Sleeping Player (Project Chrysalis Book 3) by John Gold (novel24 TXT) 📕

so Kirk was living in the dorm and working at the academy when his services were required. He was enjoying the student life he’d never had in real life. Living in a room, going to lectures, training his skills, earning money on the side for food and board—it all made him happy. It was the peaceful, calm, and sometimes fun life he’d been looking for. It was only in Project Chrysalis that he learned what it meant to live.

Stan considered himself the poorest mage at the academy. He wore the simplest clothing the local store had to offer, he ate in the cafeteria, he washed in the common bath room, and he lived in the dorm. That day, however, a barefoot, grimy beggar smelling like fish was assigned to live with him. He looked to be about twenty years old, and he was wearing the kind of dirty village clothes that a city beggar would sniff at.

Anri Diuval, who Kirk often worked with to make body modifications, explained it to him.

“The boy has as little money as you do, and he asked to live in the dorm. He’ll probably be taking my place this week for body modifications.”

“What if we need to do a level ten modification?”

“Oh, don’t worry, he’ll be fine.” Anri smiled slyly and left the room.

The guy was standing by the window, and Kirk thought aloud, muttering to himself.

“That bum thinks he can replace the dean of the Life Magic department?”

The bum turned around instantly and flashed a predatory smile. He’d heard everything, and he liked it.

***

It’s snowing outside, the soft light coming from the walls of the quarter creating a magical atmosphere. I can hear people crunching through the snow outside, laughing, and enjoying an interesting lecture on Life Magic. There’s a pair of girls who just stepped into the building and are on their way up the stairs to the second floor. My roommate must be a player, too—they wouldn’t have put me with him if he weren’t. He’s wearing a gray mind mage’s uniform, his strength is average, and he’s living in a dorm. Poor, probably.

There are two beds, two wardrobes, and two bookshelves in our room, not to mention a table, two chairs, and a small window. In other words, your standard dorm room. I’m a fan.

My roommate decides to introduce himself.

“Hey, I’m Kirk, a mind mage.”

Elf, Kirk, Level 1588

 

It turns out that some elves study outside their forests. And he actually is strong, even if I’m not sure why he’s so poor. I don’t show him my name; he doesn’t force the issue. Mind mages know better than anyone what you can do with someone’s name.

It’s warm in the room, and I’m feeling drowsy, but my roommate offers me some tea. We spend the rest of the night talking about everything that’s happened in my absence. Mostly, Kirk tells me about the events of the past five years, not to mention what he’s been up to. It’s a winter night in a warm room with tea and pleasant conversation.

Kirk has lived alone for a long time, which is why he’s missed talking to people so much. I’ve met a couple of people like him—they smile, laugh, and behave well in groups, though they’re empty inside. Without even knowing it, Kirk closed himself off from the world and decided to stop letting people in. But the emptiness he feels inside hasn’t gotten any better. It’s actually gotten worse since he’s started to realize what’s going on.

Lately, Kirk has been starved of conversation, and I get that—I’ve been through it myself. I was young and stupid back then. The ways I tried to talk were too coarse. But now, Kirk has someone who can help him take the first step toward getting rid of that emptiness.

He isn’t weak or miserable; it’s more that his values and self-confidence have been shattered. People like him just need to talk more, as that helps them rebuild their identity. It’s pretty clear that Anri wanted me here for a reason.

Kirk fell asleep in his chair, wrapped up in his blanket. Before I leave, I rip the sprouting chair out of the floor and make sure I clean up after my Life Magic. I noticed a nice flowerbed on the other side of the building, so I’m going to practice. I don’t need to sleep.

It’s been snowing all night long, the temperature is dropping, and the white stuff in the back yard is up to my ankles. It crunches pleasantly underfoot, and the night air is bracing. There’s a round garden area with lots of raised flowerbeds featuring a variety of winter flowers. They’re arranged around a lone dwarf tree, the glowing paths all leading directly toward it.

I’m here to work on my Life Magic.

Just thinking about putting in some work on myself brings back memories of the time when all I knew about magic was from books. Even without being a mage, I realized how advanced the local magic system was. The mage skill from the League of Hunters lets you boost how strong your spells are by ten times. The tenth-level scaling skill the Academy of Magic gives you offers a way to expand the area your spells affect. Then, there are familiars, which widen your range of working spells. In other words, you can boost the number, density and quantity of your spells. You can even pour enormous amounts of mana into them to drive colossal power. To have those skills, however, you need to be a strong mage who’s gone through the probation period with the Hunters.

Apprenticeship for all mages ends at the tenth level. It’s then that you get the magic vision ability and the spell scaling skill as well as the ability to pick a second specialty. The ability to work with the astral is unlocked at level