“Hey, djinn that’s not allowed to augment his combat with magic. Fancy meeting you here,” a voice laughed.

Raising an eyebrow, Yunya turned around to see the girl from the mage outpost waving at him.

“It’s Ashen Fall.”

“Huh?”

“Ashen Fall is my name. Not djinn-who’s-not-allowed-to-augment-combat-with-magic,” Yunya laughed.

“Haha okay okay, my bad. Oh, I forgot to introduce myself. I’m Whispering Breeze.”

With a wink, she then added “And unlike you, I picked a magic race to become an actual mage.”

Yunya could hear the teasing in her words, so he wasn’t angry. It was quite the opposite. “Come on, where is your creativity, just picking mage like that.”

“Hmph, who needs creativity when you can just rain down spells at your opponents. Speaking of, have you decided what you want yet?”

“Rogue was a bust, so archer or warrior remain at the moment. In fact, I was on my way back to the archer outpost before a certain someone stopped me.”

Whispering Breeze laughed, “Oh I wonder who that could be. No one should keep people busy like that.”

Yunya would’ve believed her if it wasn’t for the fact that she was showing zero intention of actually letting him go.

“You should really pick an archetype already. You do know that this starter village has more to offer than just picking your archetype right?”

“I know. I’ve done some quests and even gotten an achievement already.”

“Achievements? Infinite Odyssey has achievements? Where? When?” Whispering Breeze suddenly got real close to Yunya.

Taking a step back, he grinned, “Hmm, achievements? What are those?”

“Don’t play dumb!” she glared back.

“That’s what you get for calling me djinn-who’s-not-allowed-to-augment-combat-with-magic,” Yunya said while smiling sweetly. “Fine, fine. I got it for getting maps both for Red Reef as its surroundings. Seems like you’re the one that doesn’t know that this village has more than just magic.”

Leaving behind a snorting Whispering Breeze, Yunya continued going towards the archer outpost.

Back at the lodge, Yunya saw the familiar asshole dark elf npc again, but both of them chose to ignore one another. Going inside, Yunya went to the receptionist again, who recognized him somewhat.

“Oh the djinn, didn’t think I’d see you so soon again,” he exclaimed. “How can I help you?”

“Hi. Previously, I forgot to ask, but is there any chance I could get information about how magic and archery work together? I’m not too sure how-”

Before Yunya could even finish his sentence, the receptionist interrupted him with a wave of his hand and turned around.

“Desmond!”

A rough looking npc looked up and was visibly annoyed at being disturbed. Initially trudging over, he suddenly hastened his step when he saw Yunya.

“Young djinn,” the npc said as he gripped Yunya’s shoulders, “are you here to learn about magic and archery?”

Trying to shrug off Desmond’s hands, Yunya said he was. And was then instantly dragged outside. Despite his efforts, with the npc’s hands still gripping his shoulders.

“You probably just heard it, but let me introduce myself again. My name is Desmond and I’m a high elf. Without going into detail too much, I specialize in both magic and archery. And you are?”

“I’m Ashen Fall.” Yunya replied. “I’m not yet sure what archetype I want to pick yet, so I’m gathering info at the different outposts. As a djinn, I’m obviously only interested in magic related combat. Thus I’d like to hear about magic archery, not normal archery.”

“Nice to meet you” the npc said, while handing Yunya some small practice targets. “Here, throw those into the air please, as far away as possible.”

Not having much choice, Yunya did as he was told as he watched Desmond taking out three arrows. No sooner had he done so or an arrow of fire obliterated the first target. A second arrow that was almost too fast for Yunya’s eyes hit the second one, while the third and final target was hit by a normal arrow. Yunya was confused at first at the last shot, since it didn’t seem like a magic arrow. Until he noticed that the arrow had disappeared.

Turning around, Desmond had a grin on his face. And that third arrow in his hands.

“Aahn, nothing beats the look on people’s faces when I have a shot arrow back in my hands,” he laughed. Turning somewhat serious, he then apologized. “I regret that I only have access to three different kinds of magic arrows though.”

“Uhm, no need to apologize,” Yunya said hesitantly. This old npc seemed almost too enthusiastic.

“What kind of magic do you think I possess?” Desmond asked, pointing at the remains of the targets.

