing inside the mist made Jay believe that there was something special about it. “Just one question. What is that mist covering the deeper parts of this place?”

Asarj looked up sharply at Jay, but soon lowered her head again, hiding inside her hood. “That is the Haze Mist Maze. Bad place. Very dangerous.”

“If it's very dangerous. Why are you staying beside it?” Jay asked.

“Not dangerous to us outside. Dangerous inside,” Asarj said.

“How dangerous?” Jay asked, thinking he really wanted to explore it now. Maybe there were treasures inside? “Could I survive exploring it?”

Asarj coughed, a raspy hoarse laugh issuing out from her throat. “No, Little Master. Even Asarj could die inside. Very bad place. Very dangerous. Not empty words.”

“That's didn't really help much. Can you explain why it's so dangerous?” Jay asked, but not waiting to get an answer, he continued. “How strong are you in comparison to me? When would I be able to explore the place?”

“Haze Mist Maze dangerous. If you go in, everything turn into dreams. Nothing real inside, except the killing dangers. If lucky, just walk in circles and come out after days. If unlucky, never come out,” Asarj tried to explain. “Asarj is Level 253, High Shaman, but would still most likely die inside. And on other side of Haze Mist Maze is very very dangerous. Underworld very very bad place.”

“So, you're saying the mist is some sort of maze which makes people unable to go through into this Underworld?” Jay asked, feeling happy; he had found something interesting.

“Yes,” Asarj said, a yawn slipping out with the word. “It is barrier. Keep out Underworlders.”

“Hm, that seems interesting,” Jay said. “I wonder when I could try and go through it...”

“No,” Asarj said sharply. “Stupid Little Master.”

“Ehm,” Jay felt embarrassed, but stubborn. “At what Level do you think I could try going through the Haze Mist Maze?”

“You weak,” Asarj said. “Asarj not focused on battle, but could squish you like squishing ants,” she paused. “Level? 250 or more.”

Jay didn't like that answer, but could only accept his inadequacies. He once again felt the pressing need to grow stronger. If he could become one of the strongest players, he would be able to feel safe when he wanted to and have adventures when he wanted to without taking any large risks. “Okay, I'll listen to you on this. Thanks for healing my leg. I'll leave you to your sleep now.

“Good...” Asarj said, and it seemed like she was saying something more, but before Jay could hear what, her body had begun to sink into the dark earth. Asarj glowed with amber brown Mana and the earthen floor crept up her body while she was sinking, and soon there was nothing but a large lump of dirt where she had sat. From within the earthen mound, Jay could see pulsing dark red and amber brown Mana flowing into Asarj's buried body. It looked very strange, and it continued to grow stranger as hundreds of tiny sprouts of different kinds of plants quickly began growing on the earthen mound until it was covered in vegetation.

Jay could only shake his head. Some of the things he had seen in this place were beyond his comprehension, and he didn't even know if he wanted to understand them. The only thing good about seeing things beyond his understanding was that he realized there was a whole world beyond his limited perception. He would never say no to having a deeper understanding, but if something beyond his wits showed itself, he couldn't really gain anything but inspiration from it. He had learned his lesson about experimenting with using Mana, and would not try imitate things he didn't have the vaguest idea how they worked.

Walking out the crystalline cottage, Jay went up close to the roiling gray mist. The patterns of different colored Mana inside the mist baffled him, and he could not gleam any insights into how the mist worked or what it did from what little he knew. He decided to probe the mist slightly to see what might happen.

Tossing out five tiny metal pins from a pocket inside his cloak, Jay held them in the air with his Mana Manipulation, lifting each pin on a tiny cushion of pale yellow Mana. It took very little mental effort for him to hold these five metal pins and to his delight, the Mana used were negligible.

He focused his mind, channeling pale yellow Force Mana to surround one of the pins, pushing into it from all sides at once, focusing on creating a uniform layer around the pin until it looked a bit like a small chaotically swirling ball of Force Mana pushing into the metal pin. When he had charged the pin with 400 Mana he instantly changed the direction of all the Force Mana pushes to all push at the back of the pin until if flew whistling through the air and into the gray mist. A light puff and a rippling as if a stone struck placid waters ran through the mist, but nothing else happened. Jay didn't hear the pin land, or anything at all. In his eyes, the flows of Mana inside the mist didn't change at all either. It seemed there was no reason to try that again, but Jay felt stubborn, and he also had one thing he had wanted to try ever since he got the boost in his Max Mana from the Embodiment of Mana.

