Might as Well

He spent a few hours just holed up in one of the smaller practice rooms, either meditating or simply trying to get used to manipulating the wind mana around him. Which, naturally, netted him a few levels in the skill and allowed him to get familiar with the sensation of controlling it.

Then he took a little break, just sitting in his living room, eating snacks and doom scrolling through the internet, mostly seeing what people were talking about the game, and most importantly, the magic in the game.

It was really fascinating to Sam how the developers managed to create a feeling of casting magic with just a tiny piece of technology. Honestly, it was one of his favorite parts of the game. Watching the magic happen was simply, well, magical.

When he wasn’t logged into Magic Unbound, he tried a few other games that were slowly losing their popularity, and none of them managed to create a magic system that felt as natural as the one created by Future Unknown.

And this fact was also reflected in the online discussion boards. Because while a lot of people complained, rather vocally, that the magic (and skill) system in the game was rather hard to master, nobody said that it was worse than any game that came previously. Just the opposite, really. Every player who managed to unlock Mana praised the system that the developers created.

And as people were won’t to do, the nature of the magic system gave rise to a new market.

Online Magic Control lessons…

Most of them, naturally, were scams, only repeating information that was available on the net. Some of them didn’t even do that. Some were run by people who stumbled on a single secret and wanted to capitalize on it. Only the rare few were helpful for new players or to those who didn’t really have a talent for controlling magic.

Sam played with the idea of setting up some pay-per-view lessons for magic, but he didn’t really have the time. And most importantly, he didn’t want to share his secrets, no matter how much money that would make.

‘Still, maybe later when the top players have somewhat caught up to me…’

He had no illusions about his talents. He may be on the forefront now, but that was only because he had his inherited memories. Those who were true geniuses would catch up to him in no time.

Already, there were videos, pictures, and articles about these ‘geniuses’ as they went about in the game. Most of them were from bystanders either wondering how to replicate their skills or whining to the developers to ban the cheaters. And the rest were the guilds ‘subtly’ advertising their strength.

The rumors were already going around about companies investing in the game, and guilds, thus everybody was aiming to get a slice of that pie.

Sam thought back to the memories he inherited from the other Sam, the dark side of company sponsorship, and the contracts that were only a few steps removed from outright slavery. Sometimes not even that. He couldn’t help but shudder when the memories of the ‘contract’ auctions resurfaced.

Shaking his head, Sam banished those dark thoughts in a box labeled ‘deal with later’ and returned to his peaceful doom scrolling. After all, he wanted to relax a little before venturing into the demonic fracture.

After returning to the game, he made sure to check his equipment, bought a few odds and ends that he would need, played with Lucky (very important), and then left the Magic Tower. Thankfully, the coordinates for the fracture indicated that it wasn't far away. It would only be a short journey thanks to his loyal wolf companion.

The fracture, according to the information he received was in a small ruin, remains of the previous kingdom, left for nature to reclaim. Only, some demons made it their home and when the Fracture happened, they were swallowed by the phenomenon and now they were doomed to repeatedly fight people until somebody figured out how to close fractures that could be visited unlimited times.

Which they did in the far future. Thankfully, it required a rather lengthy ritual with very expensive ingredients, so people rarely used them. It was much more economical to take over the area from their enemy and make use of the fracture themselves.

However, there were some fractures that contained monsters or beings that dropped loot that was abhorred by every sentient being, thus kingdoms made it a priority to destroy those.

Sam was pretty sure that this fracture would also be on the list if people knew that the fractures could be destroyed.

Leaving the city was not an easy task. Every day even more players were heading into the city, either trying their luck with finding a life-changing quest or trying to join any of the hundreds of guilds who set up camp in the newest district as nobody had managed to get a property anywhere in the city yet.

After he managed to fight through the crowds, he simply headed away from the city with a leisurely walk. This close to the city, there were just too many people paying attention. He wasn’t that famous, but still, a lot of people knew about Lucky, who wasn’t exactly inconspicuous.

Thus, he spent some time darting between groups of people, using his mask to change faces before he felt like nobody would notice him leaving the road for the forest.

Then, just to satisfy his paranoia, he moved randomly around the forest for a while before he was satisfied and summoned Lucky.

The giant wolf emerged from his shadow with a wolfish grin on his face.

“Ready, Lucky?”

“Wuff!”

“All right!” he jumped on his back and pointed in the general direction of the ruins he was heading to. “That way, my friend!”

The wolf let out another bark, and they were off.

Surprisingly, they weren’t attacked even once. They simply sped through the greenery, occasionally stopping for Lucky to take a break, drink and refresh himself, while Sam kept an eye on the surroundings.

Even without anything slowing them down, the sun was already going down, painting the world in hues of orange and red by the time they arrived.

The ruins themselves were unremarkable. They were, as all ruins are, old and covered by foliage and the detritus of the passage of time.

What was once a mighty castle was now nothing more than a crumbling tower surrounded by a foundation covered by moss and a wall that was still somehow standing in a few places.

To Sam’s surprise, there was nobody there, even though the disgusting mana of the fracture could be felt from rather far away by anybody who was moderately talented at sensing mana.

