Dan sat up screaming in pain until a few seconds later he realized he felt nothing. He looked down and realized instead of the grassy floor of the forest around him he was in some weird dim room with a massive blue of… something floating in the middle.

Standing up he moved closer to get a better look. Up close he noticed just how fast this ball was spinning. Not only that it was streaked with red throughout it. Walking around it he noticed no obvious way of interacting with it and his notifications and skill page didn’t seem to be working properly. Thinking of no other options Dan decided to reach his hand out and try to push the ball the other way.

The moment his hand touched it he was violently thrown backwards against the wall and a small amount of his mana and health were drained. Standing up again Dan shook his head and tried to focus as a system message popped up in front of him.

Attention: You are attempting to collect your mana by physically touching it. Doing so again could have dire consequences. Your guide will lose a skill level in Coalescence for not telling you to do so. _Error_ No guide found for first attempt at coalescence. _Error_: Non-mana detected. Please wait, Issue Elevated.

At this point Dan was freaking out. He had no clue what he had done and was just about ready to log out in case some admin decided he was cheating or hacking and decided to ban him. Shifting from foot to foot he finally decided to bite the bullet and log in tomorrow. Right as he hit log out though he was given another notification.

Warning: Logging off will lock off access to your mana core. Would you like to log off? Yes / No

What? No of course not! He had no idea what a Mana Core was but surely it was important for a mage like himeself! Dan could not think of anything else to do but wait. Sighing, he plopped himself on the ground and began to quiet his mind. If this really were his mana core perhaps he could gain some extra skills by doing so. He closed his eyes and started trying to imagine his body connecting with the ball. Wait, this was part of his body, right? So what was he right now? Perhaps his soul exploring his body? No, don’t get distracted. Keep focusing.

Slowly he felt the core tighten, each rotation causing it to shrink while the raw power slowly became more accessible. The smaller sphere making his mana less scattered. Though his body also felt strange. As if his blood were becoming less polluted and travelling through his body more efficiently. Finally when he struggled to pack the ball more tightly then it could be he sat back panting.

Skill gained: Coalescence. _Error_ Skill not applicable. Blood used as component. Flagging issue as urgent.

That almost decided it for Dan. He had really broke the game this time. He didn’t even think he was doing anything wrong. And what was that? He had been left in there for almost an hour because someone decided that his issue wasn’t urgent? Opening his eyes he finally saw his Core rapidly spinning, though not as much blue was visible. It was as if any gaps in the blue were filled with red. Similar to rain filling the cracks of a sidewalk. It was an unnerving thought as the red looked quite a bit like blood.

What now? Oh… hmmm… strange. It seems you’ve unlocked Coalescence… no access to your core. Why is this. Other necromancers have come close to death at this point by using their powers stupidly like yourself. I will let you know when I figure out why. For now sit tight and don’t try to do anything else stupid. I already have had to deal with someone try to turn his feet into koi fish today.

Dan, terrified by the notification, realized he wasn’t just dealing with some run of the mill admin, this had to be the system itself. He couldn’t quite describe how he knew but the sheer presence was a good indicator, perhaps the rumours of there being no GMs or Admins had been true. The game was completely run by an incredibly advanced AI. How could something like that be possible? Maybe in another 100 years but surely they needed people to watch the AI for mistakes it made. Dan let his thoughts take over. He’d rather not disobey the AI lest it decide to punish him.

Exactly ten minutes later he was informed of his strange situation.

It seems that you were level 1 when you used this. Generally you are not meant to revive anything until you gain the proper skills to channel your magic efficiently. Obviously other foolish people with the Necromancer class have done this as well and didn’t end up in their core, but the difference being that you were killed by a rabbit, for the second time actually, right as you finished your spell. Not only did you finish your spell, your energy was released at the same moment, and since this spell used both health and blood it altered your core. For now I will give you an altered Coalescence skill and a stern warning. As well as a fair shot at learning Mana Manipulation without a guide. Don’t push me more than you have.

Skill gained: Blooded Coalescence (Novice I). By combining your blood and mana in an orderly form your skills using both are now more efficient. +.5n spell efficiency and health/mana regen per skill level where n = Skill Level. Increase your wisdom to Coalesce your health and mana more. (Maximum 33% efficiency.)

Quest gained: Rabbit Hunter: The same rabbit has humiliated you not only once, but twice. Killing you at the height of your Bunny reviving power! Make this rabbit know who the true master of the woods is within 3 days! Reward: Variable. Failure: Title gained - Bunny Bumper. Yes / No

Bunny Bumper: A title that is always shown as active and cannot be removed. All Rabbits will constantly attack you. Doing 1n damage per hit where n = Level. When you have avoided Rabbits for three or more days a Reaper Rabbit will be sent to hunt you with a level equal to twice your highest stat.

NO! Absolutely not! Dan would not stand for the injustice of being hunted by… by rabbits! If it were some epic monster or something he could understand! But RABBITS?! He would be the laughing stock of the game at that point. No, no, no. He had to get out of here and kill that abyssal rabbit! Smashing the Yes button Dan got out of his funk and looked around for whatever his next challenge was. The system said it would give him a fair shot after all.

Looking around he noticed a dark red trail of blood leading from his core. Starting to follow it, he found it twisted and turned throughout various tunnels. The endless path twisting in on itself yet somehow never causing him to walk onto a path he’s been on before.Ten minutes later he was getting frustrated that he was being led into nothing until he suddenly was blinded by the bright glow of his core. Did he get turned around? No, he couldn’t have. He could actually see a few openings along the wall now that he thought about it. Though there was only one path of blood.

Walking back up to his core he noticed a slight bump on the otherwise perfect sphere. Reaching out to it with both mind and body he grabbed the bump and it started extending. Pulling it behind him he began to follow the blood trail. Slight bits of mana leaked off the string whenever he let his thoughts wander so he painstakingly kept his mind focused on the string following the trail of blood until finally his core was in sight. Not knowing what else to do he connected it to another bump in his core. Suddenly he was thrown out and he was given an all too familiar notification.

You have died. Calculating: Tried a dangerous spell while surrounded by enemies. Maximum respawn time of twelve hours. Lost 50 experience.

Dan finally logged out. While he wasn’t as angry as he had been the day before he was frustrated. He knew he had messed up, and while he got a cool skill out of it, he seemed to be doomed to be fodder for bunnies until the end of his days. Not only that but he kept being interrupted in his attempt to just have fun and play the game. He flopped into bed, prepared for another long day of work before he got to try again.