Nimbly taking back three of the metal pins with his Mana Manipulation, Jay put them away in his inner pocket again, only keeping one of the metal pins still floating in mid-air. He was slightly reluctant to do this experiment earlier because it might destroy something valuable because the Spell might be more powerful than he could assume. He really had no idea what would happen, so he might as well shoot the pin into the gray mist, since it didn't seem to be possible to destroy it even if he wanted to.

Jay forced out Mana from both his hands in hundreds of tiny pale yellow tendrils, focusing in on the metal pin, enveloping it in a swirling ball of ever increasing Mana. He pushed his mental faculties to the limit, pouring out Mana in a volume he had never tried before. Soon the pin was surrounded by what looked like a small sun in his eyes; he had squeezed out 5000 Mana for this Spell, but didn't feel satisfied. It was beginning to grow difficult to keep up with the mental strain, but Jay kept going. He wanted to see if there was a limit. 7000 Mana soon surrounded the pin, and to Jay's surprise the metal had started to glow red hot and a screeching metallic sound was emitted from within.

Jay kept pushing. 8000 Mana. 9000. When he closed in on having 10000 Mana constantly pushing in from all sides on the pin it had turned an almost white yellow and a sizzling as if the air itself was burning could be heard. And then it happened, the air caught fire, a small inferno pulsed out from the metal pin, and with the fire, the Force Mana destabilized, making Jay lose control over the pin. An instant later a large 'shwapp' blasted through the air as if the air itself had exploded, breaking the barrier of sound. And with the noise came a scalding pain on Jay's cheek, but before Jay could react to that, a large crashing BOOM sounded out behind him to his right. He looked over his shoulder and saw a crater with a diameter of over five meters in the distant cavern wall. The rumbling of stones falling from the cavern wall continued for a long time, while Jay just gaped at the destruction.

He put his hand to his cheek and felt a burning heat in his finger.

You are Burned. You take 200 Burn Damage every minute for twenty minutes.

What the...? Jay couldn't help but think about what might have happened if the pin had actually struck his head and not just flown by a couple of centimeters from his face. A cold sweat coated his back in an instant. This had been too dangerous. Why couldn't he learn to do things in moderation? He had just thought of how dangerous it would be to experiment with Mana and do things beyond his comprehension, and had still done something this stupid... he should really have stopped forcing Mana into the Spell after the pin started glowing, then he might actually have been able to aim the pin. It seemed further experimentation was needed, but he wouldn't try and use more than a couple of thousand Mana until he was more certain not to hit himself with his own Spell.

Jay couldn't help but laugh. The pin with 10000 Mana had actually broken a sturdy rock wall and made an indentation several meters deep. It was incredibly powerful, and that was something to be happy about. Now he just had to harness that power.

A ringing sounded out in his mind; someone was trying to contact him. “Hey, Jay,” Hannah said.

“Hello,” Jay said, pausing, but not coming up with anything more to say. He didn't really want to keep in contact with Hannah because of her weird ways.

“Aw, don't be so boring,” Hannah said, as if reading Jay's mind. “I did as you said and explored the Magician's Guild's most important places, but found nothing about how to get down into the lower floors in that dungeon. What should I do now?”

Jay only vaguely remembered that he had actually told her to gather information, but wasn't very interested in the results. He didn't want to go back to Garam's Gorge town, and even more, he really didn't want to try exploring a place with that enormous snake he had seen earlier... at least not until he had a high enough Level to feel fairly safe.

“What did you find out then?” Jay asked, trying to hide his disinterest. He felt obliged to at least show some interest, since he had actually told her to search for the information.

“I found nothing really worthwhile,” Hannah said dejectedly. “But that's mostly because I couldn't go into the most interesting place. There is a large vault with a round metal door spanning almost three meters in diameter. I couldn't get inside that place to have a look, but if we team up, we might be able to get inside. There could be something good in there. The other two places that was said to be important by the information I gathered were a gathering hall of some sort and a library filled with stuffy old books.”

A library! Claudine shouted in Jay's head, shocking him with its intensity. I need to go there. Libraries hold much information. If I can read all the books, I will know much more. Let's go there Jay.

And how long would that take? Jay thought, then ignored Claudine and continued his conversation with Hannah. “How could we break into a vault inside an organization like the Magician's Guild?” he asked Hannah instead. This proposal seemed ridiculous. From what Jay had gathered, the Magician's Guild was one of the most powerful organizations not only in Garam's Gorge town, but in all the lands. It seemed the Magician's Guild had branches everywhere, and he didn't want to further antagonize such an organization if he could avoid it. “Let's not think of breaking into that vault for now. Even if we could do it, I don't think it will be worth it... mainly because we would certainly be killed if we did.”

I can read one page in 0.2 seconds, Claudine answered proudly. Just flip through the pages and I'll memorize the content.

