(c) 2007 - 2008 by LFox
A World Apart
Chapter 09: Vacation is here, let's learn magic

The gang is in one of their classrooms at school.  Nathan is sitting on a chair with his mobile on with Elwyn on screen and the girls are leaning over his shoulders.

Nathan sighs.  “I wish we didn’t have classes.  I’d rather go straight to Eden today”

“Honestly it’s the last day before vacation” says Elisha.

“Still”

“Is school that boring?” asks Elwyn.

“Mmm, not so much boring it’s just…I’d rather be doing stuff with you”

A female student walking past notices Elwyn displayed on the phone so she goes over to them for a closer look.  “What’s that?  Some kind of movie?”

Hearing her they all turn to look at her.  Jessica smiles.  “She’s a friend of ours”

The girl looks at them curiously.  “Hmmm?  But she’s an elf”

“She’s an NPC in Eden” says Elisha.

The girl’s eyes go wide.  “Wow really?”

Hearing the commotion other students start gathering around to take a look themselves.

Elwyn turns a little pale seeing all the people gathering around.  “Haa am I that interesting?”

“I guess so” says Nathan.

Jessica turns to the crowd and waves her arms around.  “Alright shows over folks we’re trying to talk to a friend here”

The students around quickly disperse and start talking amongst themselves about it as they walk off.  On the screen Elwyn suddenly smiles at them.

“What are you smiling about?” asks Nathan.

Elwyn’s smile deepens.  “I just thought of something we can do when you guys get to Eden”

Nathan looks at her surprised.  “Really?  What?”

Elwyn grins mischievously.  “Not telling”

Jessica pouts.  “Mmm no fair”

“You’re really not gonna tell us?” asks Nathan.

“You’ll have to come here to find out” says Elwyn.

Nathan sighs.  “Just another reason why I want to go to Eden instead of staying here”

Suddenly their Russian math teacher walks in.  “Everyone take your seats”

“We gotta go, we’ll see you this afternoon” says Nathan.

Elwyn waves.  “Bye”

Nathan quickly puts his mobile away and everyone quickly takes their seats.  The teacher pushes his glasses back in place and taps the corner of the board making it light up with a bunch of mathematics problems.

He looks over the class intently for a moment.  “I know it’s the last day but I ask everyone that you concentrate.  I don’t wish to stay after school giving useless tutoring lessons.  We all have things to do”

In the afternoon Nathan and Elisha are waiting by their motorbikes patiently in the parking lot.

“So what are you doing for summer vacation?” asks Elisha.

“I’m going to be using my time on Eden, I want to get a lot stronger” says Nathan.

Elisha looks at him confused.  “You don’t have some family trip to go on?”

Nathan shakes his head.  “Nope, believe it or not my mum got so into playing Eden that she’s now planning to use summer vacation to get some more play time in.  What about you?”

“Like always I can do as I please so I plan to spend my time in Eden”

Jessica suddenly comes running over to them with her school bag in her hand.  She stops in front of them and pants for breath.  “Sorry, sorry I’m late”

“What are you doing for summer vacation?” asks Nathan.

“Mmm well we usually go on the family trip but this time when I asked my mum about it she said she forgot.  She’s been so busy playing Eden that she, she just forgot about it.  Now it’s too late to book anything”

“Well I guess I’m not the only one”

“So how are you spending your vacation time?” asks Elisha.

Jessica makes a fist in front of herself and puts on a stern expression.  “In Eden, I wanta get really strong”

“Well I guess we can all go together then” says Nathan.

Jessica looks at them blankly.  “You two don’t have family trips?”

Nathan shakes his head.

“I’ve only ever had a family trip when my family gets dragged along with either of yours” says Elisha sternly.

Jessica turns a little pale and scratches her face with a finger.  “Oh, yeah”

Sometime later the three of them appear in Eden in the streets of Ralion one after another in front of Elwyn as they log in.

Elwyn smiles warmly and waves.  “Hi.  I’ll teleport us to a more quiet area so we don’t get bothered”

A moment later the four of them appear by the river between Ralion and Salandee.

Jessica stares at Elwyn intently.  “So, what was it you thought we could do?”

Elwyn smiles.  “Magic”

Jessica looks at her confused.  “Huh?”

“You guys don’t know how to do any magic right?”

Nathan nods.  “Yeah that’s right”

“How about I teach you how today?” says Elwyn.

They all look at her blankly in surprise.

“You’re going to teach us how to do magic?” asks Elisha.

Elwyn looks at them with a worried expression.  “Mmm, no good?”

Nathan rubs the back of his head.  “No no, it’s, it’s just surprising that’s all”

Jessica starts bouncing up and down in the air excitedly.  “Teach me, teach me”

“Well first you gotta calm down” says Elwyn.

