Pag stood on shaking legs, sweat dripping from his brow despite the biting cold. His mind felt thick and sluggish, as if filled with oil. He had long since been acting purely on instinct, driven by the countless times his mana had been depleted to zero during this grueling training session. A session that he had naively assumed would last a few hours but was now stretching into its thirtieth in-game hour, translating to nearly eight real-world hours. Each time his mana bottomed out, it felt like waking from anesthesia, a disorienting wave of mental fog and physical weakness. It took every ounce of his willpower to form coherent thoughts, keep his body upright, and defend himself.

His eyes scanned the training ground, rotating constantly as he practiced the observational techniques Meowtimer had drilled into him. He sent out pulses of mana, like a magical sonar, mapping the terrain and sensing any disturbances. The "Ping" skill, he knew, must have leveled up considerably with the constant use, but he wouldn't see the benefits until the notifications took effect after his training. Meowtimer had cautioned him against checking notifications during these intense sessions; any lapse in focus resulted in painful consequences.

He had learned to control the flames, to shape them to his will, to unleash them with a thought. But mastery demanded more than just power; it required discipline, precision, and an unwavering focus that pushed him to his limits. The flames were an extension of himself, a reflection of his inner turmoil and his unwavering determination to survive. Each successful technique, each mastered skill, fueled his resolve, driving him to push harder, to become one with the flames.

"Congratulations," Meowtimer's voice, warm and laced with amusement, broke through Pag's concentration. "You have completed the first of four classes and begun your journey along the path to becoming a master of the flames."

Pag blinked, the words barely registering through the mental fog of exhaustion. He stared at his master, who chuckled and waved a paw, extinguishing the flames that danced around Pag.

"Few make it through this rigorous training, and you did exceptionally well," Meowtimer continued, padding closer. "I would have you rest for a few days and return for the next round, but there is no time. Our timetable has shifted. You are being dispatched for your first mission."

Pag's body finally registered the cold, a bone-rattling shiver coursing through him. He swallowed, managing a raspy, "Dispatched?"

Meowtimer nodded. "King Dunstan is mobilizing all available troops." The king was preparing for war, and Pag, despite his exhaustion and his lingering unease about this accelerated timeline, felt a thrill course through him. This was it. The reason he had endured the grueling training, the reason he had pushed himself to the brink. It was time to put his newfound skills to the test, to prove himself worthy of the title of Pyroclasm.

"Go ahead and read your notifications, visit the healers, and then meet me inside for your new gear," Meowtimer instructed. "And be sure to select a god before you leave the city. It'll allow you to re-spawn at their way-shrines if you...ahem...die."

With a flick of his tail, Meowtimer turned and padded back inside, leaving Pag standing alone in the cold, his body aching, his mind buzzing with anticipation.

Pag glanced through the wave of notifications that expanded before him, the system automatically condensing related messages to their most recent updates

A wave of energy rushed through him and flames danced along his form, expanding in a fiery halo around him as euphoria exploded through him. The developers had implemented an update to the level up notification and it was definitely an improvement. Pag grinned, flexing a moment before motioning to pull up his character information.

Pag stared at his stats for a moment before smiling and making adjustments. He would have to remember to come back for more training later. The bonus to his exp had shot him up almost ten levels though he was sure that leveling would grow increasingly more difficult with each level the bonuses would likely make it much more tolerable.

Player Name: Pagacco Level: 12

Class: Mage Subclass: Pyroclasm

Profession: None Specialization: None

Currently Active Title: Enemy of Soohan Most used Skill: Flames

Alignment: Inflammatory

Health: 120/120 [R:10] Mana: 260/260 [R:10] Stamina: 55/55 [R:11]

Points Earned: 2

Reputation:

Soohan: Blood Feud (-9999) Draggor (155)

Lunar Empire (0) Red Fox Caravan (0)

Arcane Core (12) Backstreet Boys (-500)

Unionized Draggor Thieves Clans (-500)

Attributes:

Strength: 10 Constitution: 11 Dexterity: 12 Intelligence: 15

Wisdom: 16 Charisma: 11 Piety: 2 Luck: 10

Karma: 0

Combat:

Attack: 10 Accuracy: 5 Agility: 10 Speed: 5

Critical: 0.21 Endurance: 5 Focus: 12 Defense: 10

Magic Def: 10 Armor: 0 Hygieian Meter: 150

Active Status Effects:

Exhaustion – Nude – Cold I – Stinky II

Abilities:

Flames - Beginner 2

Titles

Enemy of Soohan – Beginner Pyroclasm

With that taken care of he trudged into the smaller single story building on the other side of the courtyard where the healers of the Arcane Core resided and trained by tending to the offensive spell casters when their spells went awry. The moment he stepped into the door everyone inside stopped what they were doing and turned to stare at him.

