Ch 9- Magic

Yuki took charge and stepped before Glacé. "Congratulations on earning the tribes acknowledgement. Unless you forsake or betray any of us the tribe will provide support and knowledge to you".

'Did I just get an NPC plug-in?'. Glacé thought somewhat blankly.

"Does every race have such an odd acknowledgement ritual?".

"No. Only special races have something called 'joint support and acknowledgement'. If you had failed learning to fly you would have received the opposite affect. You would be scorned and ejected from the sanctuary, never able to enter the winged unicorns domain".

Cold sweat dripped down Glacés back 'what kind of magical cult is this?'.

Staring at the seemingly peaceful unicorns, Glacé shivered 'shouldn't a game be more player friendly? Why does it seem more complex than the hierarchies of some interstellar races? Does Gaia Tech not care if people quit because of how difficult and stiff the game is?'

Glacé could help but marvel at the complex interworkings of the game but also felt a bit concerned about how such a game would be received by the public.

"Alright!". Yuki clapped his hands together, successfully catching Glacé's attention.

"This here is Trishe ". Yuki placed his hands on the shoulders of a woman with long pink hair and warm eyes.

"She'll be taking over your beginner lessons until you're qualified to leave".

"Got it! So what's next then?".

"Magic and common sense lessons". Trishe spoke softly. "First read the magic book you received as an award and practice what it says. Second, catch".

Glacé stared stupidly as a book hit him straight on his muzzle, in turn, he shook his head dizzily and let out a painful neigh. He hatefully stared at the book on the ground and stomped his hoof hard, taking the book into his inventory.

"That book covers every single race that exists in our world and lists their most common traits and skills. If you want to live longer, I suggest you read and memorize it cover to cover".

*Ding*- New task unlocked; open the 'Quest' tab to see details'

"I'll check in on your from time to time, don't bother me if it's not necessary".

Although she spoke softly and seemed sweet Glacé instinctively felt fearful of this unicorn and thus responded to her over-enthusiastically.

"Understood! I'll get right to it!". Glacé turned around and galloped to his dilapidated house as if his tail was on fire. After closing the door he sat down dejectedly 'this game isn't quite going how I expected. Looks? Wrong. Class? Also wrong. Race? Still Questionable. AI's? Very impressive but intimidating. Ugh, what am I even supposed to do in a game like this?'

Glacé hung his head dejectedly and after lamenting at his own misfortune for a bit, sullenly pulled out the magic book and started studying.

Glacé only took two hours to finish reading through every spell in the book and thought it was time to try one out now. 'Let's start with something easy' Glacé softly chanted a water spell, the next moment a rushing stream of water flowed from the tip of his horn and broke down his front door. Glacé stared at the destruction he caused at a loss.

*Ding!*- Acquired spell 'Water Control' (please see skill tab for details).

Receiving the notification Glacé hurriedly opened his skill tab and read the skill description.

"Water control (upgradeable)- +50 Damage: 20% possibility to stun target

Skill description- Say the chant and 2000 PSI of water will discharge towards your target. As the player uses the skill there is potential to upgrade and boost damage and control. Please work hard and do your part to keep the world a cleaner place!".

'Why are the descriptions always so weird?'.

Although criticizing the Developer's sense of propriety and taste, Glacé was rather ecstatic that he finally had a way to attack enemies. After learning the water spell Glacé tried out spell after spell and came to realize he couldn't learn them all. Some of them, his level was too low, and some had chants so long he'd get tongue-tied. In the end, he had learned six spells and pushed him past level 8 straight to level nine. Thankfully his spells were somewhat spread in ability, he had three attack spells (including the water one) an invisibility spell, a stun enemy movement spell and a spell for a silver shield. 'As it stands i'm well rounded enough to hold my own once I Leave the sanctuary'.

'Wow learning and practicing magic reaps a lot of experience'. Glacé had just received the notification for completing his magic learning quest and was quite pleased as he stared at the number '9' above his avatar. 'Now all that's left is to read the book about races'.