Jessica stops bouncing and pouts with her arms folded.  “I can’t after you making us wait all day”

A few minutes later the three of them are sitting side by side on the grass with Elwyn across from them.

Elwyn looks over them in turn quickly.  “Alright  everybody close your eyes and relax”.  They quickly do as their told.  “Now I want you to breath slowly and calmly.  Listen to your surroundings, listen to your body.  You should be able to feel a little flicker, a flame, a small spark inside yourself.  Concentrate on that feeling.  Once you’re sure you can feel it try to move it, push it around, stretch it, pull it apart.  Once you can do that push it through your hands, push the energy into your hands and through your palms to form a light between your hands”

Jessica opens her eyes and looks at Elwyn somewhat annoyed.  “That all sounds easy but common, I don’t feel anything”

“Don’t worry you will.  It’s not going to go straight away.  You might not even be able to do it today or tomorrow or even a week from now.  Finding your magical energy is the hardest step in learning magic and it can take weeks to learn how to mold it for some even months”

“Like this?” says Nathan.

They all turn to look at him.  Between his hands is a small blue ball of energy which is glowing brightly.

Elwyn looks at him surprised.  “Uh, that, that was much quicker than I expected”

Jessica glares at him angrily.  “Hey no fair you cheated”

Nathan smiles.  “Sorry so say but you can’t exactly cheat with this.  We practice this kind of meditation with our Kendo all the time.  You should be able to do it too if you just concentrate a bit”

Jessica stares at him not looking very convinced.  “Mmm, okay”.  Jessica closes her eyes and starts concentrating really hard.

Nathan holds out a hand toward her.  “Hey, hey not so much.  Calm down and relax a bit”

Jessica sighs.

Meanwhile Elisha concentrates calmly as the wind blows her hair gently.  After several minutes she holds her hands out in front of her and a small blue light sparks every few seconds.  As she continues concentrating the energy slowly turns into a small blue ball.  Elwyn notices the energy between Elisha’s hands and looks at her in surprise.

“Wow you guys are so quick” says Elisha.

Nathan and Jessica turn to look.

“Hey no fair.  Why am I the only one who can’t do it?” yells Jessica.

Elisha smirks.  “You’re trying too hard”

Jessica stares at her blankly.

Nathan clicks his fingers getting her attention.  “Hands flat” says Nathan.  Jessica silently follows his command.  “Now relax, try to concentrate but not too much”.  Jessica goes deep in concentration again.  Nathan knocks her on the head.  “That’s too much.  Relax, just think that you’re sitting in the park or something.  You don’t need to do anything”.  Jessica relaxes more.  “Now picture energy flowing to your hands from the rest of your body”.  After several minutes a tiny blue flicker appears between her hands and slowly grows making Nathan smile.  “Open your eyes”

Jessica opens her eyes and looks down then smiles.  “I, I did it, I did it”.  The ball of energy suddenly fades away.  Jessica looks at her hands.  “Hey where’d it go”.  She looks at Elwyn.  “Didn’t I do it right?”

Elwyn smiles.  “You just lost your concentration so it disappeared”

Jessica stares at Elwyn.  “Do you need to do this every time?  Even when you cast spells?”.  Elwyn nods making Jessica turn pale.  “How the hell can you remain so calm and relaxed when you got a massive beast about to tear your head off?”

Elwyn smiles.  “Through lots and lots of practice.  Once you get used to using your magicka you don’t even realize you do it.  Since all three of you can bring it out your magicka why don’t I teach you a simple spell?”

Jessica raises her hand.  “Oo oo oo, teach me teleportation”

Elisha whacks her across the back of the head.  Jessica groans out and quickly holds her head in pain.

Elisha glares at her angrily.  “She said a simple spell idiot.  Teleportation is a high level spell and if you mess it up you’ll be digging half your body out of a rock”.  She turns to Elwyn.  “Right?”

Elwyn turns a little pale.  “Uh well, teleportation is kind of dangerous at first.  It’s actually best to be practiced in a large empty field.  How about for now I teach you telekinesis?”

Nathan looks at her confused.  “Isn’t telekinesis a high level spell?”

Elwyn shakes her head.  “No it really depends how you use it.  The way I use it is pretty advanced but for just moving a tiny pebble or rock it’s actually good practice for beginners”

“Alright let’s do that then”

Elwyn holds a hand out in front of her and blue mist slowly pours out of her hand to the ground.  The mist quickly freezes over making up a small table made entirely of ice.  She glances around then focuses on the river and holds out her hand towards it.  Three tiny rocks quickly float over from the riverside and land in her hand.  She moves her hand over to the table and drops a stone in front of each of them.

