The chain crashed against his snout, knocking lose several teeth.

Debuff acquired: Broken Jaw.

You cannot use your mouth for any attacks or spells until healed.

Duration: 3 hours

Miss Elizabeth Rey was living up to her title as every moment Atticus spent with her was pure misery. He would have left but she had assigned one of her acolytes, one in a full gimp suit no less, to instruct him on how to wield his kursari-gama. Those brief hours of training were a welcome respite from her painful ministrations trying to unlock the endurance based subcore.

She tsked at him, “Come now, you can use the pain can’t you? You can channel it into the destructive power to crush your foes. I know you can. You don’t want to disappoint your mistress do you?”

The only thing that saved Atticus from suffering more pain was the fact that he couldn’t move his jaw to speak. He whirled the weighted end of his weapon in a defensive pattern, with his left hand while keeping the bladed end firmly gripped in his right. He did however snort blood from his nose to breathe easier. She whipped the chain in his direction, but it was only a feint, she expertly reeled it back in and wrapped it around her waist before she drew her glass-tipped bullwhip. The weapon was monstrous, it was designed for inflicting pain and not a whole lot more. She wielded it like a maestro, she left gashes on his calf, his arms, and then she flicked it casually. The sudden shift in demeanor caught him off guard so he wasn’t prepared for the glass shard to embed itself into his eye. She pulled the whip and his eye went with it.

Debuff acquired: Partial Blindness (Left Eye)

You have lost sight in your left eye.

Duration: 3 hours.

He growled with anger through his broken jaw and lashed out with his weapon. “Now you’re starting to get it. Embrace the pain, use it to fuel your attacks. Inflict suffering on your foes,” she said, a bit of pride coming through her nonchalant facade. Still she danced around to his left side and switched to yet another weapon, a red-hot iron rod. She stabbed him between his ribs, the heat burning his fur and the flesh beneath it. Luckily she didn’t puncture his lung, but he knew that was because she was in control. The iron rod was left hanging from the wound, burned into the melted skin but he channeled the pain into a destructive force and lashed out in a sweeping circular attack to clear space around him. The blade of his weapon caught something and he heard a giggle.

“Ouch, you got me. Good job. You’ve taken the first step to unlock the subcore of my training school.” Let’s call it a day. I’ll send a healer in to get you patched up and get rid of those debuffs. Once you’ve unlocked the subcore I can teach a technique that has a chance to get rid of them all on your own.

***

Phen was shown to her living space at the ARI headquarters and was warned that the common area would be shared with six other people, according to Emily only two other people had been assigned to the space already. Emily hadn't said anything more about the roommates so Phen was interested in meeting them and getting to know them, maybe they could join up in the game if they weren't all the same type of player. Who needs a party full of glass-cannon mages?

After getting settled and picking a room, they decided to go ahead and create their character. Emily escorted them to their office on sub-1 to meet with Dr. Wi, one of the lead researchers and medical staff on site, to begin initial calibration and character creation.

After introductions and explanations, Phen was strapped into the chair and the VR immersion began. Phen looked at the highly in-depth character creation racial options and decided they were going to try and become their name sake, only to be discouraged by the heavy XP requirements, still it was a starting point. They added in some djinn blood to the mix which gave them more magical flexibility and reduced the leveling requirements a little. Then a dash of dragon blood (but only a dash) to further augment their magical boosts and finally to bring it down to normal levels they made their character a quarter Arcane Elf blooded.

That done, they actually got to customize their appearance. Phen choose to go with silver feathers for their wings, glowing purple eyes, a lithe muscular body that could be adorned in men or women's clothes if they desired. Their hair was a slightly darker silver than their feathers. Their teeth, they made sharp like a dragon's. They also made themselves close to 2.5 meters tall.

Phen put their charm, wisdom, and intellect, as primary stats, luck and endurance as secondary, leaving his agility and strength as tertiary. In the end their stat block read:

STR: 8

AGI: 12

END: 12

INT: 16

WIS: 16

CRM: 16

LCK: 14

Stacked to be a powerful mana wielder, Phen was taken to choose a weapon. There were wands and staves and orbs and grimoires and more musical instruments than they had ever seen, but they skipped all of those. None were calling out to their soul so they left the room without picking, and offered no justification as they sat down and meditated.

“Calibration complete.” Flashed in front of their vision before the screen went black. “Well done, Phen. How are you feeling?” Dr. Wi asked as she started unhooking Phen from the machine.

