Alex awoke on what he hoped, more than actually believed, was the same filthy asphalt he’d passed out on. His cheek was to the rocky ground and the faintly sticky feeling on his face suggested he’d been drooling, at least he hoped it was drool. Opening his eyes two things ruined his fantasy of an extremely lucid, drunken dream. The first was the darkness; the alley he’d originally walked into it hadn’t been bright, but the streetlamps and few open storefronts had allowed for some level of illumination. Wherever he was now if he hadn’t been lying on the ground, he wouldn’t be sure what was up from down. Eyes beginning to adjust, he noticed the second much more obvious conformation. Blinking in the top left of his vision was a small yellow circle with an exclamation point inside.
Doing his best to fend off fear, Alex went through the motion of trying to banish it. He looked away, closed his eyes, blinked rapidly, mentally commanded it to vanish. As his demands were beginning to turn to pleas the panic set in. It wasn’t that the world had undergone some sort of system integration, those were his wildest dreams made reality. The problem was that he would never be able to enjoy any of it because he would die, alone, in a tutorial with a difficulty rated insane.
Sitting on his butt, Alex curled himself into a ball and began to shake, cursing everything that led him to this moment: Amy’s stupid drinks, Haley, the world, the woman who’d spoken prior to the tutorial. Alex’s minor mental breakdown ground to a halt as he heard footsteps approaching. While his rational mind suggested it sounded like the staggered gait of a drunk human; the panic latched on to a word from the earlier notification, “monsters”. Surprised to find his bag and board still with him, he picked up everything and ran the opposite direction he’d entered the original alley from. There was a shout in a language he’d never heard, and the steps sped up into a run to match his.
‘No not match,’ Alex thought as the figure began to gain on him.
In a motion he’d done a thousand times before Alex put his board down in front of him and jumped on, never breaking stride. The ground was much more unstable than the asphalt he was used to, but the board’s travel wheels he had on made short work of the gaps and bumps. Seeing he was only about thirty feet from the alley’s other opening Alex realized he didn’t really want to go out there. Running through his options as the adrenaline allowed him to think clearly, he began to slow, carefully turning back to look at the figure chasing him. A one-on-one fight was better than the unknown number in the street. Seeing them almost in range he stopped his board by grinding the tail against the ground. In one smooth movement he picked it up and swung it 180 degrees aiming for a shadow that looked like the thing's head. A feral scream full of fear left his lungs as he moved, even still he almost missed his target. The figure chasing him was definitely humanoid, so a strike for the head was Alex’s most logically choice. Unfortunately, he’d misjudged the person’s height and the sandpaper of his board barely crashed into the bottom of the figure’s chin. Luckily for Alex, that seemed to be enough as the person fell to the ground unmoving.
Raising the board to strike again he took a few ragged breaths, heart hammering in his chest as he focused on the body. Alex cursed as he scanned the figure only to see a body covered in metal. They wore a slimmer fit version of medieval armor including a chest plate, pauldrons, vambraces, gauntlets, greaves, and even metal toed boots. The only gap in their armor was on their head. Instead of the traditional bascinet helmet the person wore something closer to a Norman helmet, its metal only protecting their skull and nose. Leaning in a bit closer Alex noticed they reeked of alcohol.
‘I probably don’t smell much better,’ he thought kneeling behind the figure's head after confirming they were unconscious.
Unsure exactly what to do, he decided to remove their helmet. By the amount of alcohol, they likely consumed he doubted they’d be getting up any time soon but figured it would be best to be sure. Unclasping the strap around their chin was accompanied by a few teeth falling free, and he silently thanked the sales associate at the skate shop for convincing him to get the Canadian Maple, it might have just saved his life. Managing to get the helmet off, Alex let out another curse; it was a woman close to him in age. She looked to be pretty, though the missing teeth and slight angle of her jaw marred some of her attractiveness.