Elwyn smiles.  “Okay you each have your own rock.  Now the aim here is just to move the rock around on the table okay?”

Jessica pouts.  “Sounds kind of boring”

Elisha turns and yells at her.  “Do you want to learn magic or not?”

Jessica cowers and turns pale.  “I only said it sounds boring”

Elisha relaxes back with her arms folded looking annoyed.  “Honestly you have to start somewhere”

Nathan ignores them and focuses on Elwyn.  “So how’s this work?”

Elwyn looks over them quickly to make sure their paying attention.  “First I’ll explain to you the three different ways to cast a spell.  First there’s by voice.  You speak the words for a spell and aim it with your hands.  Next is hand gestures you move your hands in specific motions to cast a spell.  Thirdly is using your mind.  Generally you say the spell in your head and aim with your eyes.  But when you get really good all you really need to do is think of the spell you want to cast and it’ll happen instantly.  The most common out of all of these though is to say spells in your head and use your hands to help aim and focus your magicka which is generally what I use

Okay now for telekinesis first you hold out your hand towards the rock then channel the magicka into your hand.  Then you say the words”.  Elwyn speaks almost a dozen Elvish words next.  “To cast the spell.  After that you need to focus magicka at the rock and push or pull it along”

Jessica stares at her seeming a bit disappointed.  “Sounds kind of complicated for a beginner spell”

“I suppose but all spells work like that.  The main thing here is to get control of your magicka so you can focus it where you want and at the strength you want.  If you use too much the rock will be knocked away, if you use too little you won’t move it at all.  Now give it a try”

One by one they hold a hand out in front of them each over their own rock.  After several moments they each start speaking the Elvish words for the spell.  After several moments of concentrating none of the rocks move.  Seeing their not getting anywhere Elisha ends up pulling her hand away.  Seeing her do it Nathan and Jessica quickly do the same.

“When do you need to respeak the words for a spell if it doesn’t work?” asks Elisha.

Elwyn puts a finger to her chin and goes into thought.  “Mmm, it depends on the situation but I suppose like this if you don’t get it after about thirty seconds you should probably stop, refocus your magicka and say the words again”

Jessica sighs while looking depressed.  “This isn’t exactly easy”

“Well nobody said it would be” says Nathan.

Elwyn smiles.  “Don’t get discouraged just try again”

They all hold their hands out again over the rocks and speak the words.  After several moments Jessica’s rock is suddenly knocked off the table like a bullet.  Seeing it Nathan and Elisha stop to watch in surprise.  Elwyn quickly turns to it and holds out her hand.  The rock pauses in mid air then slowly flies back to her and lands in her hand.  She drops it on the table and looks at Jessica.

“That was, way too hard” says Elwyn.

Jessica turns a little pale.  “Woops”

“It’s okay just try it again this time try not to put so much magicka into it”

Once again they put their hands out over the rocks and speak the words.  Jessica concentrates again and suddenly her rock flies off like a bullet again.  This time however Elwyn isn’t quick enough to grab it.

Out in the distance in the trees a woman’s voice yells out.  “OWE, what the hell was that?”

“Oh crap sounds like that hit someone” says Nathan.

“Odd how you managed to do worse after being told to tone it down” says Elisha.

Jessica glares at her a moment then gets up and runs off.  “Come on we better see what happened”

They quickly follow Jessica and come to a stop a short distance in the forest.  In front of them they find a dark elf woman with long black hair down to her waist with a small two foot long wooden scepter in her hand.   Her clothes are a pair of black four inch high heels, a skimpy pair of black panties and a skimpy little black bra like top which can barely contain her large breasts.

In front of her floating in the air is a transparent aqua colored flat console panel.  She taps something into the console and the staff in her hands quickly changes from the piece of junk that it is to a glorious white six foot long S grade staff with a white sphere on the top.

Jessica’s eyes go wide seeing the staff change.  “Wow, you’re a world keeper are you?”

The woman turns and looks at them seeming surprised and a little uneasy at the same time.  “Uh, yeah.  I didn’t know anyone was around this area”

Jessica turns a little pale.  “Yeah, neither did we, sorry about the rock”

The woman turns a little pale and waves a hand in front of her.  “Uh, it’s fine”

Suddenly a shade in the form of a female human appears behind the dark elf woman in the air.  She has a short blond hair cut in a boyish style with dark piercing yellow eyes.  For her clothes she has black, gold and white plated armor.  On her feet she has a set of heavy plate boots covered in inch long spikes that go up to her knees.  On her hands she has heavy plate gauntlets covered in inch long spikes just like her boots.  Around her waist she has a heavy plate pair of shorts and her top is a tight plate breast plate with large shoulder pads.  On her back she has a heavy white cape.  On her ears she has several gold earrings on the bottom and top of her ears, she also has several gold and silver rings adorned with gems on her fingers.