He got off Lucky, who instead of returning to his shadow, began to sniff around curiously while occasionally glancing at Sam. He just waved the wolf away to enjoy the ruins as he didn’t really sense any other mana signature aside from the portal and a very faint signature behind him in the trees.

‘Probably my proctor…’ he mused while pointedly ignoring the presence. ‘It would probably be bad form to point them out…’

Instead, he did a last check of his equipment and armor, unsheathed Moonlight, and began walking toward the crumbling tower that looked like it would come down any second. Inside, as he expected, Sam found crumbling stairs and even more trash. The only thing that stood out was the hole in the ground.

Walking closer, he noticed that there were remains of rotted wood that may have been stairs once upon a time.

“Ugh, basements…” he grumbled under his breath before turning his head toward where the hole was on the tower wall and exclaiming. “Lucky! Come on, we’re starting!”

There was a cheery bark in response, and a few seconds later, Lucky came bounding through the hole, stopping right next to Sam with his tail wagging happily.

“All right, Lucky! We need to be very careful from here on. So, make sure to follow me very closely, okay?”

The wolf nodded, his intelligent eyes shining brightly. Sam let out a sigh and simply jumped down. A cushion of wind mana caught him while Lucky simply re-emerged from his shadow. Sam could have sworn that the wolf sent him a cheeky grin.

Sword held aloft, he began walking forward, keeping both his eyes and senses alert for everything. After a few steps, the light from the outside began to wane, so he simply conjured a Light Ball and continued to advance further.

It took a few minutes to navigate around the fallen ceilings and other debris to reach the part of the basement where the portal was swirling.

The portal itself was made of black light that to his magical senses dripped miasma and mana so caustic that it was almost abhorrent.

“Well, if that’s not demonic, I’m gonna eat my hat…” he murmured as he observed the fracture, ignoring the fact that he had no hats.

Stepping closer, the expected window immediately appeared.

[Fracture: Ruined Tower Basement]

[Once a mighty castle with towers reaching into the sky, now a crumbling ruin in the middle of the wilderness. Left to the ravages of time, they become home to those who were outcasts from society or to those who wished to hide themselves. Reliable intel states that the current inhabitants are demons.]

[Time Limit: A week]

[Charges: Unlimited]

“Well, here goes nothing…” he exclaimed, then stepped forward, shuddering as the disgusting mana made contact with his own.

After enduring the travel through the portal, he found himself in the same basement he left, only the walls weren't crumbling messes, there was no moss-covered debris and the floor didn’t have layers of dust covering it.

The portal itself was positioned in a way that he couldn’t go the way he came in, thus leaving him only one route to continue.

Where outside of the portal was a big heap of stonework, here there was an archway leading deeper underground while torches on the wall cast dancing shadows on the walls.

Still holding his sword before himself in a stance that would allow him to react instantly, he began circulating his mana, first making sure that his Mana Shield was functioning properly, then enveloping the sword in a layer of cutting wind, ready to be unleashed, while Lucky waited patiently behind him.

Sam began his journey forward without a word, his companion following along. After stepping through the archway, there were a few yards of narrow corridor which expanded into a much roomier corridor, leaving enough space that three of him could walk shoulder by shoulder.

The stonework was pristine, and the torches looked like they were put there only a few minutes ago.

The entire thing created an environment that set Sam’s teeth on edge. Coupled with the disgusting mana wafting around, he could only tense his muscles, ready for anything as he walked forward.

He didn’t have to wait long. From a small alcove, covered in shadows that the light from the torches didn’t reach, a being emerged, causing Lucky to growl menacingly while Sam tensed even further.

However, the moment the being stepped into the flickering light, he relaxed slightly.

It was just a gremlin. A demonic gremlin, based on the mana coming from it, but it was still just a gremlin. If Sam had to describe it, then he would say that somebody took Gollum, gave him a head-to-toe shave, a can of energy drink, a few lines of hard drugs, and dipped him into black paint.

A basic unit for the demonic forces. Easy to deal with when alone, but much harder when there were multiple ones attacking him. And they were never alone.

The universe chose that moment to make a point, and the gremlin opened his mouth, filled with yellow shark-like teeth, and let out a screech that echoed around the corridor. To Sam’s consternation, after the echo died down, another shriek sounded from the distance. Then another and another.

Sam scowled and, with a swing of his sword, cut the disgusting little creature down, interrupting the annoying shrieking.

He didn’t even have time to check the notification or if it dropped anything as he could hear the clattering of uneven claws and nails on the stonework, heading straight for him.

“Lucky! Prepare yourself!”

His companion acknowledged the order with a bark and jumped straight at the nearest shadow, vanishing.

Sam didn’t move, just took up his familiar stance, his body turned sideways, sword facing his enemy, and began gathering wind mana. The approaching group of gremlins would be the perfect medium to practice his new skill on.

As the wind began swirling around him, Sam couldn’t help but chuckle.

“Man, I love this game…”

Then the next second, the corridor was full of shrieking and clawing gremlins that wanted nothing more than to tear him into small pieces to eat, or ritualistically sacrifice for their gods. One never knew with demons…

He just let out a calm breath and began moving…