CHAPTER 1: ENTER THE PYRAMID

It was a warm summer’s night, and Jenna knew that she should be asleep. After all, any rest she didn’t get now was sleep that she would need to make up once she was inside. Still, nerves kept her aimlessly tossing around her bed. This was the culmination of her entire life so far.

When midnight finally came, she knew at once.

Would you like to enter the training grounds?

A screen popped up in front of her vision. She knew to expect it. Without hesitation, she accepted the prompt.

Instantly, she felt herself be transported. Her family had never been able to afford teleportation, so she had no frame of reference. All that she knew is that one second she was at home, and the next she was somewhere else.

Do you swear on your soul to abide by the rules and restrictions of the training grounds?

Jenna knew the rules well. After all, preparing to enter the Pyramid was the major focus of her education. Still, she had the feeling that she could read the rules and restrictions if she wanted to.

She didn’t want to waste a moment, though, so she accepted the prompt. Soul-searing pain laced through her as the prompt faded.

Welcome to the training grounds. You must master a new Tier of Magic each year.

That wasn’t completely true, and Jenna saw the asterisk. For her, though, it would be. She held the book that the Pyramid had given her.

“What Magic will you follow? You show a Minor Affinity for:-”

Jenna cut the prompt off. “I choose Enchanting as my Primary School.”

Do you wish to choose a Secondary School of Magic? If you choose no, your Grimoire will not register any spells except Enchanting until your Second Year.

“No.” It was a risky strategy, Jenna knew that. But, it was the path she had committed to long ago. She would climb the steps of the Pyramid, and she would master Enchanting.

The Pyramid was not the only way to learn Magic. Anyone could connect to the forces of reality after their twentieth birthday. If you did, however, you were locked out of the Pyramid forever.

The Pyramid opened each summer solstice, sending an invitation to anyone who was twenty years old, had not awakened their Magic, and was near to the building. Thankfully, some long-past Enchanter had figured out how to construct a relay system. Before that had existed, only the richest and most powerful were able to bring their children close enough to the Pyramid to be able to see the prompt. Now, everyone was within its range.

Choosing two Schools was the most common approach. So long as you were able to keep the two at the same Tier, you were able to stay a Tier below the floor you were on. Having two Schools at Eighth Tier was apparently the same to the Pyramid as having a single School at the Ninth Tier.

Jenna knew the statistics. Less than one percent of climbers made it to the Seventh level of the Pyramid. Less than one hundred people a year made it to the Eighth level. Once a generation, someone would make it to the Tenth level. And, in all of recorded history, only a single man had stood above the Pyramid’s Eleventh floor.

She would be the second.

Jenna was struck from her musings by another screen in front of her vision.

Ten First Tier Enchanting Spells have been selected for you. To continue in the Pyramid for another year, you must master at least one of these Spells. Would you like to plan your schedule now?

She had expected to get eight Spells, so the extra two felt like a good omen. After all, it was well known that the Pyramid gave you a number of spells proportional to how far it expected you to progress. Jenna wanted nothing more than to ignore the flashing screen in front of her and start reading the Spells, but she knew better.

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“Yes,” she said, and a suggested schedule came up in her vision. The Pyramid recommended a standard schedule for all First Year Enchanters. She accepted it without any changes.

Now that she’d finished everything the Pyramid needed from her, she was ready to see what Spells it thought she should learn. As soon as she started reading, though, the combined toll of her sleepless night, awakening her Magic, binding a Grimoire, and the teleportation set in. She collapsed into a dreamless sleep.

In the morning, Jenna realized that she’d forgotten something the night before.

“Status,” she said, curious what the Pyramid thought of her so far.

Jenna Fredrickson First Year Spells Known: Expected Years Completed: 6 Prediction Confidence: 40% Points: 100 Qualified to Ascend to Next Year? No

It was more or less what she’d expected. She had slightly above average Magical Affinity, she knew from her schooling. That was probably why the Pyramid thought she could make it through the Sixth level.

She saw that it was already time for her first scheduled activity: running. While the Pyramid didn’t punish students who chose not to follow the schedule it recommended, everyone agreed it was in your best interest not to slack off. As tempting as it was to start learning her Spells, Jenna knew that there was already time scheduled for it later in the day.

With a sigh, she started lightly jogging. The Pyramid pinged her.

You have begun running three minutes ahead of schedule. Would you like to shift schedule forward three minutes today?

She accepted the choice.

Would you like to make the shift permanent?

That was a harder question to answer. Hesitantly, she rejected the option. It was only her first day here, after all. Maybe she would find that she was completely exhausted at the end of each day and needed the extra three minutes to sleep.

Now that the screens had left her vision, Jenna realized that she was not wearing the same clothes that she had gone to bed in the night before. Intellectually she knew that she would not be allowed to bring anything with her, and that all students were forced to dress in the same robes. It was still strange to look down and notice that you were wearing something else.

They were nice robes, at least. She knew that they all came enchanted with self-cleaning enchantments and some light protections. If she was buying it outside the Pyramid, she would never have been able to afford it.

As she ran, the Pyramid gave her guidance on her form and speed. Even though she’d been running for her whole life, she apparently still had more to learn. The hour of running was more difficult than it had been for years.

That made sense to her, though. Other than the easy access to Magic, that was the reason people used to kill for access to the Pyramid. Each and every action you made was watched and perfectly critiqued for as long as you were inside.

Now came swordsmanship practice. Privately, Jenna wondered what the point of it was. After all, she was an Enchanter. If she was fighting with a base sword, many things had gone horribly wrong. Still, the Pyramid knew best.

When it came time for her to eat, Jenna was confronted with the reality that every climber reaches.

Would you like to buy a day’s worth of food? Price: 1 point.

She was only given enough points to last for 100 days at the absolute upper end. If anything went even slightly wrong, she wouldn’t even last that long. She accepted the prompt, but asked how to earn points as she ate.

Points can be earned for contributions to the training grounds. Current Recommendation: Produce Hardened Glass.

That was nice, at least. The schedule told her to work on Enchanting after lunch. Hopefully she would be able to start making Hardened Glass soon. As she finished her meal, another thought came to her mind.

Every twenty year old in the world should have entered the Pyramid. Where was everyone?