Before Alex could start freaking out about the timer another two prompts appeared, these two doing so instantly thanks to Alex’s change in settings.
***
Quest
Tutorial Quest - Main - Subquest 1: A Journey of A Thousand Li
The first step is the most important part of any journey. The Beast King is an existence far above the current you. Gear Up, Train, and Level if you want any hope of completing the challenge.
Rewards: Variable
Tutorial Quest - Unique Challenge - Subquest 1: An Intellectual Pursuit
Knowledge is power. Information is liberating. You currently have neither. Learn, with complete certainty, who the strongest entity in your tutorial is.
Rewards: Variable
***
Minimizing both quests, Alex took a deep breath, he had promised himself he wouldn’t cry, no matter what happened he’d take it in strides. Managing to fend off the panic with little more than balled fists and a desire to live past this tutorial, Alex went over everything again. He let out a relieved sigh when he realized the last number in the timer was minutes. It meant he had sixty days not hours, and that small victory made the challenge a bit more bearable. Still, it didn’t mean Alex was ready to actually believe he had a chance. He had seen Anise fight, and she was already so far above him the two were incomparable. It didn’t help that she was likely at the lower end of the tutorial elites.
Rereading both the sub-quests, Alex thought on how to proceed. For the first, he essentially needed to do what he was told. He had been messing around with the system for almost an hour and the sun was beginning to peak through the far window which meant Anise should be up soon. When they talked Alex would need to have her show him a library, and somewhere he could level. He thought it unlikely the monsters the tutorial spoke of were in the city, mainly since he hadn't encountered any when walking with Anise. He knew he wouldn’t stand a chance against enemies of a higher grade at level one and hoped there was a school or something that helped people get their first few levels.
For the shopping Alex wasn’t sure what to do. Based on what Anise had said he knew the people had the system, but not how active it was in their lives. Whether his theory on this place being a copy of somewhere else was correct or not, the system would likely be able to modify things, so Alex couldn’t be sure. That meant showing his newly acquired wealth was a definite no.
Thinking of the unique challenge’s sub-quest made Alex think of Dora. Anise had said she was almost D grade and Alex thought about what that meant for the challenge’s target. Depending on how the leveling worked they could be C grade. A person or beast, with that power wasn’t someone Alex could even consider fighting, but he would still do his due diligence to find out who it was. The quest had been right about the lack of information and Alex didn’t like the thought of some unknown powerful person randomly ruining his currently unformed plans.
He quickly realized even if he knew who the person was there would be little he could do about it, but decided that would be an issue for the future. Considering his current information he marked down, the little girl as his first lead. She was a bundle of weird wrapped up in crazy, but she was the most powerful person he knew at the moment, so Alex would ask if he got the chance.
Alex continued to mess around with his interface. He started with the timer changing it, so it only showed the countdown in the bottom right of his vision. The icon was so small Alex couldn’t actually read it, but if he focused a larger version would appear in the center of his vision. Constant numbers in his view would be horridly distracting, but Alex still wanted it present. He had been making some minor esthetical improvements to his interface when Anise called out.
“Hey, it’s time to get up, I have a shift at eight so if we’re gonna talk it’ll have to be during breakfast.”
Alex turned to see Anise walking out of the bathroom hair still wet and dressed only in a towel. Rather than the scarcely covered woman in front of him, his mind latched onto the fact that he hadn’t even heard her get out of bed, let alone take a shower.
“Come on. Breakfast will be ready in twenty, and I need something oily to help with this hangover. I’ll get your clothes while you’re in there.”
Grabbing his toothbrush, wash cloth, and towel from the night before Alex muttered a quick good morning before making his way to into the bathroom. It was still steamy from Anise shower, though the magic in the place was quickly filtering out the heat. Not wasting any time Alex began to strip.
It was ten minutes later, and much more scented than he was used to, that he emerged from the bathroom. He had considered walking out in the towel like Anise but decided the clothes he slept in would be a better choice.
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Anise was sitting on her bed still getting dressed. Her bodysuit was on, as were her greaves, though she hadn’t put any upper body gear on. Seeing his clothes on the couch Alex grabbed his pants and underwear, before making his way back to the bathroom; there was no reason to put on a show. Walking out, he quickly put on his undershirt and sweater, but opted to leave his jacket in his inventory. Alex made the item appear similar to how he’d seen Anise do it, rather than have his inventory form a portal, since he didn’t know what the difference signified. He didn’t escape without suspicion however, as Anise, she still gave him a curious look after he did so. Smiling sheepishly, Alex put on the slippers he’d been gifted and waited for Anise to make her way to the door.
