The Stubborn Light of a Dying Flame [Isekai - LitRPG]

Paralyzed?! Brittsha tried to break through the charm, but she couldn't even take her hand off the door handle.

"Welcome initiates!" The man's voice came from the main lobby.

The voice was unfamiliar to Brittsha, and muffled by the door as it was, she wasn't sure if she could recognize it anyway. She tried extending her senses to the main lobby to use the humans to get a general idea of what they were dealing with, but panic flooded her, and she shut down that idea before she even got a glimpse.

All right, no telepathy for now. She tried to listen over the pounding of her own heart.

"It appears that something has caused some amount of distress in this tutorial group," the man said. "So I have inflicted a temporary paralysis to help you all calm down."

I wasn't freaking out! Brittsha wanted to argue. Why am I paralyzed too?!

"What is wrong with you?!" Rayna shouted, her words accompanied by the crash of something heavy against a wall.

Right! Lerians were immune to Paralysis. It hadn't occurred to Brittsha that their immunity would apply to System Paralysis as well… was the System using normal spells? Brittsha hadn't actually been able to learn much about the theory, since the Corvi didn't have much knowledge on the inner workings. The recent tentative alliance with Ember had been the only access to the System they had.

"I know this is a bit disconcerting for you," the man said. "But if you would calm down and listen to my orientation message, I think you will find the answer to most of your questions."

Fat chance, Brittsha thought. More likely we'll get a load of propaganda and a bunch of bullshit to boot. She had never known Lerians to explain things in anything less than the most convoluted and confusing way possible. In this way, humans and the Lerians seemed to differ. Brittsha wasn't sure if they clearly marked everything because they preferred order, or if their entire population was too dense to understand how anything worked without clear and concise instructions.

Still, the Lerians could learn a thing or two from the humans, it seemed.

The crashing sounds paused as Rayna apparently ceased her bombardment. "Release the paralysis and I'll stop throwing things."

Yes! Brittsha thought. Let me move! My hand is starting to itch!

"I will, on the condition that everyone calms down. Those who do not will continue to be restrained."

A screen appeared in front of Brittsha, somehow visible at a distance that should have been on the other side of the door.

If you are willing to calm down and listen to the orientation message without disturbing—

Yes! Brittsha confirmed without bothering to read the rest of the message.

She tumbled through the door, nearly breaking the doorknob in the process. She looked around awkwardly, but the humans—and Rayna—were all too busy checking on their friends to notice her entrance.

Brittsha stood and patted herself off, moving to stand next to the wall. Her hands still burned from her attempt to use Essence, but the exposure had been minor enough that her natural Endurance was already lessening the sting. She came to the conclusion that she could use magic from the System, but only if she was willing to endure the aftermath.

Her frustration surged. This would make leveling up almost useless! Could she even benefit from System points? They were supposedly a measure of physical and magical abilities, but if the System used Essence to enhance their bodies, that might be something that Brittsha should steer clear of…

"Much better," the Administrator said, floating high enough above the ground to be easily seen from all corners of the room. "Now for those of you who are still paralyzed, just let me know when you are ready to calm down and I will release you then. As for the rest of you, if you would gather around, we will begin orientation."

The man waited for all of them to gather, smiling benevolently. Brittsha opened her senses—just enough to gauge the human's response—before immediately slamming down on them again. It took some practice, but she managed to create a widespread, but low-level telepathic net that didn't immediately overwhelm her with the emotions in the room.

The most common response was terror. The humans had more than enough horror stories in their popular culture to feed their imaginations as images of pain and gore settled in their minds.

The next most common emotion was fury. Brittsha's eyes widened as she caught some of the violent fantasies, some as mild as punching the Administrator in the face, others involving maiming. Were they insane? What exactly did they plan on doing, teaming up against the most powerful man on Ember? He probably wasn't even there. This would be either a projection of the Administrator, or more likely, an artificial intelligence designed to act as the Administrative Assistant.

Brittsha noticed one man near the back take a step forward, then freeze in place. Apparently, he had decided to act on his violent urges and was promptly paralyzed.

So, the Administrator wouldn't punish emotions or thoughts, only intentions. That was a relief. He was more reasonable than Brittsha had been imagining.

"As I mentioned at initialization," he said once everyone was listening. "I am the Artificer Eldar Cremble, but most refer to me as the System Administrator."

Brittsha tuned him out after the first sentence. She didn't really care what lie they were feeding the initiates to convince them to mop up Ember's mess. She didn't trust anything made by Lerians at the moment, for obvious reasons.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

She still had the mission packet in her Inventory. From what she could tell, she hadn't lost anything she'd brought with her to Ember, though they seemed to have been moved to a new Inventory space. She couldn't say for certain, since she wasn't entirely sure how she knew, but her Inventory just felt… different…

Brittsha supposed it was a good thing that she hadn't had much time to adjust to the System before leaving Ashen. She didn't need to re-learn any of the functions that had changed, and for the ones she hadn't explored much, she could rely on the humans around her. They seemed to test everything with the focus of a child learning which rules they could safely break. Everything was suspect; therefore, everything was understood… eventually…

She would have to wait until they calmed down, though. She wasn't keen on sifting through the fear and anger to get at the deeper memories that she would need to operate her System.

"And what if we don't want it?" Kennith asked angrily, drawing Brittsha out of her thoughts.

She wasn't sure what the Administrator had offered that Kennith was objecting to, but given the amount of anger rolling off him, it had been insulting somehow.