Glacé laid on his pile of hay and slowly read about all the races in this world.

'Dragons, phoenixes, Elves, Werebeasts, spirits, Druids, Sirens, demons, Titans, angels....'

There were hundreds of small sub-races and tribes, Glacé felt dizzy as he read through them all. As he read the more upset he became 'there are so many badass races! Where the heck is my race in this book?'.

Glacé hurriedly flipped through the pages until he reach the winged unicorn page "dazzling white horse, with wings and a horn. Pure, and gentle creatures blessed with nature's love and goodness. The absolute epitome of beauty, powerful in magic, noble, and prideful. They love pure maidens, if you encounter one should be wary of being either spirited or kicked away".

Glacé kicked and stomped the book in a fit of anger 'so the world sees us as beautiful, virgin stealing magical fruitcakes? Thankfully it doesn't mention the benefits of our flesh, but what it does mention isn't that great either'.

"Main brain! Can you hear me?". Glacé yelled hysterically up to the ceiling of the house.

"This is wrong! My race is wrong! How am I anything like these shiny horses? Change me to something else, anything else, you damn cheat!".

Glacé finally spoke his frustrations and misgivings about the main brain out loud and was cursing out hysterically. Unbeknownst to Glacé a unique guest just landed in the sanctuary and could hear all the nonsense he was spewing.

Art came to check up on his six special players and see how each was adapting to the game. He had just landed when he heard Glacé raving against his race and the main brain. Art slightly narrowed his golden eyes and silently crept to the broken door of Glacés house.

"Broken game!". Unaware of the presence standing on the threshold of his house Glacé continued to scold and stomp his hooves in grief. 'This isn't what I signed up for' (even though it totally was). After letting all his frustrations out he sat his two hind legs on the ground and lowered his head down dejectedly.

Art watched the show and after a moment spat a small fireball out, hitting Glacé on the shoulder.

"Ahhhh!". Glacé felt his skin burn and saw a -10 health notification float above him. he vigilantly looked around and saw a large golden bird standing where his door used to be.

"A Pheonix?".

Art skillfully changed to his human form and stared down at Glacé "that's right, I came to see how the first players were adapting. I didn't expect to hear my game being cursed out so fervently though upon arrival. Any other dissatisfactions you'd like to share?".

Glacé froze at the man's words and stared at him 'the face…. Looks somewhat familiar… who was it?'.

"Ah! The CEO of Gaia Tech?". Art gave a curt nod in acknowledgment. Glacé looked at him sheepishly and neighed nervously.

"I don't mean that Lichen is a bad game or anything, I just really feel that I didn't fit in my assigned race". Art watched his skillful change from a cursing maniac to a shy maiden and thought blankly 'maybe a paper tiger would be a fitting race for you'.

"Do you really think the Main brain would make analytical mistakes?".

Glacé felt stumped at Arts' words 'of course not' but he didn't want to admit it "It could have been toying with me for amusement? Yuki; my first NPC teacher would laugh at my mistakes and likes to pick on me. Can't the main brain be the same? Finding it amusing to tease players in the game it controls?".

Art wrinkled his brows and stared at Glacé wordlessly, which made the other fidget in discomfort. "There are no pranks or mistakes, this is what suited you most and that's it, learn well and play seriously. You may end up really liking what the main brain dictated for you, so stop complaining and game seriously. Goodbye".

Art left these words, changed back to his mythical form, and flew away.

"Haah, scared me half to death". Typically if Glacé had such a wonderful opportunity to meet the man who owns and directs all his favorite games; he'd be ecstatic. However given the awkward situation Glacé wanted nothing more than to curl into a ball and die in shame. Glacé laid down 'let's just forget what happened and do as Mr. CEO said. After the exciting and tiring day Glacé soon fell asleep for the first time since entering the game.