Guilt began to rise as he looked at the woman's platinum blonde hair and thin bloodied lips, but he quickly pushed it down. She chased him, and if he was to believe that system message, he was in a place he would likely die in, it wasn't his fault. The thoughts made him remember the icon in the corner of his vision and while it was there now, he hadn’t remembered seeing while running. Not sure if now was the best time, he sent a mental command for it to open, but even after a couple seconds of waiting nothing happened. Figuring it would likely be similar to what landed him in this mess in the first place he let out a low whisper.
“Notifications.”
The woman seemed to groan at the sound of his voice and Alex raised his board ready to sideswipe her temple. He remembered reading somewhere that boxers aimed for the jaw or the temple because it caused the brain to shake, and which would knock a person out. Alex hoped that since she hadn’t died from the first strike the second one wouldn’t kill her either, though if he had to choose, he’d rather her than him. After confirming she was still asleep, a series of prompts, as if waiting for his queue, filled his vision causing him to stumble back and land on his butt. Doing everything he could to not make noise, Alex threw another glance at the woman and began to read. The first seven were messages he’d seen already though he hadn’t truly understood any of them, so he read them over.
***
– Installed –
– User Designation… Calculating –
User setting updates available
Please read terms and interface manual
– Initializing–
– System Initialization Successful –
Welcome User Alexander Omar Hunter
***
Anger began to form as Alex realized someone, likely that lady, had installed something in his head, but it fled quickly as he realized there was nothing, he could do about it. He would have to make sure to look at the settings and read the manual, but they didn’t seem like they’d help solve his current problem. The next notification was the list of tutorials, and he figured that was the best place to start. Ignoring the first three Alex read the prompt for his current tutorial.
***
Option 4: Variable
Tutorial Difficulty: Insane
Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
Tutorial Method: Hybrid
Monster Rank: Variable
Population: Solitary
Rewards: Variable
Warning: This trial will likely result in your death. Pick with caution.
… See more
***
The warning made him shutter and throw a glance toward the still unconscious form at his feet, but he quickly picked the “See More” option with a mental push. Alex noted the oddities of the system he’d been given. While his mental probing of the first icon had failed, he could easily navigate inside these notifications without words. His head spun as he was assaulted by the text, voice, and direct implantation of the information. Letting out a brief groan of his own at the pain, Alex parsed the new prompt.
***
The user will be moved to a single instance environment where they may train, experiment, and learn away from others of their planet in a realistic setting. The instance includes no monsters below nor at the grade of the user. Due to the difficulty of this tutorial advanced learning and training opportunities are guaranteed. Loot with minimum rating of Epic guaranteed. Completion of a tutorial with an insane difficulty is contingent on meeting the instance’s outlined requirements.
Unique Challenge: Kill the instance’s most powerful being.
***
Out of curiosity Alex did the same with option five figuring he’d feel a bit better knowing it could have been worse. This time he braced himself as the information flooded in.
***
Users will be moved to a single instance environment where they may train, experiment, and learn with accompanied entities of their planet in a realistic setting. The instance includes no monsters below nor at the grade of the user. Due to the difficulty of this tutorial advanced learning and training opportunities are guaranteed. Loot with minimum rating of Epic guaranteed. Completion of a tutorial with a maximum difficulty is contingent on meeting the instance’s outlined requirements.
Unique Challenge: Kill the instance’s most powerful being.
***
That was strange; the only difference, besides the ability for more people, was the difficulty of maximum. There couldn't have been that big a difference since the loot tier minimum was the same as his own tutorial and the ability for more people seemed like it would make the tutorial easier. Shaking his head at the distraction he realized the prompt had actually provided him with some useful information. Due to the paragraph’s part on “a realistic setting,” Alex figured it was unlikely that the woman on the ground in front of him was a monster, but instead one of the people made to make the environment feel more real. Still, that didn’t mean she wouldn’t try to harm him, especially after she saw what her new smile looked like. The next notifications were the ones that sent him there and closing them he finally reached the first of the new prompts.
***
– Transfer complete –
Welcome, Alexander Omar Hunter to Arcadia.
***
Moving on Alex saw the first set of prompts he found exciting.