"You tricked us into coming here!" Kennith continued. "And now you're trying to play it off as some sort of grand opportunity?"

The Administrator tilted his head. "I told you everything that you needed to know during the System Preview. And at the time of initiation were you not given the chance to leave? I believe I made it clear that I would not take any who were unwilling."

I wasn't given the chance to leave, Brittsha thought irritably. You have thousands of unwilling initiates.

A window popped up in front of her.

Due to security concerns, the Administrator has been blocked from reading your thoughts directly. If you would like to speak to him, please do so aloud. Note: this may negatively impact the success rate of your active quest.

Active quest? Brittsha pulled up her Menu, bringing up the quest description.

Hide — Corvi and Lerians are not viewed in a positive light by the current residents of Ember. Keep your identity and your race hidden from the people around you. The better you are at doing so, the better your rewards will be at the end of each week.

Duration: Ongoing, weekly rewards.

Reward: varies by success rate.

Brittsha almost laughed aloud. The Corvi pulled to Ember by his mistake were supposed to help him cover his own ass? She would have revealed herself out of spite if it didn't directly contradict her mission. She needed to gather more information before doing anything rash.

She also needed to figure out what happened to Lav and Vira. They would have a better idea of how to proceed, given the sudden change in circumstances. There were too many people on Ember to just reconnect with the existing Corvi and bring down the Anomaly. What would they do with all the humans?

"It was supposed to be a game," Emma said. "You used the same welcome speech in Ember Online. Was the game just a trap to lure us here?"

Brittsha raised her eyebrows. So, they'd been tricked after all. She wasn't sure if that made her feel better or worse about the situation. On the one hand, she wasn't the only one who didn't want to be there. On the other hand, this might make the humans less cooperative, and therefore, more unpredictable.

"As you should already know, Ember Online was a test," the Administrator replied. "The rules of the game are identical to the laws of the System. It is essential that new initiates are first tested to ensure they will adapt well to the challenges they will face on Ember. Everyone in this room distinguished themselves on that simulated battlefield. In fact, you are one of the most promising groups of candidates we have ever had." He glanced at Rayna. "And one even came without ever having set foot in Ember, which shows great compassion that we hope will serve her well in this world."

So, the Lerian hadn't had the benefit of foreknowledge either. If she hadn't taken part in this 'test', how had she come to be on Ember?

"And what if we don't want to fight?" someone else asked. "You're just going to force us?"

The Administrator turned to her, shaking his head slightly. "Of course not! Not everyone is made for the battlefield. There are many non-combat Classes to choose from once you reach the First Ascension at Level 25. The aim of the System is not to throw people at the monsters unprepared like a glorified meat shield. We only wish to save our planet from the overwhelming might of the encroaching hordes. Many great initiates have made a name for themselves as Master Blacksmiths or Artificers. But even the simple Farmer Class holds merit when used for the common good."

Brittsha was concerned by the amount of confusion the Administrator was showing regarding the humans' reactions. Surely he should have known that they wouldn't be thrilled about being tricked into joining his army. Did he think they would just change their minds the minute they arrived, or was his harmless act a part of the con?

The mood in the room shifted, calming down as a thread of optimism quelled some of the humans' negative thoughts. They were still angry, but they were determined to live through whatever the Administrator threw at them.

"What about our families?" a young woman asked, reigniting the anger in the room. "I have children, a husband, are you just telling me to forget about them?"

A pang of homesickness knifed through Brittsha's chest at the thought of her mother. She agreed with the humans on this. The situation was unfair.

"I'm afraid that returning to Earth so soon is impossible. Inter-planetary teleportation takes massive amounts of energy," the Administrator said. "I cannot return you to your world, nor can I bring others here, even if I wanted to. Once you decided to fight for Ember, there was no turning back."

Those who showed renewed aggression at the Administrator's words were promptly paralyzed, quelling any thoughts of violence from the remaining initiates. They were tired, scared, and disheartened, but they hadn't given up hope. They just knew better than to push their luck.

Brittsha latched onto the humans' determination, their stubbornness, letting it bolster her through her own panic and confusion. She wasn't just a student anymore. She was an agent of the crown, and she was here on a mission.

She wasn't paying attention to what the others in the room were doing, so she missed whatever it was that caught the Administrator's attention.

He turned to Rayna and Emma with a bright smile. "Now that is the determination I like to see from new initiates!" he declared proudly. "The two of your will get far in this world, I don't doubt it."

"Go choke on a cactus," Rayna snapped.

Brittsha almost laughed aloud. It seemed that humans channeled their fear into defiance. Rayna, in particular, seemed to be taking this situation far better than Brittsha would in her position.

The Administrator looked taken aback by the woman's vitriol, but he quickly fixed his face back into a strained smile. "Now, before I send you all to the tutorial, I think you could use a good night's rest after the day's excitement. I won't appear to you like this in the future, but we will meet again through the System prompts. Be sure to listen well to your Tutorial Leaders and don't do anything reckless. There are no revives or extra lives in the real world.

"Good luck players, and welcome once more to the world of Ember."

The room began to glow, the strength of the Essence burning Brittsha's skin. She cried out, curling in on herself in an attempt to shield what little surface area she could from the magic.

She materialized in a small bedroom, alone and in pain. A System prompt welcomed her with the same impersonal tone as the rest of the ones she had seen thus far.

Due to your situation, you have been granted a single bedroom. There is extra healing salve in the welcome package that should help to soothe your Essence burns. The Benefactor wishes you luck in the journey ahead.