“When can I test out my magic?”

“Already to head into the game, huh?” Emily asked as she offered Phen a hand to get out of the chair. “You can hop back in in a little bit, but why didn’t you pick a weapon?”

“My character wouldn’t need to use one. Nor, do I feel, would they need a magical focus to enact their will on the world, plus I looked at one of the pages and it was a soulbinding contract to a demon, and that is definitely not me. This way I have less strings.”

“An interesting decision. Well, I know I am looking forward to seeing what you accomplish. Once I’m done clearing the equipment you’ll be all set to go,” Dr. Wi said.

“I’m ready to cast some spells.”

Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

“Well hop back on the chair, and I’ll show you how to dive in without assistance,” Emily said.

Getting into the game was smoother this time, their limbs weren’t tied down and they just had the helmet on. There was no login, according to Emily the helmets detected the user automatically and it was impossible for someone to access another person’s character.

Welcome to the Allied Realms! The first stop on your Journey is the Realm of Training

Here you will find all the tools necessary to become the greatest adventurer the Realms have ever seen. But fear not if you don’t want to spend all of your time training you can still become powerful out in the realms as a whole. Though be warned, skipping training is not recommended and can hamper your ability to go far as there are rare opportunities to be found in a greater abundance here.

Congratulations on entering the Realm of Training.

Here you will learn to use your class core and your chosen weapon!

Congratulations on earning your first trait, your Class Core.

You have received the Magic DPS Class Core!

You have been sponsored by multiple gods!

You have received the Support Caster Class Core!

By Unlocking Class Cores you have activated your first Traits.

Mana Veins (Passive, Requires Ranged Magic DPS Class Core, Rare)

Multi-Casting (Passive, Requires Support Caster Class Core, Rare)

To look at the benefits of your Class Core and Trait, go to your Traits Page.

The world began to materialize around Phen, a narrow path carved through the forest around them. Light filtered through the leaves, illuminating the path before them. The wind stirred around them, and Phen could hear a whisper, almost as if the world around them were revealing its secrets. The loamy smells hit their nostrils and Phen felt connected to this world more so than the mundane reality they were from.

Quick Tutorial:

As a magical being coming from a non-magical world you might be unaccustomed to how to use your magical abilities. Most people have some sort of focus object or contract with a higher authority to provide them with guidance. But magic requires (at least at this time) four things:

1. The will of the caster (can’t cast a spell if you don’t know what you want to do)

2. Words of Power (telling the universe what you want)

3. Arcane gestures (provided direction for the spell)

4. Material components (focuses can be used in place of material components if you have a focus, otherwise each spell requires certain specific links to the material world)

Phen spread their wings letting the breeze fill them before noticing that they were drifting in the direction of the breeze. Phen looked down, confused. Their feet weren’t actually touching the ground instead they were floating just above the surface. It was a surreal experience, but a welcome and freeing one nonetheless. Phen decided to try flying, what better time to learn than now.

It took Phen the better part of an hour to get the hang of flying, but it took Phen the rest of the day to figure out how to control their natural levitation. They didn’t want to appear so incredibly out of the ordinary, at least at first glance, when they made their way into town. As twilight descended on the forest, the shadows gave way to a faint luminescence, the mana flowing through the world. It gave Phen a path through the darkened woods.

The forest gave way to plains and the plains gave way to farmland which finally gave way to a large wall protecting the village. Phen was stopped at the gate by a sleepy looking guard, but since it was the middle of the night, anyone would be sleepy.

“Welcome to the Training Village adventurer! Here is a copy of the laws in our fair town. Some of the most relevant involve not stealing and not fighting or dueling in or near the village. Training inns have their own rules that can supercede the rules of the village, but only while you are actively training in that inn. That being said my counterpart on the other side of the gate will get you squared away and pointed in any relevant directions.”

The gate opened and Phen was treated to the sight of a city, not merely a town or village as they had been expecting. The main boulevard was wide enough for several large wagons to fit side by side there were lots of large expansive buildings along them, some nearly as tall as skyscrapers from back home. There was a late night bustle as various peoples scurried from one inn to the next, or maybe some were headed home for the night. The guard inside the gate was much more attentive to his surroundings than his counterpart had been. “Welcome Phen of the Arcane Elves, descendant of the immortal Phoenix, the mighty Djinn, and the Powerful Dragons. It seems like you have been blessed by two gods and have two class cores, that is very rare, so you should keep that information close. You chose to enter this realm without a weapon, well I can point you in the right direction for training. There are plenty of good places for you to train you magical arts at, but you will have a strong affinity for fire and wind elements based on your lineages, though you will be proficient in all of them. I recommend checking out the Chapel Inn and the Magi Collegium for training. Oh, and let me not forget, also check out the Mana Font, it’s less of a training ground and more of an experience. It’s a place where pure mana flows into a pool, they say that people with mystical blood can find greater power there, but I wouldn’t know. I’m from common human stock myself. Well, best let you get to your training. Good luck, Phen.”