In confusion he looked around. An exasperated sigh rose from the far end of the main room, followed by hurried rustling, and suddenly Aviva was standing in front of him with a grimace. “I hope you’re drunk” she hissed at him.

The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

“What?” Pag asked cocking his head to the side.

She motion incredulously at him. “You’re literally wearing nothing but a threadbare loincloth and it’s freezing out there.” she said grabbing him by the arm, her hands warm like the heat radiated by an oven on a winter night and gripped him tightly around the bicep.

Pag looked down, heat rushing to his cheeks as he remembered that Meowtimer had forced him to strip down at the beginning of his training. “I- I just got done with training and was told to come here. I’m about to be dispatched.”

Aviva snorted, shaking her head as she began to drag him down a hallway, muttering inaudibly to herself. The silence died as those watching quickly returned to conversations or eating. She led him down the long hallway in silence, her hand still firmly gripping him.A few minutes into their walk she paused at an intersection before making a quick left into a smaller hallway where they passed through a small wooden door.

“Go ahead and ditch that” she said with a disdainful motion towards the now ragged and filthy loincloth Meowtimer had made him strip down to. “I'll get a new one and some basic clothes that can be worn under your clothes.”

Pag blinked and furrowed his brows. “You can wear clothes under your robes?” he asked quietly thinking about how he had shivered and frozen every time a breeze had hit him. The woolen robes were warm but well wearing a dress with crotchless underwear was just not as warm as one could be.

Aviva gave a groan and cradled her face in her hands. “Please tell me that was a joke. Have you seriously been walking around in nothing but your underwear under your robes? How did you even manage that? All armor comes in a complete set, and shows as one item in your inventory or when equipped, unless its part of a shattered set which are extremely rare.” She slid her hands up her face and into her hair, pulling it back to get a better look at him.

He gave a weak laugh as he felt the heat rise in his cheeks. “Uh. What do you want me to do with this.” he said pointing down with one hand and rubbing at his neck with the other.

“Just hand it here so I can burn it.” she said, holding her hand out to him.

Pag stared at her for a moment, the heat on his face doubling. Could his character blush? He was seriously hoping that that was not the case. With trembling fingers he undid the knotted strings that held the cloth and slid it off, gripping the fabric tightly as he held it out to her.

Aviva grabbed the fabric, compressing it down into a ball and with apparently no effort at all burning it into a handful of ashes in a rush of golden flames. “By the way, when you’re flustered the skin around your ear holes and eyes turns from green to yellow. I wasn’t sure if that was something you were aware of since there seems to be a lot of things you aren’t aware of.” she said shaking her head and pointing at a second door on the other side of the room. “That’s the bathing room, get cleaned up, I'll heal you up after I grab some temporary clothes for you to wear since you’ll be dispatched with a full set of gear.” She said before slipping out the door they had entered.

Pag grimaced and shouldered the previously indicated door open, tendrils of a dense steam drifting out to caress him. He sighed as the heat rolled over him, a shudder running through him as the cloud was pushed further from his body. He silently padded fully into the room and without hesitation stepped into the water as he looked around the otherwise empty room. It was as if some one had built a room around an existing hot spring and laid a layer of cobbled stone over the dirt. The hot water lapped at him as he slowly stepped deeper into the water, reveling in the way it felt as it climbed up his calves and thighs before cradling him and rising up his torso until he was chin deep.

A sigh slid from his lips as his muscles began to uncoil beneath the warm press of water. The heat leached away the last of the bone weary chill that had seeped so deeply into his being that he hadn't fully realized it was there until he had entered the room.

Pag sat there in the water like that for an unknown amount of time before he heard the door click open. Mana immediately blazed out from him, reverberating back into him in a stuttering staccato and he suddenly knew every inch of the area around him including where one person was now wading through the water towards him. Surprise filled him as he realized that what information he had received from within the water was infinitely more precise than what had passed through the air and made a mental note of this. Slowly he turned and peered through the hazy steam.

His heart stuttered and he reeled back, falling into the water, as he processed the sight of Aviva wading towards him. She was absolutely naked and her face held an unreadable expression. He rose sputtering from the water and wiped water from his eyes.

“What are you doing” He sputtered, voice cracking.

“Well I was about to heal you before you tried to drown yourself.” She said folding her arms across her chest as she looked at him.

“Why are you naked?” He asked as he wrestled his voice into a more respectable octave and fought to look anywhere but her chest.

“Well, if I wore my clothes they would be soaked.” She said simply. “Now hold still, I’m going to heal you so you can finish up your bath and be on your way.”

Pag swallowed so hard that it felt like he had just tried to eat a golf ball whole. His mouth dried and he felt the heat rise to his face again as she reached a hand out towards him, bopping him solidly on the nose. He blinked and furrowed his brow. “What was that”

“I healed you, all debuffs and injuries are gone. Here take this.” She said before wading back towards the edge of the water..