“That first arrow was obviously fire or something similar. Second was incredibly fast, so lightning? Or maybe just wind? I’ve got no clue about that last one though. It reappeared in your hands, so at the very least, I don’t think it’s a simple answer.”

“Oh, pretty good, you’re mostly correct. The first two are indeed fire and wind. And the third type of magic I have access to is indeed special. It’s telekinesis.”

But before they could continue, someone spit at the floor behind them.

“Desmond, you trash. Are you really teaching a djinn about archery?”

Yunya didn’t even need to turn around to recognize the raspy voice. Besides, only one person in the archer outpost had a personality like that.

“Piss off Thelonius, I can teach who I want. Besides, I’m not even teaching him yet, I’m just shooting some arrows. You’ve been staring at us for a while, don’t tell me you’re not even capable of that anymore either?”

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“Be careful with your words, Desmond,” the dark elf npc said, whose voice had turned cold all of a sudden.

Desmoond shrugged, “Then don’t order me around.”

“Doesn’t matter. I don’t want their kind here,” Thelonius growled as he gestured at Yunya.

“Then I guess Ashen Fall here should be happy you’re not the boss of the archer outpost. Now stop trying to create trouble.”

“Hmph.” Thelonius took a last look at Yunya and turned around.

“Meet little Miss Sunshine. If you do become an archer, be careful not to antagonize him too much. He uhm…” Desmond went silent for a second, looking for the right words.

“Is not fond of djinns or high elves becoming archers? I know, I’ve met him before.”

“Ah, that explains why he came over. He usually just pretends like high elves and djinns don’t exist. As if only dark elves have the right to become archers.”

Desmond cleared his throat to get rid of the awkward atmosphere before he continued.

“Anyway, ignoring him, I was about finished anyway. Magic archery isn’t all that complicated. Enchant your arrow with magic and simply fire it. Depending on the type of magic, your arrow will have different effects. The duration an arrow stays enchanted depends on your own prowess though.”

Yunya thought of the obliterated target after the fire arrow or the speedy wind arrow. The effects were simple, but perhaps that was what made it so nice.

“That’s it?”

“For now? Yes. I’m not gonna say much more to someone who doesn’t even have an archetype yet,” the npc laughed. And then he kicked Yunya out of the archer outpost, saying he should come back when he was stronger.

“So I’m not getting any more info unless I pick the archer archetype I guess?”

Lost in thought, Yunya was walking along the archery range on his way to the boars. But suddenly, he got interrupted by a boom. Surprised, he looked up, only to be greeted by another surprise. There was a giant standing in front of him, literally. A player who had picked the giant race was practicing archery on the range. With a bow that was about as tall as the giant himself.

“What was that?”

Following the player’s gaze, he saw a young tree that had been snapped in half in the distance. But looking at the giant’s face once again, it was the wrong tree.

“I wonder if that idiot also hates giant archers or if his hate is only directed at the magic races,” Yunya mumbled as Thelonius’ face resurfaced in his mind.

“But damn, I don’t think I’d even be able to shoot that bow more than once. Giant race increases strength right? With a bow like that, I wonder about the range a giant archer could achieve.”

After having his shock turned into amusement, Yunya left the archer outpost and went boar hunting.

It went about as well as previously, but when one of the boars stubbornly refused to charge at Yunya, he suddenly started cursing. Not at the boar however.

“Damn it, knowing how to use a dagger really could’ve come in handy right about now. Desmond’s enthusiasm and that idiot Thelonius made me forget to ask about it in the archer outpost. Damn it.”

It took Yunya a little while longer than other boars, but he eventually succeed in baiting its charge and killing it.

“Gah, with the dagger, it would’ve been so much faster. At least this stubborn swine dropped a tusk.”

Ignoring the cursing intermezzo, it took Yunya about the same amount of time to finish this quest as it had the previous time.

Back at the warrior outpost, the npc from earlier took Yunya out to the middle of one of the arenas.

“I’m Miles. Now look closely,” he said.

Taking out a staff, he lightly poked Yunya with it. The wooden end of the staff didn’t hurt him, but Yunya did get pushed back.

“With these blunt ends, I can’t do that much actual damage. But as a guard in this small town, I don’t need to. In fact, I don’t want to in most cases. The local drunks don’t need to be cut, but sometimes I do need to hit them to sober ‘em up.”