Jay was startled, that seemed like it might actually be really useful. If he could get Claudine to absorb enough information she might actually be helpful if he had questions he couldn't figure out himself. That sounds good Claudine, he thought. But right now I can't go there, but I promise we'll find a library to scour later.

Claudine didn't answer, but a joyful humming intruded in Jay's mind, but Jay didn't mind, it was comforting for some reason.

“Who cares?” Hannah interrupted. “If we die trying, it would still be fun, right?”

“No,” Jay said flatly. “I don't ever want to die. Didn't you know that when you die you lose 20% of you total Experience in every single thing you've done? That price isn't something I'm willing to pay for anything.” Jay didn't want to tell this woman about how he only had one life in the game. She seemed frivolous and flighty. Not someone to confide in.

“Eh?” Hannah said. “You care that much about a measly 20%? That's not much at your Level. Even I don't really care about dying once and I'm Level 91 now. If I died I would probably lose more Experience than you have, and by a large margin. But you don't see me shirking, now do you?”

“I still won't do something that might lead to my death,” Jay said. “It isn't worth it.”

“Scaredycat,” Hannah said, obviously trying to provoke Jay, but it was no use.

“Yes, yes... Whatever,” Jay said, wanting to ignore Hannah now. “Was there anything else you needed? If not, I'm busy, I need to go hunting and gain some Levels.”

“Yes,” Hannah said quickly. “I found something about there being a world underground from reading some books in the library. I think the sealing stone leading down into the ground might be a doorway to that place. Wouldn't it be fun to explore such a place? Come one, don't be so boring, let's go and try to break the sealing stone.”

“I won't say there is no way for me to do that, but not now. In the future I might follow you and explore that place,” Jay said, trying to end the conversation. “I need to be a lot higher Level than I am right now, though, before I can even consider exploring a place like that.”

“Then, I'll help you Level up. Okay?” Hannah said enthusiastically. “At what Level does your fear disappear?”

Jay didn't know how to answer that, and could only honestly say what he thought. “When I'm Level 100 I'll reconsider going down into the lower floors under the Magician's Guild. Not before.”

“Aw, that's such a long way away,” Hannah said. “Especially since you're trying to get Levels by hunting monsters. Didn't you know that it's easier to Level up the first 255 Levels by doing things other than hunting and killing? More than half the players are crafting professions of one sort or another just because there is a lack of monsters to hunt on the surface. Only in dungeons and the more hidden places can you find enough monsters to kill and gain lots of Experience.”

“I'll do what I want, and you do what you want,” Jay said. “I won't justify my actions to you.”

“Alright,” Hannah said, a slight giggle in her voice. “You're at least stubborn enough. I'll help you hunt some. Where are you?”

“You'll help me?” Jay asked, suspicious of her intentions. “Do you know what I'll be hunting?”

“Nope,” Hannah said. “But it can't be dangerous enough for me to feel threatened.”

“Okay, fine,” Jay said, wanting to shock her, he continued. “I'm going to hunt players. I found out they give lots of Experience when they die at my hand, so I figure they will give the most Experience for the least amount of effort.”

“Oh,” Hannah said, for the first time sounding reluctant herself. “Okay... then, I'll help you scout, but I won't attack. I really don't want to get a negative alignment. It's so bothersome to get rid of.”

“I know,” Jay said. “But I already have such a low alignment that I will never get out of the negative, so I might as well capitalize on me no longer caring if I decrease my alignment even more.”

“That sounds troublesome,” Hannah said. “Doesn't this mean you'll never be able to get into any town or city?”

“I don't know,” Jay said honestly. “And I don't really care right now. I only want to become as powerful as possible, as fast as possible. And there should be bandit hide-outs and other places where I can buy and sell things. So, I don't mind as much... anymore.”

“Tell me your coordinates and I'll come to you,” Hannah said. “Then we'll go find some unlucky fellows, alright?”

“No,” Jay said. He didn't want to give the coordinates to this place to anyone. It was the only place he had found that seemed to not ostracize him after he accidentally killed a lot of players, so he wouldn't give this place away to anyone for as long as he could keep the secret. “Let's meet somewhere closer to Garam's Gorge town and then find me some plump players to destroy.” Jay was feeling slightly giddy. He had finally found a place to stay against all odds; he had gained two powerful Skills and his sight, hearing and thoughts felt a lot clearer for some reason. He figured it was because of the increase in all his mental Stats.

“Okay,” Hannah said, “Let's meet at that old mining camp where we went our separate ways earlier, okay?”

