Catharsis

Epoch of Liberty had a simplified spell preparation system compared to old pen and paper role playing games. There was no limit on the number of spells that can be learned by a spellcaster (beyond certain class restrictions). Instead, there were limits on how many they can use at any given time.

From Manco's memory, the game featured over two thousand spells, put in tiers from 0 to 9, which roughly represent their potential power. Each spellcaster had a limited number of spell slots for each tier. At level 25, Manco had five tier-0 slots, three tier-1 slots, and two tier-2 slots, for a total of 10 spells. He could place a low-tiered spell into a high-tiered slot but not vice versa. When in combat, he only had access to the spells that had been placed in these slots, plus the spells embedded in his equipment and items, which didn't count towards this limit. Players could expand the number of spell slots by leveling up or acquiring specific perks and traits.

Spell preparation was part of EoL's meta-game. It was like the old collectible trading card games, where players could swap out the cards in their decks before a duel. Each player had to anticipate the kind of spells their opponents have (based on the playstyle, environment, and the current trends among other factors) then come up with counters, counter-counters, and so on. Most of the time, the best choice wasn't a full-offensive spell list, but a careful balance of offensive, defensive, utility and support spells.

In early levels, since players only had access to a handful of low-tiered spells, which did not differ much in terms of power, this meta-game was often overlooked and most would just pick the strongest offensive spells. In later levels, when each spellcaster could use dozens of spells, fights would become a lot more complex. Things would get even more complicated when each side had more than one spellcasters, or more than two sides were involved.

Of course, in large enough battles, tactics and subtleties would often be thrown out of the window in favor of the most powerful and longest-ranged Area-of-Effect spells. It was the small to medium skirmishes that required the most thoughts from participating spellcasters.

Spells could only be prepared at a designated safe zone, such as a settlement or a camp. There was a 2-hour cooldown for preparations, so each swap had to be carefully considered.

Up until a few hours ago, Manco only had access to three Tier-0 spells (Mana Bolt, Mind Link, and Shadow Bolt) and three Tier-1 spells (Mana Blast, Dark Implosion, and Marshland). Now, his arsenal had expanded to 40-odd spells.

Opening his spellbook, he marveled at the choices and began picking out ten.

In his old life, the character Mahn Li played most often was a Void Assassin, an archetype from Rogue, which was not a spellcaster. All of his spell-like abilities came from equipment.

As he only played spellcasting classes very casually, his knowledge of spells and their relative powers was at only a surface level. In addition, during the next 10 years, there would be countless additions, removals, adjustments and tweakings of over 2000 spells in the game. He had some idea of the best spell combinations for levels 200 onwards. After all, he had spent much of the time dealing with them. However, in the beginning levels, he would have to proceed by trial and error, figure out his own style or adopt what he could recall from memory.

After ten minutes, Manco settled down on his list of spells.

Tier-0: (5/5) 「Mana Bolt」, 「Fire Bolt」, 「Obscuring Fog」, 「Mind Link」, 「Gust」

Tier-1: (3/3) 「Mana Blast」, 「Weakening Touch」, 「Vigil」

Tier-2: (2/2) 「Mana Shield」, 「Silence」

As his immediate objectives were scouting and reconnaissance, he didn't put a focus on offensive spells. Instead, half of his spells were for observing, concealment or retreating.

Satisfied, Manco left the inn and made his way to the tavern called 'The Two-headed Goat.' This was where the group of six logged off.

「Vigil」!

A transparent circle with a diameter of 5 meters appeared around him. He positioned it to completely cover the tavern's entrance, then activated the spell. A slight hum let him know the casting was completed.

The spell created an 'observed' area. When a creature of a specific type entered this area, he would be alerted. At the moment, he could only set the alert parameter to 'player' or 'monsters,' and there was no more information other than 'at least one creature has entered the area.'

Manco exited the southern gate and entered the forest, which he surmised was the group's hunting ground yesterday. Most creatures avoided him, and he either evaded or killed the ones that did not.

"Strange, where are the zombies?" He muttered. One of the quests given by the cleric mentioned zombies attacking the town from this forest. However, he did not find any trace of them. Shrugging, he kept scouting around.

After an hour of jogging around, he had explored an area of roughly six squared kilometers and had a pretty solid grasp of the area's general terrain features. The ground was uneven and covered with bushes, vines, and moss, making it easy to trip and fall. The trees were tall, leafy and stood quite close together, limiting movement speed and visibility.

He briefly considered hiding on the group's path and ambushing them, but soon dismissed that idea. As there were at three casters (witch, cleric, and ranger), they were likely to have some form of detection magic. It would be best to keep a distance to figure out what they were up to first. They might not know about the presence of any other player other than Cordelia, so he should do his best to keep it that way. There were plenty of forest creatures he could use to spy. He used Mind Link several times to re-acquaint himself with the controls.

