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HAV.
Hacker's Academy for the Villainously Educated and Notorious.
Chapter One.
The retrieval.
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The first of the six.
Zack.
I'm not fancy.
I don't have style.
But I have a heart, and a back-up plan.
Which is more than I can about you.
Damn it, damn it, damn it…
'Sorry lady, gotta run.'
I leaped over an elderly civilian, who looked around cluelessly for my dark-sighted form. I always felt kinda sorry for the civilians. No power, no rank, no respect. It wasn't a good life, but hey, each to his own.
'Where the hell is he? Sinda, d'you see him?'
I heard a distinctive poof of an assassin using dark sight, and groaned. Shit. 'Sins could see each other in dark sight, which meant I had to hurry, and fast. I dove blandly through the stinking trash of the alleyways in Kerning, once again cursing myself for choosing this god-forsaken city to hide in.
Then I hit a concrete wall.
Oh crap.
Time to activate the back-up plan. I immediately began to chuck arrows along with other random stuff at the wall, hoping to look as if I was having a little psychotic fit. I heard the sounds of approaching people. People who I'd happily avoid, any day. I chucked another case full of arrows at the ground, before being slammed into the wall for the second time that day.
'Why, hello little sin. You gonna give us the mesos you owe us?'
Grinning edgily at the oversized buffoons in front of me, I attempted to wriggle past them. No luck- the 'sin with the skull earrings picked me up by the collar of my sauna robe. I tried not to breathe in as he leant towards me.
'One million mesos ain't no small price, young grasshopper. The boss usually doesn't give nothing about small fry like you, but our new commander does.' He paused for dramatic effect. 'Which means that life's gonna be very unpleasant for you if you don't got no mesos.'
I tried to twist myself out of his grasp, and he let rip a roar of laughter.
'How old are ya squirt? Nine? Ten?'
I fixed my eyes on him and evenly replied with a smirk on my face.
'I'm thirteen years, three months and seven days old.'
'Less of the lip, kid. You got mesos, or you don't got mesos?'
His grip tightened on my collar and I struggled to breathe.
'I don't have 'em.'
Then I activated the small piles of junk lying around the place, laughing maniacally when debris hit them in the eyes. The stuff never hit me for some strange reason. But who the hell was I to be questioning why?
'I'll get ya for this, you little punkass! Your life is gonna be real bad from now on.'
My life was always 'real bad', as my ex-opponent so eloquently put it. His past shenanigans were nothing but a slight irritation after all. I ignored his cries and started stabbing some Tobis into their eyes, blinding them.
'Bravo. Not bad for an initiate-to-be.'
I turned my head quickly at the voice, carefully noticing how much stuff I had left over for a second explosion. It was enough.
'Who the fuck are you guys?'
I narrowed my eyes at them, slowly sinking into a fighting stance. My opponents looked relaxed, as if seeing two people blown up by a thirteen year old kid was perfectly normal. I assessed them physically.
The first one was definitely a ranger, with a Blue Marine covered in softly glowing runes. He had covered his armor in Nexon clothes, which was somewhat impractical.
The second was a dragon knight, with a fancy-looking fairfrozen. It looked different from the other fairfrozens I had seen. Fancy carvings and what looked like runes covered it entirely, glowing softly in the darkness. He too had covered up his armor with Nexon clothes.
Whoever had paired up these guys were smart- A ranged and a close attacker.
But no time for more speculations. My quick assessment had taken less than a second, but my opponents had caught the calculating glance.
'So sorry, we have no time for talking. We are sure that there will be plenty of time later if you wish to discuss anything. Carpe diem. We must seize the day.'
The ranger laughed softly.
I blinked. Sure, it was a refreshing change from the usual language butchered by thieves and slum people, but the way he spoke was too cultured for Kerning.
Too late.
The ranger cocked his bow and shot me in the leg, causing my world to tilt and swirl into darkness.
My subconscious was thanking the Dark Lord that it wasn't an arrow bomb.
The second of the six.
Aria.
I am bound to earth, but I still aim for the sun.
My life in exchange for servitude.
Never challenged, never defeated.
To the world I am nothing but a pet.
A venus flytrap in a pretty vase.
'Why thank you Anne dear, I don't know what we'd do without you.'
'It's Ari-'
I heard myself saying automatically. I stopped mid-phrase and sighed internally. If these people didn't get my name the second time, they weren't going to get the hundredth time or so.
'Of course, we're both happy to help, Mrs Forester. I know that Aria is improving under my care. I am the higher leveled after all.'
