Chapter 3: Skill Tree A


    The top public school in Evermarsh, Evermarsh High, came equipped with tactile screen boards to teach, top-notch biometric lockers, andfortable velvet chairs. The Yellow Ministry of Concordia, which supervised all cultural and education activities, had heavily invested in the ce, intent on making it the safest, most weing ce for students to foster their skills in the Empires service. The schools excellent academic reputation madepetition for entry fierce. For Mathias, keeping good grades here was paramount to him.


    Sitting at the left edge of the ssroom behind an individual mahogany desk, right next to the pristine windows, Mathias nced at the discreet, eye-shaped camera above the board, recording the students every move. ssroom C was big enough to amodate thirty students, assembled in linear lines, but not big enough to create a blind-spot in the camera.


    Ulysses and Perse were located further back in the ssroom. The schools staff had reorganized the students ces to reduce talking during ss in order to increase productivity, ensuring that close friends would sit as far apart as possible. To make up for it, the school put on beat music when the teachers werent present through loudspeakers, distracting the students from the surveince.


    The cameras and the security system hadnt turned out to be a great investment. After hacking the school system on his first week, just to see if he could, Mathias had found a ring blind-spot in the emergency exit and a glitch in the biometric securities. Cameras could be fooled by repeating previous footage, alongside other exploits.


    Mathias had once thought about anonymously reporting the weaknesses he had found, but decided against it, at least while he was still a student. A tip would result in an investigation and he didnt want any additional trouble during his school year.


    And today, that decision had paid off. He wouldnt have dared risk what he was about to do if he hadnt disabled the ssrooms camera beforehand.


    Mr. Barth caused the whole ss to fall into silence as he closed the door behind him. Good morning students, he spoke with a strong, neutral tone, while carrying a pile of paper under his arm.


    Like all Bullmen, Mr. Barth was more bull than man, a bipedal beast with wed hands and hoofed feet. He was small for his kind, only two heads taller than Mathias himself, horns included, with a hide brown like chocte. He wore a shirt and trousers instead of more borate metal tes and jewelry favored by his kind.


    <em> Shaping the citizens of tomorrow starts with the children of today. Barth listened intently to his Yellow Ministry instructor. Children have boundless potential, yet untamed. Try to assimte into their culture by wearing local clothes, so they feelfortable around you. Be fair. Encourage them to excel for the glory of Concordia.  </em>


    When Mr. Barth went straight towards Mathias desk, his hooves causing the ground to shake under his heavy build, the young student straightened up and tried to hide his excitement behind a poker face. Mr. Barth never went to him first.


    Others noticed. Mathias could almost feel the tension in the air as the teacher walked up to him, rereading the paper at the front of his pile. Mathias exchanged a few nces with his worried friends, but remained calm.


    Finally ending the silence, Mr. Barth put a paper on Mathias desk.


    Congrattions, Mathias, you won the maximum score. Murmurs went through the room, as he read the praisefulments all over his research paper. Excellent work, keep it up.


    Mr. Barth, no man to go into speeches, moved on to Samantha, giving her the first runner-up paper of her entire school year, distributing into descending order of score. Perse ended up third, while Ulysses managed to hang in the middle.


    Mathias couldnt hear the gossips going on around him, but Network told him his increased grades had increased his status somewhat, especially among the academic-minded students.


    Downloading Premium Thoughts had proved an excellent investment. Everything Mathias saw or experienced, he could remember with perfect rity, which turned him into a living database. A sleepless night checking trivia and online databases had been enough to get overteness in previous assignments. The spell also increased his thought process speed enough to do quicker work for Dynamis.


    However, Premium Thoughts hadnt been his only purchase. Now that Barth was inside the ssroom, the risks of outside intervention were minimal.


    Mathias checked hisptop, setting a chronometer on. <em>Experiment start, </em>he thought.


    Blue World, Mathias spoke out loud.


    A bright, blue sh filled the room, and for a moment Mathias entire vision seemed to be shrouded through a blue lens.


    The hurried whispers of the ss turned silent. Mr. Barth had stopped dead in his tracks, one hand about to seize another paper from his pile and put it on Jacks desk. The students remained silent, as if frozen in time. Mathias nced around, just in case anyone had escaped the spell, and then turned his eyes to the chronometer.


    Five


    Four...


    Three


    Two


    One...


    The bluish light vanished, and the ssroom once more buzzed with renewed activity. No one raised their eyes to Mathias, even toment on his strange words. The spell must have paralyzed them before the words could register in their conscious mind. Perfect.


    After experimenting, he had found that spells were divided into passive or active. Passive meant they were always on unless willingly disabled  such as Premium Thoughts. Active spells, such as Blue World, were voice activated.


