Auntie toasts the VRMMORPG

78. Technomancer

Ferdinand led Flora to a corridor near the surface of the earth. He stopped in front of a door with a "DO NOT DISTURB!" sign on it.

"Well, here we are." He glanced nervously at the door. "Bad timing. I'll introduce you to her on your next visit."

"I'm sorry I have to meet the technomancer now."

"Well, good luck." Before Flora could say good-bye, he had vanished.

Feeling lost, Flora stared at the door. It was tagged with "Professor Quon" easily readable in the glow of the warning sign.

Because she hated to be disturbed while designing, Flora respected the plaque. On the other hand, she was on schedule. She had to connect her classes before the duel, not to speak of the Hero's Entrance.

While pondering what to do, she inspected the pulsating letters.

"I believe the glow originates from a rune-scheme."

No runes were visible, therefore Flora XYZ-rayed the plaque.

The door hurled open, and Flora stood face to face with an angry woman. She had red skin and her yellow hair in a messy bun.

"What are you doing?" Professor Quon yelled.

"I thought about whether I should knock or not and was distracted by the sign. Using the Chamak Rune in such a configuration is brilliant! I bet, less than two MR/min can power the whole scheme."

"Exactly one MR." The professor calmed down. "So you aren't a total dolt. Good for you, but not good enough to waste my time."

"I want to obtain the Technomancer class. Please teach me the spells."

"Yes, you and every other newbie who wants to mess with other people's gadgets. Get a signal-snatcher and a lock-pick and learn to hack."

"If you doubt whether it's worth your time, I'will pay a generous reimbursement. I need the class to connect the mage part of my class tree to the technician part. " Flora had the policy to state the truth. Even if she wanted to make up a better explanation, she wouldn't know what to say.

Quon snorted. "That's an excuse I never heard before. So you want one of the most conveyed and vilified classes just to connect your classes. That's too rich!" She broke out in full-blown laughter.

"I still don't understand why technomancy has such a bad reputation if you can achieve the same results with hacking."

"Because its magic and those wire heads don't understand magic. People fear what they don't understand." Quon continued to rant about superstitions and the gulf between magic and technology.

"Alright. Then there is no reason why you shouldn't teach me. We could have already finished the lesson." Flora interjected when the professor paused to take a breath. "My nocks are Brownski nape sockets. I let you try out your powers on them."

Quon's eyes glinted, but Flora reacted faster.

<Energy Shield>!

Her shield shook from Quon's mental attack, and the two women stared at each other.

"Not bad, not bad at all. To be able to cast a spell here, you have to have an excellent metal affinity for a level 1 newbie."

Flora acknowledged the compliment with a nod. "Do we have a deal?"

"I show you the diagrams for the standard spells. The time you need to learn them is the time I get to test your nocks. Ten minutes max for a spell."

"Agreed." Flora smiled wrily; the professor might have shot herself in the foot.

"Single target attack: Disturb Connection."