My healing partner, Rick, let off an absolutely fake laugh, while nodding his head like there was no tomorrow.
No words could express my wish to become a pyromancer at that moment, and burn him to ashes. Instead, I smiled sweetly at the old couple and nodded my goodbye, while stepping outside into the sunlight and into the arms of my boyfriend, Skye.
'Your eyes are so green today. Green as the magic you practice.' He murmured into my hair. I pushed him away, laughing.
'You know how I hate your poetic shit, Skye.'
His tawny eyes twinkled merrily at me.
'Aw Ari, you know you secretly adore my 'poetic shit'. One day my 'poetic shit' will be plastered over all the billboards of Henesys!'
I shot him a wry grin, while tapping his Red Viper with my Maple Staff. His Red Viper looked too pristine for someone who was supposed to be training six hours a day, whereas my Maple Staff looked somewhat worn, even though it was supposed to be brand new.
He groaned at me.
'Don't you start reminding me about training too, Ari. The folks actually hired a guy to make me grind.' He pointed proudly at his armor. 'I'm level 37 now.'
His smile dropped a little.
'Still a long way away from your level 41 though.'
I looked at him sympathetically. It was a rule that the Village Elder had made- one could only train with another within your level range. Right now I honed my healing skills with Rick- a level 43 cleric who irritated my wand off. Shoving his superior status in my face… I knew exactly where he could shove his higher level. Right up his ass.
Skye was babbling on about what his folks had told him about bringing pride to the family, instead of what I called his 'poetic shit'. Secretly I agreed with his parents. Maple Poets were few and far between, and most of them had died in poverty and were a disgrace to their family. That was why all of them never revealed their last name.
'Y'know, sometimes I think it's wrong to coop you up in Henesys, training to be the local healer.' He looked at me, and questioned me softly. 'You don't want to be the village healer at all, do you Ari?'
My heart turned cold, and I looked at him with narrowed eyes.
'Don't ever, ever say that Skye. I…' I tried to swallow my uneasiness at the lie. 'I'd love to be a village healer someday. Healing all of those people just makes me…'
Makes me feel bored. Makes me feel like puking my guts up with boredom. Makes me magically frustrated. Makes me feel caged in. Makes me feel that I have to get out of this place, screaming all the way in ecstasy.
'It makes me feel good.'
Skye snorted.
'I say you're lying. I think that they're wasting your powers here.'
My eyes twitched in irritation. Skye didn't understand just how enclosed I was here. And of the treaty. The unofficial treaty was that Henesys would take me in, in all of my orphan-ness, and in return I become a healer and basically be their servant.
'And our masters agree.'
Who the hell? I mentally rummaged through my list of the voices of the inhabitants of Henesys. No one with the ice-cold voice. Gulping, I slowly turned and met the gaze of two people.
I stared at their weapons.
Scratch that, two awesomely high-levelled people with fancy Nexon clothes that just made me drool.
'Greetings, Aria of Ellinia.' The first of them nodded politely towards me, and then he focused on Skye. 'I do not have the pleasure of knowing your name.'
I understood their speech perfectly, although Skye looked a little confused. I felt a little impatient and wished that he would understand that the guy was asking for his name. Wait. That guy had called me Aria of Ellinia. Wasn't I born in Henesys?
'Oh, it's Skye.'
At that moment, I loved his knowledge of poetic shit. Understanding the old scriptures meant that he knew what the hell the guy was talking about. I looked back at the guys.
'We are so sorry, but this must happen.'
What must happen?
Faster than lightning, the mage aimed a small blue orb at Skye. He was fast, and his attack was too fast for me to block. Which was why I watched in horror as I saw icy tendrils start crawling across Skye's body, knocking him out cold immediately. This attack was unknown to me.
Then I calmly stared at the orb melting on my skin, and moving a breakneck speed towards the upper part of my body.
Me next.
The third of the six.
Xan.
Some people call me mysterious.
Some just call me a fucking cold bastard.
Either way, I'm not well- liked.
Not that I give a damn anyway.
'New mission. His name is xxd3xl4zzs1nzxxx. Fuck up his life. You get ten big ones for doing it.'
He shook his head at the exorbitant reward. Ten million was no small amount of mesos in the slum-city of Kerning. Mesos was king here.
'What'd he do? Kill-steal some guy with big money?'
My boss, Ernie raised his eyebrows.
'Ours is not to question why, Korean boy.'
He said cryptically, kicking me out of the small apartment. I got the message. Do the job and shut the fuck up. I looked at the dirty scrap of paper he had shoved into my hand. Scar his face badly. Steal all his money and belongings. Do the same to his family and friends. Put word out that anyone who was chummy with him got the same treatment.