'Hmm?' He stopped and listened. The forest was unusually still. From ahead, faint noises drifted toward him. Carefully, he made his way forward, and as he got closer, he realized that it was the sound of fighting.

*ROOOARR!*

The roar of a bear seemed to make the air vibrate.

*CRASH!* *Creeeaaak!* *THUMP!*

Something heavy tore into a tree trunk. The tree creaked as it tipped over and fell with a giant thump, shaking the ground.

"Ha!" A distinctly female shout replied, followed by the sounds of claws meeting flesh and the bear's pained growls.

Navigating the uneven ground and dense trees, Manco caught glimpses of movements ahead. As he got closer, he realized that it was not a normal bear, but a Dire Bear. The creature had sustained multiple injuries. Its thick fur was matted with blood. It had its back to him and growled at someone unseen.

After a few more exchanges, the bear's growls grew weaker. Its movements became slower and more sluggish. Eventually, he heard a loud "Thump!" and felt the ground shake as its massive body hit the ground. The place went quiet, save for the sound of someone breathing heavily.

"I know you're there!" the voice, which he had recognized by now, commanded.

He stepped out from the trees into a small clearing. The grass and bushes had all been trampled and covered with splashes of blood. Some trees at the edge of the clearing had been uprooted, others broken in half.

In the middle of the clearing, a Dire Bear lay still in a pool of blood. Standing upright, it should be about 5 meters tall. Although slightly small for its kind, it was still a formidable predator.

Walking to the other side of the bear carcass, he saw a girl leaning against it with her eyes closed, gasping for breath.

It was Cordelia.

"Hey!" he said.

"Hey!" she replied without opening her eyes.

He sat down on a broken tree trunk a few meters from her.

"That's pretty impressive. You did that all by yourself?"

"It was distracted, so I got a few good hits in first!" Opening her eyes, she took out her waterskin and drank greedily from it, then wiped her mouth: "This felt good! I've never moved around this much!"

They were silent for a few moments. Putting her waterskin away, Cordelia took out her dagger and used it to dig out crusted blood from under her fingernails. Manco noticed the air begin to fill with the sounds of birds and insects. They had sensed the danger was over.

"Look,…"

"Listen, I…"

They began speaking at the same time.

"You wanna go first?" He asked.

"Sure… I guess I was a little short with you yesterday. I'm not too happy… out there," she glanced up at the sky, which he took to mean 'outside the game.'

"… My month during beta was crap. So were my first few days after launch. You're the first not-horrible person I met, and probably the only sort-of-friend I've made in this game. So I was a little upset when they, uh...," her voice trailed off.

"I know. I saw it all."

"You did?"

"I did. Hell of a way to cut ties!"

"Haha, it sure is!" She chuckled, "Then I found out that you were…"

"…not entirely honest with you," he finished her sentence, "I guess I should have been more upfront."

"No, it was me. I didn't ask, so you didn't have to tell me," she shook her head, still looking at her hands. "You've helped me plenty, and I barely did anything. Then I threw a fit. I'm…"

"You don't have to apologize, really!" he interrupted, "It was my fault as much as yours. Besides, that wasn't a fit. This…" he said, gesturing at the scene of destruction around the both of them "…is more like a fit!"

"Haha!" despite herself, she giggled. Which, for some reason, made him feel a little better. "It's a pretty good catharsis," she nodded, looking around "nothing like killing a Dire Bear to make you feel better about yourself!"

"Really? Did it help?"

"A little. Talking it out with you helped more." She said, finally looking at him.

"Likewise."

"What do you mean 'likewise'?"

"I was feeling a little bad too. Talking with you helped," he admitted.

"Oh, so you do feel bad, huh?"

"A little, yes."

They sat in companionable silence before Cordelia said.

"You're not gonna ask me about it?"

"About what?"

"My problems with Regina."

"Regina?"

"Ah, crap! I just blurted out her name. Please forget it!" Looking at him guiltily, she added: "You won't forget it, will you?"

"I'll do my best to!" He said sincerely.

"You didn't ask about my problem with her."

"I won't. You don't have to tell me if you don't want to," he shrugged: "In here, we're someone else. No point spoiling it by bringing in our real-life problems."

"That's a nice policy. I should adopt that."

"It worked for me."

"Let's change the topic, then!"

"Okay. Did you find anything worth buying in town?"

"I've checked the market. It's too… overwhelming. Everyone was talking at the same time! There are so many things that it made my head spin! I got light-headed just looking at the lists of buyable items."

"Haha, you need help with that?"

"No, I'll try it myself first," she said firmly. Then looked at him sheepishly: "You got any tips, though?"

"Sure…"