Chapter 5 Connor (4 years after Hope, Spring)

- Ayy Connor, what's today?

- History, practical class and politics I think...

- History again?? Why is that so important, it's not like we've been here for that long and nobody cares about the history from before Hope.

- Don't ask me about it, I don't make the curriculum. I just want my license to be in an adventuring party.

- You should finish this year though no? Weren't you in the first batch of students? You'll be one of the first wizards with a Guild license!

- Not true and you know it, there are plenty of wizards already with amazing classes...did you hear about the arcane summoner last summer?

- Yea, they say he was ridiculous, he could kill beasts with the lurker class in two to three attacks, shame he died.

- Yup, heard their healer fucked up somewhere on the way and they encountered a Demon class beast.

- No way man, didn't they die a little west of Sydney? How can Demon class beasts be so close?

- Well it's not like we ever leave the walls anyway. If you go a little farther it's only natural to encounter stronger opponents.

- I guess that's true. Can't wait for the exploration next month, oh shit. Class starts, let's hurry!

The two teens ran through the hallway made of stone. Busy scenes could be seen outside the windows where the human capital of Dawn, New Sydney, conducted its daily business.

- In the third year after the Hour of Hope several villages merged and formed our beautiful New Sydney. Clementine, can you name three of the participating villages?

- Yes ma'am. I think Hofen and Pentius were two of the bigger ones. Oh and Oberstein.

- Correct, those three were certainly the biggest in size and technology but don't forget that there were several dozen villages forming our capital today.

Two panting pupils entered and immediately started with excuses

- We're sorry Mrs. Stanford we lost track of time.

- Oh well I won't mind today, it's not like you didn't hear this a hundred times already anyway.

- I don't know why they still don't want to teach the old history...

Grumbled the teacher below her breath.

- Well we're pretty much done for history in this semester so if you're all in agreement we can go outside and work on practical magic.

Everybody cheered and packed their things. Magic was still very exciting and new.

Out of the estimated ten million people coming to Dawn about half lost their lives in the first year. The population more or less stabilized in the second year, mostly because of New Sydney. The fully walled city houses around three million people and is growing slowly. Food isn't much of an issue anymore and some people already see the city as their new home. This was possible because a lot of people coming to Dawn had military training and could easily survive in the wild. Most of the people who died in the first year didn't have any experience with survival.

This of course also led to a lack of teachers, engineers, scientists and other important non combat professions. Working together with the few remaining architects, city planners, plumbers, farmers et cetera the villages slowly stabilized under the protection of their soldiers or rather hunting force. Before the walls were erected everybody was constantly living in fear. Beasts (Beast class monsters are monsters with an estimated level of 1-50) would generally avoid big groups of humans and acted at least somewhat like their counterparts in the world before, at least if there was a counterpart.

This wasn't at all the case at night though. Beasts would get stronger and more aggressive at night. Some people were speculating that the Beasts lose part of their reasoning when the sun isn't seen. It's still unclear if the monsters lose all their reason but considering attacks by cloudy or rainy weather were significantly more frequent than when the sun was shining at least somewhat supports this theory.

People were also advised to stay inside at night time because of possible aerial Beasts, even though none were seen yet.

Having a save city wasn't everything though. Of course surviving was the top priority of everybody coming here but many also saw this as a new chance at life. When they were a foot soldier, farmer or salesman on Earth they could now become a knight, noble or whatever fantasy dream they harbored. Even former politicians would take up the sword or magic to go on adventures. Reality often looked different though as many of those dreaming of glory ended up dead somewhere in the wilderness.

Comparing Dawn to a game was only somewhat correct. It could be compared to a hyper realistic hardcore mode where pain isn't reduced. At least healing magic was a possibility but there weren't yet a lot of high level priests and compared to the advanced medicine possible on Earth their power was somewhat limited. Easily healing a lost eye was certainly possible but determining an infection and producing a vaccine wasn't. Some higher level healers could already remove bacterial infections but they had to heal everybody infected individually.

