With the immediate strength of multiple newly gained levels confirming Greyson’s death, Alex deactivated Battle Trance before backing up wearily and slumping to the damp ground. He had a moment of panic before realizing it was water and not his own blood, but his heart continued to race, body still tense with unreleased energies. A quest notification filled his vision, but Alex dismissed it. Taking the moment to instead stare up at the alien constellations in an attempt to center himself and avoid thinking about what he’d done. Part of him wanted to cry, not for the healer, nor Trevor, nor Greyson, but for himself, for the pieces he’d been forced to suppress just to survive. He was just so angry, so frustrated, but as the seconds passed and no tears flowed, he instead took a few breaths, let the last out in a massive sigh, and got back to work.
‘Live now, cry Later.’
Making his way back over to where Greyson lay, Alex placed a hand on the man’s body and pulled the former fighter into his inventory. A chill passed through him as he considered that it was his third time doing so to a sentient creature in what… an hour. A quick check to his clock confirmed it had only been fifty minutes since the healer's death, and no matter how much he believed it was necessary, that didn’t make the truth any easier to swallow. If he wanted to live, or even thrive in this new system, they were not going to be the last of his kills, neither in the tutorial nor out.
Alex worked as he thought, his enhanced perception compensating for the canopy filtered moonlight while he searched for all that had been thrown. It was more about keeping potentially useful supplies than cleaning up, especially since the copious amounts of blood would clue anyone into the fact that there’d been a fight. His search ended rather quickly, and after another five minutes, Alex found himself back at the seemingly solid stone that marked the facility’s entrance.
Sticking his hand straight through, he used Sixth Sense to find the round latch and gave it a pull. Locking it back before he headed down, the lights that illuminated the section seeming brighter than earlier, Alex wished he had something that could alert him of another’s arrival. He’d considered just sprinting from the place straightaway, but traveling through a monster infested forest in the middle of the night whilst stinking of blood had dangers of its own. Besides, Alex highly doubted anyone would be showing up anytime soon, he just wanted to clean up and collect some potential loot. He’d be long gone before morning.
Deciding to open a few of the locked passageways in case someone did show up, Alex roamed the halls a bit aimlessly, checking random rooms to see if he’d missed anything during his Soul Sight availed explorations. The simplicity of the walk helped clear his mind, it had been a few days since Alex had done something not under the pretense that it could result in his immediate death, so the change was welcome. Reentering the prison from the right side after opening the gate, Alex gave a look to his former home. He’d initially shied away from the place, the memories as fresh as the pain that came with them, but he knew that was his fear talking.
Approaching the nearest cell rather than walking directly to his own, Alex unlocked the door. As he had suspected, there was almost nothing of use, the room was much like the one he’d stayed in, a musty, depressing cell that offered no chance for escape. Making his way to the deeper in, Alex grabbed the only valuable item, a set of mana inhibiting restraints connected to the wall by a piece of bolted in metal. It took him a couple of minutes to figure how Trevor had gotten them on and off the wall. The middle of the chain turned out to have a lock that allowed easy removal whilst keeping its ability intact, and Alex had fumbled the keys slightly as their function messed with his mana flow just from the contact.
He ended up with six of the bindings in total, each of the cells having a set he could take. Finished with the section for good, Alex made his way out of the area and towards the individual bedrooms. An idea sprung to him as he walked, and Alex was soon skating through the tunnels, his mood lightening further as he engaged in an old hobby. Stopping ahead of Trevor’s door, Alex tried at the lock with a few keys before pulling out the only magical one on the ring, a master key of sorts.
He’d discovered it after realizing there were much too few keys for the number of doors this place held; a bit of trial and error combining with Sixth Sense’s detection of the slight energies that sloughed off it. The key didn’t work on every lock in the facility, such as the cell doors, but most places like a kitchen, or bedrooms it seemed, could be accessed with little trouble.
The door opened to little of note, though Alex did a cursory search anyway. It seemed the dwarf had been carrying everything he’d brought on his person. Not wasting any time, he made his way over to the healer’s room. She had kept her room a bit messier, a few papers, some tools, and clothing spread about. Throwing it all into his inventory, Alex began a much more thorough search. The woman hadn’t been wearing a spatial storage, so logic dictated she’d left it somewhere.
He doubted she trusted either of the men enough to leave it with one of them, so his best guess was that it’d been remained in the room. His hunt took another five minutes, as well as a liberal use of Soul Sight, but Alex finally found what he was looking for behind a portion of hollowed out wall. The space had been invisible to his sensory skill, the experience reminding him of Janet’s trick with her aura. But just like with the older woman, being able to see the target disregarded that advantage.
Rather than Trevor’s three, the healer only owned a single spatial storage, the purplish gem that lent the item its ability inset into the charm of a necklace. Still, inside that single necklace encompassed more space than all three of the dwarf’s combined. It was filled nearly to the brim, and Alex had to force himself away as he glanced over some of the more interesting items. Throwing the chain into his inventory, Alex made to leave the room, only to stop as the furniture caught his eye, a realization coming to him. He’d been thinking too small, with an unlimited storage device at his fingertips, he could literally strip this place dry.