The usual.
I grimaced, resigning myself or yet another day working for the Kerning Underworld. No one could grasp the idea of my dissatisfaction. To them, I was riding the gravy train. Looks, youth. money. I didn't want to become some jaded, weak bandit, powerful only through the bullying of some random people. But mesos were mesos.
And work was work.
I pulled out my communicator, and searched for his name. Hell, was it fashionable these days to change your name as soon as you reach maple island? Honestly, I could think of better names than 'xxd3xl4zzs1nzxxx'.
'Time to scar people. Literally.' I murmured to myself, clutching my VIP Teleport rock. I zoomed off to the ever popular Ant Tunnel I. Seemed like I was going to have an audience.
The familiar feeling of being compressed into a tight ball and squeezed from space and time came over me. Time costs money. Money was worth the feeling of puking. Money was worth the feeling of puking. Money was worth the feeling of puking.
Shit, I'd rather take the VIP taxi from Ellinia.
'Yo, man.'
The rouge with the buzzcut and green bamboo hat turned and stopped the barrage of kumbis at the monsters. The surrounding mages and bowmen sighed in relief. Too poor to hire a professional kill-stealer.
'What d'you want?'
'Oh, nothing. Except your ugly mug scarred.'
I leapt forward and started slashing his face with my Korean Fan, trying not to get blood on it. My inner self began mocking me.
A parting gift from your so-called parents. Also known as some random strangers who took you in for a weekly 10 thousand mesos.
After slashing enough to cause scars, I stopped.
It was always like this.
The shocked silence amidst the pathetic wails of the victim.
The aftershock.
Then everyone started running, screaming or whatever. Hell had nothing on a panicking crowd. Everyone just wanted to get away from the psycho 'dit and the fucked-up 'sin. My voice carried out across the crowd.
'Remember. Help him and you'll be screwed up. Tell your friends and family, courtesy of Xan.'
It was empty within a minute, except for a lone pair who was swiftly making their way across to me. From afar, I could see that they were high-levelled. A mage of some sort and a bandit like me.
With a flash of teleport, both of them arrived in front of me.
They inclined their heads as if we were living in some upper-class society.
'Greetings, Xan of Korean Folk Town.'
They sure talked like rich people too. I felt something collide with me softly, and I looked down at my chest. A green orb of sort was eating through my armor, and soon I felt it sinking through my body.
'Our apologies, but all will be revealed later on.'
Feh. Apart from speaking strangely, they were fucking clichéd too.
The fourth of the six.
io.
I'm named after a moon.
I don't have to revolve around a planet.
I can be the fucking planet.
And they can revolve around me.
Let's see how they like it.
Blonde hair, blue eyes.
Typical of people who lived in Orbis.
With the fucking fairy-angels.
And oh god, were they superior.
'Ooh la la, daaaarling. You must keep that back straight, dear.' The angel tittered. 'You wouldn't want to appear to be slouching when you serve Sir Vrexel the Ninth his soup!'
I wouldn't slouch with the soup. I'd throw it in his fucking fairy-pixie-angel mutant face, and laugh when it turns red. I gritted my teeth and put on my cute angel-servant face that put puppies to shame.
'Of course not Lady Mirakir! I must work harder to be the best, Lady Mirakir!'
Strangely, I was her freakin' star pupil. Maybe the cute smile really did work. Or was it the suck-up attitude? Hmm. Can't decide.
Lady Mirakir's school for the children was an orphanage. No one ever called it that, but everyone knew it. No angelic children ever went near it, because it was for all those POOR. INFERIOR. HUMANS.
I hated how they looked down on humans, especially when we could beat them in a straight fight. They were just the figurehead of the ship- or an ornament on a mantelpiece. Pretty, but useless and defenseless. And pretty bitchy too.
'Now girls, we must practice…'
I went on autopilot.
After two o' clock, we had the whole day to ourselves, which was seriously cool. I grabbed my old Ryden and dressed in armor that Lady Mirakir would have burnt immediately if she ever saw them. Every human kid in the school was a civilian, except for me. I would have been, if it wasn't for Nika.
Nika was a highly skilled ranger with a wicked Marine Arund. She had decided to train me after I sat at the safe corner in Orbis Tower, watching longingly at the armored people killing the Jr. Sentinels in my school uniform. She sneaked me off Orbis one time to do my job advance as a hunter- my first time off the continent of Ossyria!
Nika never told me why she had decided to stop her own training and assist me. I never asked, because I was afraid she would seriously consider it and cast me aside, saying she had her own dreams.
