Nearing the end of his third full day as a captive, Alex’s confidence in his plan had begun to dip. Well, that wasn’t exactly true, his confidence had been waning before he came up with the plan in the first place; now it was just petering out entirely. Alex had been doing his best to keep to the makeshift schedule of sleeping, meditating, and brutal torture, fearing not making the most of any time he had, but was growing unsure of how much longer he could.
It had been well over 72 hours since his last meal, and besides the water he’d managed to reroute from his lungs earlier in the day, the only thing he’d been drinking recently came out of a squirt bottle. With the whole situation only made worse by the fact that he had near everything he needed in his storage at that very moment. Something cracked inside him at the thought of the full breakfast he couldn’t access, and Alex barely stopped himself from banging his head against the wall in frustration.
Surrendering the information to the men was looking more appealing by the second, but even as exhausted as Alex was, he knew better than to actually do so. The men were unlikely to believe him in the first place, especially after he said he’d need to be unchained to give them what they wanted. Even if they did allow it, the pair would be on high alert the second he was freed, and, based on their last fight, Alex didn’t stand a chance. No, he would have to stick to the plan, maybe even work harder to speed up its progress. If the men’s abuse continued to escalate, Alex wasn’t sure how much longer he would stay him. Dragging himself up against the wall, he pat himself down; the day’s activities having been particularly brutal.
Greyson was becoming fed up with the entire situation, the attractive man leaving early into the session, and only coming back near the end to ask his questions. Initially, Alex had taken a small amount in pleasure in his ability to annoy, until the man began pulping his organs when he refused to speak. He wasn’t sure about the water in lungs to mashed intestines conversion rate, but was pretty sure Greyson had done more damage in that hour than Trevor had in the four prior.
For the most part his skills, combined with the potion, had held up to the challenge, but as they approached the peak of F-Grade their leveling speed had decreased. Alex was pretty sure he’d have broken by nighttime if they just left him without the normal afternoon healing session. Luckily for his life assurance, the woman arrived shortly after the pair finished for the day. Trevor letting her in, as had become typical, before the man left to likely go harm baby animals.
Alex was once again curled up on the floor, though he had a better view of her face in fetal position as he was. He wasn’t sure if he was reading her correctly, the swollen eye and probable concussion messing with his perception, but she seemed both excited and sad when looking him over. Either way, she wasted little time in healing him, nor in starting a conversation, her voice lowered conspiratorially.
“These are awful,” she began. Her light touch eliciting a hiss from Alex. “Maybe you should just tell them what they want to know, I’m happy to be able to help you, but as a healer it pains me to see what they do to you each day.”
“I really don’t know anything,” Alex answered, keeping his facade of innocence up even with the strange woman. She seemed ready to follow-up, but he changed the subject through grit teeth. “I honestly wish I did, at least then maybe this would stop; but what about you, what do they want from you.”
He was hoping to see whether that story Greyson had spewed was true, or if the man had just been making stuff up, as a form of mental torture. Unfortunately, her tale of being out working in the Oudel for some church organization when the men picked her up off the street was worse by some measures. That only brought the mood down further, and the conversation faded into silence, the waves of soothing energy she released doing little to alter his mental state. It didn’t take much longer for her to mend him to a suboptimal degree, but even after she left, Alex couldn’t muster the energy to follow his normal routine. Instead, he decided to go over his notifications as a way of distracting himself, which was where he found himself now.
***
Your skill [Pain Resistance] has advanced to Level Twenty.
Your skill [Pain Resistance] has advanced to Level Twenty-One.
Your skill [Meditation] has advanced to Level Sixteen.
Your skill [Meditation] has advanced to Level Seventeen.
Your skill [Meditation] has advanced to Level Eighteen.
Your skill [Fear Resistance] has advanced to Level Eleven.
Your skill [Fear Resistance] has advanced to Level Twelve.
Your skill [Fear Resistance] has advanced to Level Thirteen.
Skill
Name: Negotiate
Rating: Uncommon
Grade: F
Level: 1
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Mode: Passive
Resource Cost: N/A
Description: Trade is the lifeblood of any economy. Its very existence binds the universe through channels of mutual prosperity, breathing life into civilizations and taking from those it deems unworthy. Negotiation is the art form veiled behind the promise of equal exchange - a dance of greed spun through keen observation and adept communication, aiming to take all from one, for the sole benefit of another. Decipher hidden meanings behind seemingly arbitrary thoughts, exploring your audience’s mind through their barest movements. Embrace the power of persuasion, for in the symphony of your actions you hold the power to sway nations. Skill ability correlates to Charisma, Perception, and Intelligence.
***
Chuckling at how useful Negotiatecould be if these people believed a word he said, Alex moved on from recent events to older stuff, anything to distract himself from the current dread. He bounced around for a little, rereading over his skill sheet, to see if there was anything he’d missed. Eventually he found himself back at the beginning, when the options for the tutorial had been presented to him less than a week ago. Shrugging, Alex read over the extended explanations of the other options, imagining what his life would have been like if he picked them.