The dining room was full of children that aged anywhere from toddler to pre-teens. Alex counted 17 in total, and began to doubt they were all related. Food was set out in a mini buffet around the room and Alex gladly grabbed a helping of eggs, what he assumed to be ham, and a few pancakes to make it into a sandwich. This seemed to intrigue a few of the children, and they ran from talking to Anise to follow in his example. Alex chuckled as he heard a few oohs and ahhs from the kids when he poured the syrup over the whole thing. Though his mirth was cut short when Anise dragged him away, the action only made the kids’ noise redouble as a few began to giggle and make kissing noises.
Back in her office Anise began to eat her own meal of bacon, eggs, and bread, not waiting until she was finished chewing to speak.
“So what’s the plan? I know you were up before me so you must have a few ideas.”
Alex looked at a piece of food that had flown out her mouth, nearly hitting his plate, and decided to wait until he swallowed to speak.
“Yea, I woke up about an hour before you and I realized I’m probably not working with full information, so the first shop I wanted to visit was a bookstore. It’d help me get a better idea of what my next couple months will look like. Then I figure I’d need to visit a weapons shop or something similar. Oh, and I was wondering if there was anything like a training school, that could help me early on. I don’t have a ton of money, but it should be enough to get me through the next couple of weeks, then I guess I’ll need to find a way to make more. I appreciate the help, but me essentially mooching off you wasn’t the point of the deal.”
She nodded, and this time waited till she was finished chewing to speak.
“The bookstore is easy enough, and I also know of a weapons shop where you could get some used gear for a reasonable price. The training school doesn't exist. There are individuals and parties that will take people into the surrounding forest to level, but that wouldn’t work. I know you said you had some money, but it won’t be enough. They request exorbitant amounts, so it’d probably take you a couple of years to save enough to go out just once. Another issue is the gap between you and the others. They will all likely be mid E grade and since the beast are E grade as well, the damage you’d be doing would be non-existent. People sometimes have their children join these parties to cross the threshold from F to E grade but trying to level from sub five would be insanity. The amount of essence a person receives from a battle is dependent on level and contribution. Your contribution would be near zero, the level modifier would be high, but it’d still be quicker to just fight F grade monsters.”
She took a sip of apple juice before continuing.
“I know we have a deal, and I will help you best I can, but I recommend you leave the city, at least for a while, gain some levels then come back in the mid-teens. I could probably take you out alone and help you. If I take you now it’s unlikely I’d be able to protect you.”
There wasn’t any discernible emotion showing on her face and Alex hoped she was being sincere, though truthfully it didn’t really matter. Her recommendation seemed solid, but he doubted he’d have enough time, nor did he know if there was anything past the forest that surrounded the city. Making a show of thinking over what Anise had said Alex spoke again.
“That’s reasonable I just want to see what I can do first, maybe try to raise some money for when I’m on the road. If I can’t figure any alternative in a few weeks, I’ll do what you suggested, for now I think the bookstore would be a good start.”
Accepting his counteroffer with the same lack of emotion, the pair continued to eat in silence.
~~~
“This is Aunt Janet, she will be showing you to the bookstore and anywhere else you wanted to go,” Anise said, as she and another woman approached Alex.
They had finished eating and taken their dishes to the kitchen before Anise reminded him that she had to go to work in an hour. She had then disappeared, while Alex talked to the other adults, gently deflecting questions of where he was from and how he met Anise. With the timer constantly counting down he didn’t want to spend the day doing nothing, but he guessed waiting a few hours was better than stumbling out blindly. Luckily for him, it seemed he wouldn’t have to.
“Aunt?” Alex couldn’t help but asking as he looked at the woman. She had the features of an Eastern-Asian woman, but nothing about her suggested she was a woman old enough to be an aunt.
‘Maybe she was young when Anise was born?’ Alex thought to himself.
“Yes child, Aunt. Don’t let my appearance fool you, I’ve looked like this since before you were a twinkle in your mother’s eye.”
Her voice was melodic, and Alex enjoyed it so much he had to stop himself from simply asking her to speak more. Taking a moment to consider her words, Alex supposed it made sense. Dora was clearly not a child, at least Alex didn't think she was, especially if she was pushing D grade. Realizing he was staring Alex bowed instinctively to break eye contact.
“It is very nice to meet you ma’am, I appreciate the help you will be giving me.”
“Just Janet is fine, no reason to make me feel my age.” Raising his head Alex saw a warm smile on the woman's face. “And I heard what happened between you and Ann over here. You could have done much worse by her, like some other men.” She turned to glare at Anise, who began to turn red.
Alex just smiled, trying, and failing not to look at the blushing girl. Janet was letting the silence hang though it was clear the now fidgeting Anise was the subject. Deciding she had made the guard squirm enough Janet finished her point.
“But you didn’t and for that I and the others appreciate you. It is why I decided to help. Ann, you may go, I think it's time for me and the man you spent the night with to get to know each other a bit better.”