“Sure,” Jay said. “Just wait for me. I'll probably take a little while longer than you. But no more than two hours.” Jay looked down on his Map-pad and saw that there was almost thirty kilometers from the dot on the screen that indicated where he was and the dot where Garam's Gorge town was. But that distance didn't matter much. As long as there were trees to swing from, Jay could still cover that distance in a short amount of time.

“...” Hannah was silent for a longer time than Jay felt comfortable with and was almost about to shut their communication link when he heard her speak again. “Where are you for you to take such a long time to get there?”

“I found a strange place with weird docile Beastkin,” Jay said. “I don't know exactly where this place is, but by using the Map-pad I guessed how long it would take for me to get to where we'll meet.”

“Beastmen?” Hannah sounded happy. “I want to meet them. The culture of Beastmen are really strange and interesting. The Tribe I started in doted on me and everyone was very kind. It was a great place to be and I learned a lot. Maybe these can also teach me something useful...”

“I won't tell you where this is, so just stop asking,” Jay said. “And I don't think these Beasts are like normal Beastmen, they seem very peculiar, to say the least. If I learn something you might want to learn, I'll tell you, okay?”

“Fine. I'll just tail you back there later then,” Hannah said, teasing, yet also sounding dangerous. “You can't escape me if I want to track you down.” she laughed evilly, but it sounded very fake.

“And that gives me a reason not to meet up with you,” Jay said.

“Nooo...” Hannah said, dragging out the word as if suddenly realizing she might have said the wrong thing. “I won't follow you. Come on, don't be like this. If I help you Level up we can go explore the dungeon beneath the Magician's Guild faster. Come on...”

“I'll trust you this time,” Jay said, actually wanting to get her help if he could. There was safety in numbers, and he had seen her agile running before, so he figured that she was a strong fighter if she needed to be. “Just wait for me. I'll start traveling now. See you later.”

“Okay, see you later then,” Hannah said. “Tell me when...”

Jay cut off the connection between them and started walking back out the large cavern. He suddenly had an idea, and lit his Flame Torch Spell, creating a small ball of flame above his outstretched palm. Willing the flaming ball to move, Jay forced his Mana Manipulation to slowly push the Flame Torch—and its adjoining tendrils of Mana flowing from Jay's body—up his arm until it floated ten centimeters above his right shoulder. This position was better than having to use his hand to hold the Flame Torch lit, but it wasn't good enough; the light spreading out from the Flame Torch wasn't uniform and created deeper shadows on Jay's left side.

Thinking to himself, he got another idea. Again using his Mana Manipulation, Jay pushed the ball of flame up into the air, straining to make the fire do as it was told and still retain its Spell-form without it breaking down. Slowly, but surely, the ball of flame floated up and when Jay was happy with how the light around him was spreading he relaxed his control over the Spell and let it float down to hover right above his head. To his dismay, however, the ball of flame was too hot and a foul burning smell came from his head.

Jay instantly stopped using the Spell, but it was too late. Feeling the top of his head he realized too late that he had actually burned away all the hair on top of his head. He must look ridiculous. Dejectedly, he felt the smooth skin on top of his head and the curly burned fringes of hair making a halo around his head. This wouldn't do; Jay created another Flame Torch from the top of his head and visualized it enveloping his head and soon the smell of burnt hair once again permeated the air. Now he had at least burnt away all his hair, it was slightly better than having the weird curly burned hair at the fringes of his head.

To his delight, however, he found that he didn't take any damage from his Flame Torch Spell even when it touched and spread out on top of his head. It was a good thing. Remembering the feeling he had at the moment, he focused on it until he could clearly activate and deactivate the Spell and have it always come out on top of his head. It was, after all, the best place for him to use a fire to light his surroundings. He stopped the Spell, and started climbing the staircase to the outside.

As Jay got out into the fresh air again, he stretched his arms to the sky, loosening his muscles. He was going to leave for a while to get Experience while also creating the Spells for his Quest, so he figured he wouldn't be back here in the next few days, and he wanted to soak in the tranquil atmosphere before he left. Unfortunately, his calming exercise was interrupted.

You have been given a Quest by Administrative Decree. The Quest 'The First Hunt' has been added to your Quests.

Now, what's this all about? He thought to himself and opened up the Quest.

Quest The First Hunt (60 days left) Difficulty: Admin Decree Find your prey and kill it. Success gives life. Failure means death. So, hunt as if your life depended on it. You have been given an opponent to kill within the next sixty days. Your opponent also has you as its opponent. The first to kill the other wins. Because you are the one with the lower Level you are given some information about your target: Target is Level 71. To find your target use the Spell 'Find Target'. It will give you an arrow that points towards your target for five minutes. The Spell can only be used once every day. If both of you fail to kill the other within sixty days, both will die. Reward: Life