***
–Tutorial Choices Activated–
Please pick from the following introductory tutorials. All tutorials will help you learn about how your Universe has changed, though some will offer more powerful paths than others. Choose Carefully.
Option 1: G-Grade
Tutorial Difficulty: Easy
Tutorial Method: Informational
Monster Rank: G
Population: Large
Rewards: Variable
… See more
Users will be moved to a group instance environment along with others from their planet, where they can focus on experimenting with and learning about the changes to their world from experienced guides. While there is a focus on mental preparation, basic battles with G-Grade monsters will be available to help people become accustomed to combat. Due to the difference in grade, less experience will be given per kill, which may result in leaving with a lower level than those of other tutorials. G-Grade monsters will only be available on this tutorial and will not exist on your planet. No or Low tiered loot will be dropped regularly (Common). Quests or challenges may provide higher rewards. Interactions with other users will be assured. City and forest setting.
Unique challenge: Kill 150,000 beasts of any level before leaving the tutorial.
***
The easy tutorial was, exactly what it claimed to be. Useful to the average Joe who held few aspirations for power in his new world. Though compared to the hell he found himself in, Alex was near salivating at the idea of fighting G-Grade monsters for a change, even if it was by the thousands. Still, the people who chose this option would be of great importance once everyone returned to Earth, the information their guides provided them pivotal to adapting. If he lived, Alex would have to try to link up with some of the people who had selected it, which hopefully included his parents. He was certain his mother would have wanted to pick the easiest option and while his father would have made a show of wanting to select one more difficult, he would have gone along with her in the end. The idea that his parents were likely safe lifted his mood some as he readied to read over the other options.
***
Option 2: F-Grade
Tutorial Difficulty: Intermediate
Tutorial Method: Hybrid
Monster Rank: F
Population: Medium
Rewards: Variable
… See more
Users will be moved to a hybrid group instance of both information and combat, where they will fight in an environment resembling that of their new planet. Sections dedicated for battle will be filled with F-Grade beasts, and safe zones for users to recover in will be present throughout. Low to Middle tiered loot will be dropped regularly (Common-Uncommon). Information drops will be released weekly, and path advisors may be questioned in safe zones. Quests or challenges may provide higher rewards. Interactions with other users will be likely. Forest setting.
Unique Challenge: Kill 10,000 beasts of the F-Grade before leaving the tutorial.
***
That was a bit of a jump, but Alex could see how this tutorial fit into the ranking system where it did. It was for the survivalists of the world, people with experience in the wilder sides of Earth looking for a bit of an edge when they returned. He knew a few of his friends would have at least considered it, though he wasn’t sure if any were likely to have selected the option.
***
Option 3: E Grade
Tutorial Difficulty: Advanced
Tutorial Method: Combat
Monster Rank: F, E
Population: Low
Rewards: Variable
… See more
Users will be moved to a combat focused tutorial with a dungeon clearing emphasis. Contains multiple higher F grade adversaries, with select bosses in the E grade. No safe zones will be present, though users in the spaces outside dungeons are less likely to be ambushed. Users will be allowed to choose one starting set from a list of gear upon transfer to the tutorial. Interactions with other users will be rare. Middle to Higher tiered loot will be dropped regularly (Uncommon - Epic).
Unique Challenge: Complete 25 E Grade Dungeons, including their bosses, solo.
***
‘Clearing dungeons, huh,’ Alex mentally mused.
He wondered if there were any in his own tutorial. This option seemed to be marketed towards the soldiers of the world, people experienced in working in group based combat, if the dungeons were anything like the ones he’d played through. That would have made the Unique Quest for that instance all the more difficult but, if Alex was being honest, it sounded like fun. He couldn’t be sure about back when the tutorial started, but if he could switch options at the moment, that would have been his choice. Especially with that starter gear option, the amount of times his clothes had been ruined opened his eyes to how important some good gear was. He looked down at the torn rag that represented the rest of his shirt and let out a short chuckle of a groan.
Mind a bit more relaxed, Alex took a breath, his distraction hadn’t been as useless as it initially seemed. Sure, he’d spent longer than planned, but the reading had provided some information that could prove relevant to his own situation and, more importantly, helped calm him. With the tendency humans had to overestimate themselves, Alex was sure millions were struggling to come to terms with their new world just like him. That shared experience, even if his own was likely to prove a tad bit worse than some others, spurred him on. So that evening when Alex fell against the hard wall, back aching from his third day of agony, he didn’t have nightmares of torture, but rather, dreams of reunion safe back on Earth.
He didn’t wake for the first meditation session that night, his spent mind keeping him out till a little past four the next morning.