Channeling magic into one of the ends of the staff, Miles suddenly started radiating a feeling of danger to Yunya.

“On the other hand, say a monster invasion, I do need to be able to actually deal damage. That’s where my magic comes in.”

Effortlessly stabbing through a practice dummy, he continued, “Lightning magic forms an edge, turning my staff into a spear. And a spear or staff, both have similar skills, so I don’t even need to change my fighting style that much. I can also transform both ends of the staff into sharp edges to go against large crowds.”

“Now look closely.”

Suddenly, a blast of wind ruffled Yunya’s hair. By the time he looked up again, Miles had moved across the arena. “I’m also capable of using wind magic on myself, to enhance my speed.” He then mumbled, “Although I’m not that good at it and can only charge in a straight line.”

With a shrug, the npc continued, “As you heard earlier from the receptionist, magic combat is very versatile. You saw me increase my offense and my support, but I don’t have any defense to show you though.”

“Damn, I was looking forward to those special tricks. But a staff with lightning edges or a straight up normal spear don’t look that different to me.”

“Wrong. Lightning magic has a special effect,” Miles refuted as he gestured at the practice dummy. “You think a normal spear will pierce through so cleanly?”

Looking closer, Yunya saw a perfectly circular hole in its chest.

“Damn. Okay, it does look more impressive now that I see this.”

“Oh, and I do have a special trick. Stand back a bit.”

Walking backwards, Yunya’s eyes didn’t leave Miles. Suddenly, a fireball started to form above Miles. When it got to the size of a ping pong ball, it stopped growing.

“Don’t come any closer if you don’t want to get hurt,” Miles hurriedly said when he saw Yunya getting closer. “I don’t have enough control to make them differentiate between friend and foe. Anyone that gets too close will be treated as hostile.”

Yunya frowned. He wasn’t that impressed earlier, but those fireballs made him change his opinion. while fighting normally, he could have an attack that was prepared beforehand and was just waiting to be fired? He didn’t mind the fact Miles couldn’t differentiate between friend and foe, since he clearly said he lacked control. In other words, he just wasn’t good enough. As long as Yunya upgraded the skill, he could probably have it fire at whoever he wanted.

“How long can you keep those up?”

“It depends on your skill level and the amount of mana you possess. You’re a djinn, so it shouldn’t be too hard to keep them up for the entire fight.”

Extinguishing the fireballs, Miles gave out one last piece of advice.

“What I’ve just shown you was armed magic combat. Obviously, it means that unarmed magic combat exists as well. I could direct you to my unarmed counterpart, but if you just want to know the principle behind magic combat, armed or unarmed is the same. Enhance offense, defense, support or have special tricks. The difference is that instead of lighting a sword on fire, they would just light their fists on fire.”

Yunya thanked Miles before he logged out to have lunch.

Yunya could use the nutrient bottles to ‘eat’ while in the game, but there was just something about actually having real food.

“It also helps me put my mind to rest. Outside the game, I can think in peace,” he said as he seasoned the chicken breast in front of him.

“Alright, so mage archetype is a bust, as is rogue. Healer had been a no from the start, so warrior and archer remain. And if it wasn’t for that fireball skill Miles showed at the end, I wouldn’t even be considering warrior. But always relying on tricks is not how I want to do things.”

“Oh well, I’ve played magic warrior before and I’ll be able to do so in other VRMMORPGs as well. But magic archer is not a class you can find in every game, so let’s become a magic archer.”

“Although I do like how easy it is for Miles to switch between a lethal weapon and a non-lethal one. A spear/staff also seems like a weapon I would vibe with more than daggers. Although an archer with a complementary dagger is easier to achieve than an archer with complementary staff or spear.”

Yunya then chuckled, “Unless I start whacking people in the head with my bow.”

Cutting his last piece of food extra fiercely, Yunya then added, “Besides, that Thelonius npc pisses me off with his anti magic archer attitude. Got to give it to MENS, I don’t think I’ve ever met an npc that got on my nerves that fast. I’m not gonna pick archer just to spite him, but it sure is a nice extra.”

Having spent all morning just trying to figure out his archetype was not something Yunya had expected. Not that he minded it, a little slower start than usual was a nice change of pace once in a while.