Call me selfish, but it was just basic self-survival. Being an orphan told me to cling tightly to every opportunity that came my way. Which is why I stuck to Nika like glue. And perhaps it was being an orphan that enabled me to level to 34 in three weeks of hardcore training.
I waited behind the school for a couple of minutes, and then stomped off to Orbis Tower impatiently. Nika was never late… why would she start now? I shook off the feeling of angriness immediately, reminding myself that if it wasn't for Nika, I'd be an useless civilian now.
If I didn't want to be anything, it would be useless.
I started whacking sentinels with my bow- firing off with the steel arrows that Nika had bought for me from Ludibrium. Every arrow hit their mark, and I quickly scooped up the sentinel pieces and mesos.
I was still saving for the ticket and other travel expenses. No way in hell was I gonna stay at the orphan school. Nika would give me the money if I asked her, but I didn't like sponging off her.
I was just finishing off the quest that the adventurer Huckle gave to me. I adored Huckle like an uncle. He'd tell me his journeys to the far off lands, including a place like a desert, called Ariant!
The minutes ticked by. Ten, twenty, thirty. I was rapidly gaining experience, swallowing the mana and health pills from Ludibrium quickly. Eighty percent… Ninety percent…
Level up.
I felt disappointed that Nika wasn't here to celebrate with me, but I felt anxious as well. Nika wouldn't just leave me here… would she?
'Congratulations, io of Orbis .'
I looked across the platform, at two people leaning against the tower wall.
'Thank you.'
I couldn't tell exactly what job they were from my limited experience, but I guessed that one was a mage and the other was definitely a sniper.
I know more about archers than any other thing.
Sue me.
'What brings you here? You guys look pretty high-levelled.' I noted, looking at their fancy-looking armor and equips. I had never seen any of them before.
The mage broke into a smile.
'Don't flatter us, young hunter. We are quite low-levelled in our...' He hesitated. 'World.'
Their world? There was only one world wasn't there? Maple World. And the different servers.
The sniper cocked his head to one side to observe me. It made me feel uncomfortable under his gaze, and I squirmed.
'There is a time for talking, and a time for departure. The latter is due now.'
Departure?
I felt something pierce through my armor and my skin, but I was frozen, and could not scream.
The fifth of the six.
Neri.
They say I'm cold.
They say I'm heartless.
They say I'm powerful.
I'm quite inclined to believe them.
Because that's everything anyone has said about me.
If I had any other hidden qualities, someone would have said something.
Maybe there's nothing left inside me.
'You must train harder. You must push yourself to your maximum limit. When you have achieved that, you must push yourself to your new limit.'
I glanced at my master briefly, then went back to the extermination of the Straw Target Dummies. Kunais littered the ground and walls, remnants of someone else's exercise. The walls and floor would sometimes open up and swallow them, and I had to be careful not to be sucked into the Infinite Hole.
'Therefore the word 'limit' is redundant. The word 'limitation' is banished.'
He was brainwashing me again.
I was beginning to feel slightly tired from a hard day's work of slashing at various monsters around my hometown, Mu Lung. It was a crude English interpretation of the fearsome female warrior it was named after, and I hated it.
Yet again, I had found nothing in this world to like either.
'You must not be weak, or show weakness.'
'You must destroy anyone in your way to become the greatest dragon knight.'
'Let no one come between you and your path.'
With these 'sagely' words, he swept out of the training grounds, leaving me to slash at yet another row of scarecrow-like creatures.
Let's get out the rice wine and celebrate. My master has finally left me alone, instead of brainwashing me with his all-knowing phrases.
'Aren't you tired?'
'A warrior is never tired.'
'Your own words or your master's?'
I finally glared at the owner of the voice.
A strong assassin with what I recognized from my weapon studies as Casters, accompanied with a silent crusader, his power-rings, or combo attack evident. They were sitting on the roof of the training compound.
I raised my eyebrows.
'Please descend from the roof. You might damage the tiles.'
'Of course, but only after this.'
I ducked behind a straw target dummy and used it as a shield for the onslaught of kunais. Green liquid exploded from the point of contact. Poison?
'I missed?'
Disbelief was well alive in his cultured voice, and his companion couldn't help but laugh. His booming laugh quickly morphed into the Crusader's Roar, which almost caught me unawares.
'You're strong.'
Long hours of slaving away while being brainwashed by the Master had finally paid off. Not that I had enjoyed any minute of it.