The woman smirks.  “Gotcha”

With that she slams her spike covered fist into the side of the dark elf woman’s face.  She flies like a rocket a good twenty feet before slamming into a tree causing her bones to almost break from the sheer force.  The dark elf woman hits the ground and spits up a mouthful of blood.  The human woman turns her neck to the side causing the bones to crack loudly before walking toward the dark elf.

Jessica stares at the human woman with wide eyes.  “What the hell are you doing?”

The shade stops and glares at Jessica.  “My job, stay out of it”

With that she continues walking toward the dark elf woman.  Seeing she isn’t stopping Jessica runs at her.

Nathan raises a hand and yells out.  “Don’t”

It’s too late though as Jessica runs face first into a heavy magic shield causing her to be blown away.

The dark elf woman stands up and wipes the blood from her mouth.  “Lucky shot”

The shade smiles mischievously at her.

Elwyn looks at Nathan and Elisha.  “Shouldn’t we do something?”

Elisha puts her hands together.  “I summon a world keeper for pker reasons”

The shade suddenly turns to black mist which rushes towards the dark elf woman.  The dark elf is lifted into the air by the mist and shade appears holding her up by the throat with a single hand.

“Logout” says the dark elf woman.  She looks around fearfully.  “What the hell?”

The shade smirks at her.  “You’re not going anywhere.  You’re in MY world now”

The dark elf woman’s eyes go wide and she looks at her fearfully.  “Logout, logout, LOGOUT GOD DAMNIT”

Suddenly Death herself appears next to the gang with a rather annoyed look on her face.  “What the hells going on here I got a message saying someone was trying to pk”

“She’s going to kill her, stop her” says Jessica.

Death looks over at shade seeming rather annoyed.  “Are you causing trouble again?”

The shade turns to her with a cold glare.  “Don’t interfere Kira.  I’m just doing my job”

Death looks at her skeptically.  “Oh?  What did she do?”

The shade smirks.  “She was modifying her equipment”

Death stares at her blankly.  “Hmm is that so?”.  She waves a hand in the air.  “Well go on then do as you wish”

The shade grins and disappears in a rush of black mist with the dark elf woman.

“You’re not going to stop her?” asks Nathan.

Death turns to them with a cold glare.  “We don’t tolerate hackers in Eden”

“Just who was that woman?” asks Elisha.

“Hem?  You mean the blond?”.  Elisha nods.  “She’s a protection program”

Elisha’s eyes go wide.  “Protection program?  You mean an actual computer protection program?”

Death nods.  “That’s right.  She lives inside Eden and the supercomputer scanning the system for any unauthorized modifications.  When she finds a hacker she kills them”

Jessica glares at her angrily.  “You just let her run wild like that?”

Death glares back at her.  “She’s not running wild.  I told you we don’t tolerate pkers or hackers”

Jessica is about to open her mouth to say something but with the look on Death’s face she decides not to push the issue further.

“Are there other programs like her?” asks Elisha.

Death turns to Elisha.  “Not that it’s any of your business but yes.  We have all sorts of programs such as a firewall, virus scanner, myself and a couple of other things”

Elisha’s eyes go wide.  “YOU?  You’re a program?”

Death nods with almost a smug look.  “That’s right.  You didn’t actually think a human could watch over an area that stretches millions of miles did you?”

Elisha lowers her gaze as she thinks about it.  “I guess not”

“I’ve been around since the alpha.  Most if not all programs have a presence inside Eden like a normal player.  It makes them easier to handle and gives them something to do when their not busy.  Of course a normal player would find it near impossible to kill one of them.  Do yourself a favor and try to not piss them or me off...  By the way we're meeting way too often.  You four should try to stay out of trouble for once.

With that Death phases out of existence.

Jessica grumbles and clenches a fist.  “Ooo it pisses me off how they run this place sometimes”

“Jess stop and think a moment does it really seem all that different to the real world?” asks Nathan.

Elisha smirks.  “Not even the slightest.  If anything their actually a bit more lenient in here.  Well let’s get back to learning magic”.  Elisha grins.  “I can’t wait to see what Jess’s next shot hits”

Jessica glares at her angrily.  “Oh ha ha, at least I can move the damn thing unlike some people”

Elisha glares back at her.  “That’s only because someone keeps breaking my concentration by launching her rock off at things”

Elwyn sighs heavily and shakes her head.  “Maybe this wasn’t the greatest idea after all”

Nathan smiles.  “Don’t worry it’s fine”

To be Continued

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