Previous experience in fighting was of course important but after four years the playing field narrowed a little, especially considering the soldiers were mostly trained with guns or specialized machinery. It was also determined that communication technology wasn't a possibility as radio waves were disturbed by the magic residue from Beasts and casters. The fact that guns weren't a possibility was much simpler. They just weren't considered weapons by whatever system was governing this world. It was just a stick with zero damage output so shooting somebody wouldn't create a reaction. Still the couple guns made could at least make for some entertaining shows.

After four years the life inside the walls of New Sydney was safe. The food was enough and there were even venues of entertainment. Of course humanity wouldn't just be content with a situation like that so many different organizations were created. The Academy were Connor is currently enrolling as a student was created pretty soon after the first couple magic tomes were found. Unlike most known games those tomes could be used multiple times so many wanted to change their class to some sort of wizard. But just like a swordsman has to hone his skills every day a wizard has to meditate and use spells to advance. It was easier for many to just use the sword or bow compared to magic. It was easiest for children because they didn't grow up in a world arguably without magic.

Connor was fourteen years old when he woke up in this new strange land. In the four years to come he managed to survive thanks to their capable leaders. His father often read him classic fantasy stories like "Don't Fear the Reaper" or "Immortal Soul" before he left to the frontlines so Connor always dreamed of becoming a magic caster. Living a harsh live in a war torn country he of course never saw it more than a dream or fantasy but coming here he couldn't help but be happy. Even though he saw an abundance of death and suffering since coming here but just the possibility of magic kept his sanity afloat.

'Now let's show them what I've learned' were Connors thoughts as he descended with his classmates to the training ground surrounded by the Academy's stone walls. He always thought fire mages were the strongest. He was incredibly jealous when a rumor spread that an eight year old kid learned fire magic. He could finally learn it last year though, when he enrolled in the first classes ever taught by the Academy.

'I even learned the great fireball last week, they're gonna be blown away!' Learning a spell with the "great" additive was quite impressive. The damage output would skyrocket but of course the mana consumption was accordingly.

The students didn't just learn to use spells in school. Considering how advanced military tactics were on Earth they tried to implement it within this new one. The end result was similar to the classic MMO party. Even though those games weren't really popular at wartime there were still some people who managed to invest some hours into them.

The fire mages were generally seen as some sort of artillery. They had a lot of area of effect potential compared to the single target archers for example. The students got in position behind their dummies and tried to launch attacks without hitting their straw allies. Casting a spell wasn't very difficult for Connor or everybody learning before eighteen really, it was very difficult to master the spell placement and intensity though. Only few could even display a basic level of proficiency while fighting against melee type beasts with a moving party. This was also the main reason magic casters were often not welcome in scouting or exploration parties. This should change in the future though as proficiency increases.

Connor wanted to be part of an adventuring party. A good one, so he had to work hard every day to improve his casting capability. Most parties were contracted with the Guild where the party was evaluated by veterans and jobs were distributed accordingly. This probably wouldn't have happened in a normal game world were death wasn't permanent but it was an invaluable asset in Dawn. Jobs were available en mass too. Dawn had its own currency, the classic gold, silver, copper system seen in many game worlds before. The people started to use it because Beasts would sometimes drop those coins and veins in caves could also be found. The economy wasn't yet stable enough for an introduction of paper money. Some people in power also considered the possibility of non hostile races with whom trade would go smoother when using this world's currency.

So money was one incentive to risk leaving the walls but there were many others. Special herbs, plants and even grains were sought after by doctors, healers and scientists. Metals not found in the confinement of New Sydney to create new weapons and discover the technological possibilities of this world. Different meat from Beasts or even possible livestock. Nobody wants to eat potatoes their entire life. Books and magic tomes were found in ruins and dropped by strong monsters exciting scholars wanting to learn about this world and of course people trying to learn the wonders of magic.

Even just the desire to find other people or even races convinced many to join or form an adventuring party. The younger generation also wasn't as alienated by the new world as the previous ones and were eager to start their adventure. Just like a teen would sneak out to drink their first beer the teenagers of Dawn would sneak out to fight with wolves and test their fighting prowess or spells. Few of those died because the world wasn't new to them and they knew the Beasts and their capabilities inside out. Turns out learning about ferocious monsters living next door is for many more interesting than math and history.