Walking over to an empty dresser, he laid a hand on it and gave the mental command to store the piece of furniture, which vanished with no issue. Grabbing another dresser and the bed, Alex exited the room and walked over to Greyson’s. Unfortunately, the interior was just as empty as Trevor’s, though Alex knew he’d yet to search the man’s body for his storage device. Heading into one of the unused rooms, he grabbed another bed and two more dressers, before querying his inventory for the fighter's possessions. He hadn’t known what type of housing to expect from the man, but it definitely hadn’t been a belt with an old-fashioned cowboy buckle the size of his fist. Alex wondered how Greyson had kept it hidden under his clothes, as he stored the belt and withdrew his board once more.
This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.
It didn’t take long for Alex to arrive at his final destination, and he ended up needing to search the man’s storage for his keys to unlock the door. Walking past the two chairs and behind the beautifully crafted wooden desk, Alex took a seat in the most comfortable chair he’d ever sat in. Relishing the feeling of something other than hard stone under his but, he began to laugh, the sound echoing off the wall. He couldn’t help it, rather than tears, his emotions had crescendoed past sadness and into the realm of absurdity.
These fucking assholes had tortured him for days without rest, Constant cycles of breaking and healing, all for some gold, his gold. At worst, he was guilty of some insider trading, but he doubted they even knew about that. Some higher-ups had probably just noticed they lost more money than average and did a bit of a search. In a place where the leadership let people die for entertainment, let alone the large profit they likely reaped, what moral paragon did they ascribe to that warranted coming after him. It was all about power, some dickwad at the top not wanting to share. But Alex had gained some power of his own, and now the people that had been sent after him were dead, while he alone roamed the halls of his former prison.
He felt tired as the laughter faded, a bit of the manic tinge that had come along with it draining what felt like the last of his energies, but Alex knew he still had plenty to do before he could sleep. Deciding to start with his quest, he opened his notifications and read over what his kills had earned him.
***
Quest Complete: Tutorial Quest - Main - Subquest 1.3: Mission Escapable
Rewards:
Item Upgrade Sigil x1
Class Level x1
Achievement Unlock Token x1
Endori Forest Underground Bunker x1
Congratulations, you have received the full ownership rights to property: Endori Forest Underground Bunker. Check Properties tab for more information.
***
Another item upgrade sigil was nice, though after his scarf had been destroyed, Alex didn’t think he had any items above Common rarity. He might now, and the thought made him want to check over his loot immediately, but he pushed down the urge, instead reading over some of the newer information.
***
Item
Item Name: Achievement Unlock Token
Description: Will unlock one achievement of the user's choice. This token is only functional within your appointed tutorial and will be consumed upon utilization.
***
That was pretty straightforward and definitely useful, though he hated that none of the achievements offered any more information than a name. He wondered if there could be bad achievements, and if so whether he had any. It would be tough to know which to use it on for certain, but it could represent a power spike, Alex sure hoped it would.
***
Properties
Name: Endori Forest Underground Bunker
Ownership Percentage: 100%
Ownership Visibility: Public
Methods of Forfeiture: Challenge, Relinquishment, Transferal, Death
***
That was interesting, though Alex quickly changed the visibility to private, hopefully that would mean no one who came to the place would know he owned it. He considered relinquishing the property when he left, but assumed the trio’s boss, Eric, would be after him anyway. Why make it easier for the man to get his bunker back? Moving on to what he’d gained from the actual fight, Alex’s eyes widened further and further as he read.
***
Your skill [Battle Trance] has advanced to Level Three.
Your skill [Battle Trance] has advanced to Level Four.
…
Your skill [Battle Trance] has advanced to Level Seven.
Your skill [Fear Resistance] has advanced to Level Nineteen.
Your skill [Fear Resistance] has advanced to Level Twenty.
Your skill [Pain Resistance] has advanced to Level Twenty-Five
Skill [Pain Resistance] has reached the peak of your Grade, F, advance your class level to the next Grade to further upgrade skill. No further skill experience can be gained until class Grade is advanced.
Your skill [Dodge] has advanced to Level Thirteen.
Your skill [Dodge] has advanced to Level Fourteen.
,,,
Your skill [Dodge] has advanced to Level Sixteen.
Your skill [Sixth Sense] has advanced to Level Twenty.
Your skill [Sixth Sense] has advanced to Level Twenty-One.
Your skill [Sixth Sense] has advanced to Level Twenty-Two.
Your skill [Acting] has advanced to Level Six.
Your skill [Silent Strike] has advanced to Level Nine.
Your skill [Thorn’s Touch] has advanced to Level Fifteen.
Your skill [Thorn’s Touch] has advanced to Level Sixteen.
Your skill [Thorn’s Touch] has advanced to Level Seventeen.
Your skill [Dagger Mastery] has advanced to Level Six.
Your skill [Dagger Mastery] has advanced to Level Seven.
Your skill [Dagger Mastery] has advanced to Level Eight.
You have defeated Human (Level 50). Bonus experience awarded for killing an enemy above your level.
+7 Gold
For defeating an entity more than thirty levels above yourself, you have received the following:
300 gold coins 200 silver coins
Congratulations, you have advanced to Level Twenty
Attribute Points Granted. Allocate Free (1) Point(s)
Congratulations, you have advanced to Level Twenty-One
Attribute Points Granted. Allocate Free (1) Point(s)
…
Congratulations, you have advanced to Level Twenty-Four
Attribute Points Granted. Allocate Free (1) Point(s)
For receiving the full ownership rights of a property recognized by the system, you have been awarded the achievement: First-time Homeowner.
For raising all primary stats above the value of Twenty-Five while still in F grade, you have been awarded the achievement: Jill of All Stats
***