A dull thunk against my armor informed me that I had lost, as I slowly toppled over. The star had slammed into me at an incredible speed, and it occurred that the people had been just toying with me earlier.
'You're very strong.'
I was pleased to hear a note of respect in his tone. Faint, but it was there.
The last of the six.
Elyian.
My life is not my life to lead.
But based upon the wishes of others.
I have no path, I have no dreams.
Half living on the desires of others.
Am I just a puppet with cut strings?
'You must not do well. You must be the best.'
'Yes father.'
'Make our clan proud.'
'Yes mother.'
'Do not show emotions. Emotions are for the weak. And weakness must never be shown.'
'Yes master.'
'Become the elite.'
'Yes brother.'
I felt more alone than ever.
The airship of the Hacker's Academy for the Villainously gifted was pleasantly warm. The people accompanying me were pleasant. Anything concerning the Academy was pleasant.
I bit my lip, feeling the awakened Hackinium in me swirl dangerously to the tips of my fingers at my small show of emotion. When I saw the ranger that was accompanying me look at me, I retreated behind my emotionless mask.
'Is everything to your liking, Lady Elyian?'
I inclined my head, hating how I couldn't just smile and reply in the affirmative. Just another part of my life.
Being born into the Tasaire family was worse than anyone could ever imagine. From that moment on, I grew up surrounded by traditions, power, wealth, ridiculous expectations, and training.
When I was younger, I wanted to shout at my brother for suddenly changing after an intense three-month training session with my master. I demanded to know exactly why he wouldn't talk to me, smile at me, or play with me. I was no longer there to him. I was less visible than air. My mother had taken me aside quietly.
'Elyian. One day you will undergo your brother's training, and you will understand. For now, be as silent as the shadows, and blend in like water.'
I understand now, why my brother had acted like he did. Now that I mirrored him, I understood perfectly.
The training was nothing like the usual training at all. No firing poison at monsters, or shooting them full with smoking fire arrows of pure mana.
It was a training to bury your soul within yourself, and to lock it up and destroy the key. It was training designed to create the impenetrable mask that you hid behind, a mask appropriate for a member of the Tasaire family.
The Tasaire family.
Edir Tasaire, governor of Ossyria and Ludus Lake.
Eris Tasaire, a beautiful Arch Mage of ice.
Enei Tasaire, a handsome and powerful ranger.
And me, Elyian Tasaire.
Supposedly a prodigious and pretty Fire and Poison mage, reaching second advancement within four days of hardcore training.
The people of El Nath wanted to be us.
But would they want to be us, if they knew that the dark power of hackers thrived in our bodies, instead of blood? The extents that we would go to hide our secret?
Guess not.
'Lady Elyian, we have arrived.'
I rose from the seat, and mentally prepared myself for six years of training.
I was only ten years old, when I entered the academy.
The master of the six.
Rikir.
I owe them nothing.
They owe me their lives.
I love all of them.
They leave my presence, hating me.
'Another year, another six brats to deal with.'
I sighed, leaning back into my swivel chair. I loved the chair. It was worth becoming a teacher at this school for this chair.
'Rikir! You must not speak of them like that. I've heard that you have the honour of educating the distinguished Lady Elyian, the fire poison prodigy.'
I raised my eyebrows at my colleague.
'A spoilt princess? I hope the others have more potential.'
'Rikir!'
I started reading the list of the kids aloud.
'Zack of Kerning. Aria of Ellinia. Xan of Korean Folk Town. Io of Orbis. Neri of Mu Lung. And the so-called prodigy of Ossyria and Ludus Lake, the distinguished Elyian Tasaire of El Nath.'
I scanned down the list again, noticing the distinct lack of family or clan names.
'All of them are orphans, except for the little princess.'
'Not very unusual, Rikir. After the foolish attempt of massacring of our kind by the humans, most of us have gone into hiding.'
'Or their parents could have died. Or they were just randomly exposed to Hackinium, the odds being zero to infinity.'
'Your sarcasm does not go unnoticed, Rikir.'
'Your smarminess doesn't, either.'
Classical music butted in, informing us that it was the end of the school day. I imagined the kids sighing happily, heading back to their dormitories to finish up on homework and start honing their hack skills.
'Well, induction day is tomorrow. Goodbye, Rikir.'
I grunted at him, and then grinned.
My six brats were in for a rollercoaster ride.
This is my first Maplestory fanfic. Please leave a review and tell me how I should improve. ^_^
Oh yeah, I made a trailer for this fanfic… :o
Youtube
Search box
Type Lyrei
Click on [Trailer] Hacker's Academy
Uh. And read the story? :D
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