“What is it?” He asked, catching the waxy brick and turning it over to look at it.

“Soap.” Aviva called over her shoulder as she slipped a fuzzy bathrobe on. “Be sure to use it, thoroughly. I placed a towel over here by the door for you when you're done. Your clothes are in the entrance room so they don’t get all damp from the steam. Try to be quick about it, the others will be coming for baths soon and you seem to be the shy type” She said with a laugh as she slipped out the door.

Pag scowled at the door and muttered to himself as he began scrubbing viciously at himself, doing a full body scour twice over before dipping below the surface to rinse off. The soap lifted from him in milky tendrils that dissipated into the hot water as he rose from the water and waded to the edge of the pool. The smooth cobbled floor was cool beneath his fingers as he pulled himself from the water. Cool air wrapped around him sending a shudder through him as he jogged over to the door and pulled it open wide enough to slip into the room.

Pags waterlogged fingers wrapped around the thick fluffy towel, scrubbed it along his arms and neck until fluff began to rain down around him. Pag stopped and pulled his hands back opening them to the wads of cotton and thread. With a frown he twisted to look at his shoulders and back, groaning at the sight of shredded towel knotted around the thick black spines that ran across his shoulders and down his back. He rolled his eyes with a sigh and began to pick at the pieces he could see.

Finally once he felt he had gotten all he could he slipped into the new underwear, new pants and shirt then finally his old robes. The thick woolen robes clung to his frame. The boots slipped on with a bit of effort but comfortably hugged his feet. Pag frowned as he moved around experimentally. Hopefully the clothes that Meowtimer would give him would fit his newly leveled form better.

He shook his head and padded into the hallway. “You take longer than most women I know, and they usually have make up to apply.” Aviva said with a laugh as he jumped. She had been leaning against the wall but had been hidden by the door when he stepped out.

“Yeah, well, the towel kinda fell apart on me.” Pag said brusquely as he rubbed the back of his neck.

“I can see that” Aviva scoffs as she reached behind him pulling out a clump of thread. “Well, let's get you to Meowtimer so you can get geared up.” she said patting him on the back lightly before wrapping her hand around his and pulling him along.

Heat rose up his neck and he swallowed hard as he fought to keep his eyes fixed on the path before them and keep up with Aviva but he was still surprised when the frigid night air slammed into them. His fingers tightened around hers and he felt his shoulders hunch forwards.

Pag blinked and held his free hand out to the side, waving it a few times as flames wrapped around his hand and held it as close as he dared to his chest sighing into the warmth as they crossed the dark courtyard, the flames casting dancing shadows in their wake. His eyes flicked upwards and his breath caught in his throat as he tried to take in the sight of the moonless sky strewn with countless stars in hues of silvers, blues, golds and reds. His breath rushed from him in a silver cloud as his foot hit a loose stone and he was hanging in the air.

He threw his hand out, his eyes widening as the ground rose towards him. His hand sunk into the cold dirt, steam streaming out around the flames that coated his palm as he sunk up to his elbow, his knees biting into the frozen earth before he came to a stop. A string of curses fell from his lips and he fought to work his arm free from the partially frozen earth that was wrapped around his forearm, the ice closest to his hand having melted and mixed into a mucky mess that gripped him like quicksand.

Aviva squatted in front of him and directed a small pulse of flames into the ground around his arm until his arm came free from the quickly drying dirt. “Not really your day, huh?” She asked him softly as he stood, brushing the dirt from his robes and slinging mud from his freed hand..

“That can describe pretty much my entire existence since I got here.” Pag grumbled shaking his head and shaking the dirt from his clothes. “Though it’s not the worst that has happened.” he said with a wince as he looked up to the looming doors before him. He sighed again and closed the distance, and with a heave opened the door to the main hall of the Arcane Core. Meowtimer whirled around to face him, his furry face a crumpled mess, his thick paws clenched into fists. Beside him stood a regal figure cloaked in shadows, oranges and golds of thrown from the massive fireplace creating a stunning halo around the squared shoulders and perfect posture.

Meowtimer stalked over to him and grabbed him by the shoulders. “Take this and go. Now.” He said as he pushed a large parcel into Pags chest and pushed him out the door. “Do not fail.” Meowtimer hissed out before slamming the door closed.

Pag hesitantly clicked yes, his eyes widening as he looked over all the items he had just been handed.

<1 gold, 30 Silver, and 22 copper received.>

>Yes

Pag slammed the Yes button and nearly choked as he felt his clothes tear away from his body and the new ones slammed onto his body, pushing him back a few paces. He blinked and a new transparent map popped up in the corner of his vision indicating where he was meant to go.

Pag blew out a lungful of air and rolled his eyes. As he motioned the menus up and pressed the log out button.