Connor dreamed of going on an adventure, he didn't really have a specific target like saving a princess or discovering a new race or spell. After demonstrating his great fireball and working hard to improve his mana pool he went back to his room to study.

- Connor, not coming out today either eh?

- No, sorry Leslie I really want to learn some new spells before we go explore those ruins.

Connor shot his friend down again.

'How can they act so easy going when we're going out there in only a month?'

Many of the younger people in New Sydney were protected from the dangerous world they came to from the very beginning. They didn't really realize how dangerous this world was. Connor survived alone in the first two weeks after coming to Dawn and mostly just hid from the Beasts. He saw many people getting killed while hiding in a tree. He did crave adventure of course but he knew that no mistakes were allowed or he would pay with his life.

- Alright no problem, you know where you find us if you change your mind!

Said Leslie as she ran towards the waiting kids. She was the only one who still bothered with Connor.

'Alright, I think I'll check some other elements out today.'

Learning an elemental spell like fireball or lightning bolt would change one's class to Elementalist, which was the most basic class for Elemental spell casters. One could later specify their main element and change classes to for example fire mage or storm wizard. There was an abundance of different classes and one could always advance or specify more. Specification would allow for more spells, strength increase of previous spells and of course stat increases. People were still not sure about how certain classes were obtained. Rumors of course spread and supervision had to increase after someone drowned in the river to become a water mage.

Looking towards the future many also kept their classes hidden and how they obtained them. Having a strong class would lift one's social standing and increase the possible jobs one could do. When everybody worked together to survive right after Hope the true nature of humanity soon started to thrive again.

Connor was still an Elementalist but his dream was of course being a fire mage or something even stronger.

'I just want to control fire. But for the exploration I think I'll learn some basic water and earth spells, you never know when they come in handy'

After several hours of reading, meditating and testing the desired messages popped up in front of Connor.

Through eager studying you have learned a new spell:

Stone Skin: Create a mantle of stone around your body to protect yourself from harm. Reduces damage taken by 25% (Tier 1). Deflects minor spells and projectiles.

Movement speed when activated reduced by 40%

Requires 30 Intelligence and 40 Wisdom to cast.

5 Mana per second to uphold.

Your understanding of Water magic has increased though learning, you have learned a new spell:

Water Cannon: Shoot a cone of water at your enemy with high speed and pressure. Damage depends on intensity (20-50/s).

Can't be cast while moving.

Requires 40 Intelligence and 40 Wisdom to cast.

2-5 Mana per second to cast.

The reason why people had difficulties with learning magic at the beginning was of course mostly because of the missing tomes but also because there was no mana stat. Intelligence and Wisdom could be seen but nobody had any mana. It turned out that the Wisdom stat increases one's manapool and the Intelligence stat would strengthen the used magic. Non magic classes would mostly use Stamina or officially called Endurance. The numbers themselves were used for evaluation but once somebody entered combat you could feel how much stamina or mana you still had. Where striking with a sword for a hundred times would tire your body, shooting one hundred fireballs would tire your mind. Severe exhaustion, headaches and even loss of consciousness would happen on a daily basis. It was also very difficult to control because to increase your Wisdom stat you had to use a lot of mana constantly, which then lead to headaches or worse. This also had the consequence that most better mages had incredible mana management and often didn't even have to check their status to see how much was left. Of course this was similar for combat classes but physical exhaustion was nothing new and realizing that running for another mile is probably not the best idea wasn't seen as especially advanced.

- Very nice, two spells. Not sure how often I'll use them though, the water cannon deals less damage than my fire spells and the stone skin is only useful when enemies get to me, which would mean our party is pretty much dead already.

He was happy to have learned two spells even though they might not be very useful later on.

The following month passed very fast for Connor. He could even help extinguishing a fire caused by a young Elementalist. The life in Dawn or at least in the city of New Sydney was beginning to feel good.