    When Mr. Barth moved on to the screen presentation, Mathias decided now was the time. His eyes quickly picked his intended target; an athletic, pretty, brown-skinned woman with striking amber eyes: Maggie Powells. Jacks sister and thest member of Perses music band. She always looked ready for a fight, although Network told him that shecked her brothers hidden malicious edge.


    <em> Maggie hated, </em>hated <em>herself for even asking, as Jackughed his ass off, a cruel smirk on his face. Daddy took a deep breath, his eyes firm. You really want to know what were doing, Maggie? Because thest person who asked me that question ended up going missing. Your brother can confirm it. </em>


    <em>Maybe she could join, Jack replied, his smirk growing ever wider. He didnt bother putting on his charm with her, revealing his true face. She could be another candidate.</em>


    <em>We already have the proper vessel selected, son. A </em>male <em>vessel.  </em>


    Yes, this confirmed his hunch about the police. Poor girl.


    After calcting in his mind the time it would take to reach her, Mathias slightly pivoting to make rising up from his chair easier and took a deep breath.


    Blue World.


    As the blue sh filled the room, Mathias jumped out of his chair and dashed at Maggie. Thankfully, he had a straight line to her. He hurriedly poked her shoulder, feeling the energy surge of Network through his body, then got back to his chair, sitting down right in time for the spell to end with no one the wiser.


    It could have been easy to bump into her at school, but Mathias didnt want any possible trail to lead back to him in case his plot failed. Besides, he should get used to using his spells.


    Keeping a poker face as he caught his breath slowly, Mathias focused back on Mr. Barths history ss; for once he could listen without worrying about job deadlines in the back of his mind. He started listening intently to the political causes behind the Concordian unification, typing notes on hisputer.


    During that troubled era four hundred years ago, our beloved Grandmaster Wyrde, greatest Sorceress among dragonkind, her apprentice Loctis, who would soon be the Green Minister, and the human explorer Halcyon, made a pact, swearing to unite the warring states of Midgard into a single whole. It took a full decade of warfare and diplomacy, but the trio, hence known as the Three Founders, pacified the Sphere. Tomemorate their sess, they founded the city that would eventually cover all of Midgard and be the center of our eternal Empire; Concordia. A city where all would be one.


    <em>At what cost?</em> Mathias thought, wise enough not to say it out loud.


    One of the founders was human? Maggie asked.


    Yes. It is thought that Terra Firma and ancient Midgard were briefly connected thousands of years ago, allowing a few human tribes to cross the frontier and settle on the other world. It would be millenia before the Gates reopened ten years ago, but we will discuss thister. Halcyon himself descended from the primitive tribes, but weck records on his past before the Founding, and his life was cut short during the Gintargo Pacification. We now move into the first age of


    However, Mathias grew bored, as his teacher rehashed the same information he had previously memorized from the online school database. He found himself opening Magik almost on impulse.


    This website decreased his productivity more than social media.


    Premium Thoughts and Blue World had been necessary purchases; the first because one couldnt be too smart and the second to give himself a defensive weapon. He still had nine Spellcoins on his ount, enough to buy three more Blue spells, or abination of two other Color.


    Mathias had noticed among Blue Spells; most involved manipting skills or, in the case of Blue World, mind processes. Few had any direct offensive application. Perhaps higher level spells would provide more potent options, but they remained out of reach.


    The first challenge to Concordian supremacy was the rival Sphere of Gintargo, a burgeoning empire built on trade instead of military force. Ideological differences andpetition over resources meant inevitable war


    Mathias noticed that he could follow the lecture as precisely as if he had focused on it while his attention was equally set on Magik.


    How much could his brain multitask while on Premium Thoughts? How fast could hepute information? If catching up to ss took so little time, what else could Mathias learn?


    Mathias found himself ncing at Samantha, noticing her staring at him nkly, still reeling from the shock of ending up in second ce. It almost made the gamer feel bad about beating her, especially when she corrected her expression as not to look contrite.


    <em> Take your studies more seriously, Samantha, Father scolded her. Her private tutor must haveined to him. My government contacts told me </em>several <em>children at your school are being considered for Institute Membership.</em>


    <em>Who? Samantha replied. My record remains unbroken. She should have said it with pride, but she couldnt muster the strength. Without crediblepetition, that boast sounded hollow.</em>


    <em> She wouldnt mind some challenge. But who could provide it?  </em>


    Instead of taking her broken record as a personal affront, Samantha gave Mathias a sharp nod of acknowledgement, and smiled back. For the first time in a long while, she was truly staring at him not as Perses friend, but as his own person.


    It felt nice.