***
For entering a tutorial, you have received the following:
Comprehend (Epic)
Analyze (Common)
Inventory (Legendary)(Limited)
Accept (Y/N)
For being one of the first ten thousand people to enter a tutorial you have been awarded the achievement:
Adaptable
For choosing a tutorial of the insane difficulty you have received the following:
Advanced Analyze (Rare)
Infinite Inventory (Transcendent)(Limited)
Comprehend (Legendary)
(Class Slot) x3
Accept (Y/N)
For being the first person on your world to choose a tutorial of the insane difficulty you have been awarded the achievement:
Deathwish
For being the first person on your world to choose a tutorial of the insane difficulty, you have been awarded:
Luck
***
Even though he tried his best to prepare himself for it, the information still sent a shard through his brain. He was able to accept all his skills easily, also having to affirm the prompts warning him that he would be replacing Analyze with Advanced Analyze and the same for the other two skills. Shaking his head, he began to feel the effects of his newly acquired skills activate, now automatically knowing how to use them. Comprehend, as the name suggested, allowed him to understand foreign modes of communication as easily as he did English. Thinking back to the words the woman had shouted at him a completely new level of guilt, and embarrassment, filled him.
“Hey cutie, what’s wrong? I think we could cheer each other up.”
She had been drunkenly propositioning him as he was curled up on an alley floor, and he’d tried to smash her face in with his skateboard. To be fair she had tried to chase him down, which was extremely creepy, but Alex didn’t know if that would be a valid reason to anyone but himself. Using another of his newly acquired skills he inspected the woman.
‘Advanced Analyze’
***
General
Name: Unknown
Race: Human(?), Unknown
Age: Unknown
Level: Unknown
Grade: Unknown
Class: Unknown
Health: Less than max
Mana: Unknown
Stamina: Unknown
***
Even through all the stress of the last ten minutes, the uselessness of the skill almost made Alex burst into laughter. What was the point of the upgraded skill if it was a useless as not having it at all? Since he was able to see that the health was “less than max,” he figured the skill evaluated the information he knew and consolidated it into a prompt. Alex being the one who hit her, and the obviously… compromised, state of her jaw told him she was likely below full health. An inkling of excitement tried to worm its way up at the thought of what mana and its implied magic entailed, but Alex forced it down.
‘Crisis first, cool shit later.’
Inspecting the last skill, he had received Alex found the first possible solution for his problem. His inventory allowed him to store not just items but also living creatures. It was pretty messed up, okay really messed up, but he figured if he had no other options, he could take her and release her somewhere else. Giving the new ability a try, he picked up a rock and commanded it to go into his inventory. It vanished straight from his hand. Mesmerized with his new toy, Alex made the rock reappear then created a one-foot circle in front of him and threw it in. The ability allowed for multiple methods of storage and would keep everything put into it in the exact condition the item was when it entered.
Widening the portal slightly he threw his bag and, after a moment of hesitation, his board, into the inventory. Knowing he was a horrible person for even attempting, Alex put a finger on the woman’s forehead and attempted to put her in his inventory, only to be greeted by a system message. Letting out a slight sigh of relief he read the prompt.
***
This entity requires more mana than you can provide to keep in your inventory.
Mana required 495,987 per second
***
Deciding, since he wouldn’t immediately be hitting the woman again, it would be best to gain some distance; Alex moved back a few feet. Instead of looking at the rest of his notifications he attempted to figure out just how far he was from that amount of mana. Whispering into the alley he tried the likely command.
“Status.”
***
General
Name: Alexander Omar Hunter
Race: Human, F
Age: 21
Level: 1
Grade: F
Classes: (Primary), (Secondary), (Tertiary), (Quaternary), (Quinary)
Health: 73/73
Mana: 68/68
Stamina: 82/82
Attributes
Strength: 4
Dexterity: 7
Endurance: 4
Wisdom: 6
Intelligence: 4
Willpower: 2
Luck: 0
***
The answer, he realized, was far. Based on the average number Alex figured the baseline had to be four or five, and he scoffed at the system’s willpower rating of two. He could be assertive when he needed to be, he just preferred to avoid confrontation. As he was moving to inspect the stats for more information he was reminded of his most recent confrontation as they stirred in front of him.