“Thanks, I’m sure we’ll be crossing paths soon enough. I plan to test my abilities as soon as I figure them out.”

“I look forward to it.”

***

Mistress Rey sliced Atticus’s arm off at the elbow. Blood spurted on the ground from the wound, joining the blood from his other wounds, and his dragging entrails. Still he had a sliver of health left and he was going to strike back, even if it cost him his life. He mustered the last dregs of his strength, the majority of it long since faded, and struck out with his weapon, the bladed end barely scratching the armor of his foe, but somehow it still managed to draw blood.

“Very good, you’re learning well. Let’s get you healed up and start again. You are so very close to earning my subcore. I beg you to stick around and learn the traits I can teach to go along with it. They are some of the most potent and powerful traits I have ever seen, and I’m not just saying that because they are mine. In our line of work they are some of the most valuable.”

“If I don’t think this was worth it, I will come back here and tear this building down brick by brick and I will rip you limb from limb until I feel like I’ve repaid all the suffering you put me through. I’m trusting that this is all relevant training, but it you are just doing this because you get a kick out of making people suffer I will end you.”

“That’s the spirit, you’re already able to turn your pain into anger, you’re so close. Let’s get you healed up and try one more time for today. I’m confident you’ll get it this time.”

“Please, let’s be done with training today. I don’t know if I can mentally withstand another round.”

“Nonsense, you can’t make any breakthroughs if you don’t push yourself. I believe in you, just one more and if you don’t get it, you can take the whole day off tomorrow.”

Atticus didn’t argue as he had passed out from his wounds.

“Ah, you are at the threshold I wouldn’t push you this hard if I didn’t think you had it in you,” she said as she picked him up with one hand and slung him over her shoulder. “But we need to get you healed so we can unlock this subcore for you. You will thank me for it later.”

She carried him to the Chapel Inn where the best healers, and her former teammate Arakin, could be found. He would understand why she brought him there and see to the wolfkins’ treatment, and best of all he would be quick about it.

Atticus awoke in a cozy bed, his arm had been regrown and his wounds had all been healed. He no longer felt faint, nor did he feel the bone-weary exhaustion he had been feeling previously. At the foot of the bed Mistress Rey was talking quietly with a strange man in robes. With his keen hearing he picked up what they were saying. “Thank you for healing him so quickly, Arakin.”

“Oh, Liz, you know I could never say no to you. I’ve seen you in worse shape than he was. I hope he can find the strength that you have, for his sake and yours. But he seems determined to learn from you. Most of your other students gave up long ago and they are suffering for it. But he’s waking up now. You should see to him.”

“Thank you, Arakin,” She moved to Atticus’s side, “How are you feeling?”

“Well, there is no pain left, but I’m confused by something,” Atticus said.

“What’s that?”

“Since we’re in a house of healing, I assume, why didn’t you get that scratch healed?”

“That’s what you’re confused about, not how did I get here, or where am I? You’re concerned that I didn’t get a small scratch healed?” She laughed, “You’re rather refreshing Atticus of the Wolfkin. Come back to the training hall and I’ll show you why I didn’t get it healed.”

He groaned, but got himself out from the comfortable blankets. The room he was in was decorated with white and gold and very few shadows were cast as it seemed like every piece of furniture and every inch of wall cast a faint light that illuminated the entire room with warm light. It felt peaceful and vaguely nostalgic, like childhood memories. He shrugged the feeling off and said, “Well, I guess let’s get to it before I change my mind and run away screaming from you. You are incredibly scary sometimes, Liz.”

She turned to him, slowly almost casually, but he could smell the anger coming off of her, “You haven’t earned the right to call me that, you foolish boy. You’ll pay for that. But come, we’ve got your training to finish,” she smiled but it was the single scariest smile Atticus had ever seen. Not even when he made his abuelita mad by breaking one of her favorite childhood dolls did she smile at him like that.

“Shit.”

Misery just laughed.