Recovering from his episode of hysteria, Erik picked up his phone to check up on his family and friends. No luck. Dialing 911 offered similar results. Facebook, Google, and Youtube all seemed to be offline. He didn't know if this was a localized event because of where he was at, or if the system had suppressed global communications, or god forbid some being had interfered with their satellites themselves. That last part made him broke out into a cold sweat. Images of colossal dragons flying above or Cthulu-esque creatures roaming space.

He grabbed that thought in a choke hold and slammed it into the deepest darkest corner of his mind, locking it in a cell and throwing away the keys, for that path leads only to madness and ruins.

Scrolling through the System Notifications he came to a few conclusions.

First of all, the fact that the Shadow Beast was in his room was not because he was incredibly unlucky. It was a transported there as a method to weed out the weak and 'Unworthy' of the native species.

It also wasn't because of some miracle that all the noise the fight had made and the scent of blood didn't attract another one. The Tutorial was designed to be confined within a certain set of rules that helped to keep 'Players' Alive. It seems that was why he was still alive. The Protection Protocol was triggered after he had completed his task in killing the monster and saved his life. His fell under the 1vs1 category so to speak. The Shadow Beast would be confined to the room or area it was assigned to unless someone let it out or attacked it. These would yield more Exp and would be much safer than random encounters in the wild.

It seemed as if the System was encouraging him to seek out the rest and go above and beyond his tasks. High risk, high rewards as they say, and Erik would be lying through his teeth if he said he wasn't tempted. After all, this was the apocalypse and he'll be damned if he didn't grab every single scrap of power he could get his hands on. If the first reward was anything to go by, the System was generous in its Rewards during the Tutorial and for those who were brave enough to grab opportunities that come by.

Secondly, the Protection he had in keeping other monsters unaware of his presence would wear off exactly at 12 hours after the start of the Tutorial before the next Phrase starts. This would be terminated early if he were to attack a monster or interfere in another's Tutorial.

Which brought him to his third conclusion. The way his Tutorial was named was a bit too specific, Tutorial - Night Assault. It implied the existence of different branches of Tutorials and a grace period to heal and most likely prepare for his next tasks. This was a mere taste of what was to come, an Introduction as the Shadow Beast's page had so graciously told him.

Finally, Soul Points were a type of currency that was utilized by the System. It hinted at containing all manners of things from the mundane to the fantastical. Things straight out of Sci-Fi and fantasy novels! It was too bad he couldn't get too many specifics out of it. Apparently, he had yet to unlock the Shop Function and thus wasn't privy to that information. Something he needed to rectify ASAP.

A growl from his stomach startled him out of his thought process. Although the System recovered his health and healed his wounds he was still quite drained physically and mentally. He decided to take advantage of his invisibility to scope out the area and grab some food. Thankful for small mercies in the fact that his phone and earbuds survived the conflict he played some heavy rock and strolled down the halls. There were the occasional splatters of blood here and there, but there were no actual bodies to be found. He could see no signs of actual conflict. 

If he didn't know better he would have thought that some new intern had tripped and dropped a blood pack or perhaps an energic child accidentally pulled their IV out running through the halls. Although if he looked carefully he could see the haze of the Shadow Beasts in dark corners of the hall. It seems as if this branch of the hospital had undergone a similar Tutorial as him. 

They were assassinated before they even know what was going on.

Checking the rooms lead to mixed results. Some of them were empty and others were similar at first glance...If were it not for the dull red orbs under the bed. It seems that despite them having little resemblance to each other, their creepy eyes were a constant. 

Singing along to the song Erik went behind the front desk and... Liberated a backpack. Ok, so he was looting the probable, almost certain, dead. It's not like they could use it anymore and he needed to prepare. Going to the staff room right behind it he opened the mini fridge and helped himself to someone's lunch of ham and cheese. 

It wasn't the best, but man did he loved cheese. In fact, he loved most forms of dairy. It was just so good! Though considering the crisis humanity was facing this might be one of the last few days he could enjoy dairy products once the electricity ran out and there were no more farmers. 

What a sad world it'll be without ice cream.

While leisurely enjoying his pilfered goods, Erik decided to practice his skills. Rummaging around he found a small fruit knife and a thumbtack. He poked himself on his index finger with the tack and watched as slowly a bead of blood appeared. It was a strange sensation. 

He felt more attuned to it. There was a feeling as if it was still a part of him even if it had left his body. Like how a hand being moved away from your body does not make any less yours. He did not need to see it too know where it was, there was a special innate sense in his spatial awareness for it. Focusing his mind he lifted the orb up an inch above his palm. It shined in the fluorescent light as if a floating ruby, splendid in its glimmer. He stared in a trance, spending minutes playing with the boundaries of his newfound ability, like a child unwrapping a toy at Christmas. He had a large grin on his face as he made fly around and dance between his fingers, he changed its shape from triangles to crude turtles, and race it around. He felt his fatigue disappear messed around.

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He was absorbed in the simple joy of magic that he didn't notice the skill had was now Lv. 3. Shaking his head he attempted what he saw the System did before he passed out. Focusing his mind he tried to get the blood back into him. He failed. Never one to give up easily Erik tried again. And again...and again.. Sweat coursed through his brows. It has been mere minutes and yet the mental strain was starting to get to him. It felt like trying to write a college essay using pen and paper...While being a new double amputee without either of your arms from the elbow down.

He could sort of interact with the pen with his new nubs, but nowhere proficient enough to accomplish his task. His head was pounding and it felt hot as if he had a fever, but he finally did it! Ordering the blood to harden and scab over his wound was sealed. Sure, his fingertip was also covered in a thin layer of dried blood, but it got the job done!

Skill Lv. Up Get!

Proud of his efforts paying off he decided to test Blood Letting. He grabbed some bandages just in case. His smile fell off his face as he thought of how to test his next ability. Using the fruit knife Erik gave himself two small cuts. One with the curse on and one without side by side. Then he waited. Observing the results he finally used the curse on his wound that was cut normally. Then the one dealt by the knife when the curse was applied. He also applied the curse to the Tack then poked his other finger. 

Any single factor he could think of, he tested, after all this was the only real tools he had to survive. It wouldn't do to run around with a weapon he couldn't use nor understand. He wasn't some Shonen Jump protagonist. Great as his friends were, there was the simple fact that they weren't here. Hell, he didn't even know if they were still alive to miraculously show up and save him. His family was pretty average outside of being hunters. He didn't have a hidden secret bloodline waiting to awaken. He didn't have an OP cheat to carry him through his stupidity. As generous as the Tutorial was in saving him, and however game-like this world has become, he sincerely doubted there was a respawn waiting for him if he fucked up. And he didn't want to test that theory.

He had figured some 'Rules' to his powers. 

Blood Manipulation had more 'soft' rules than Blood Letting it seemed. If he used more mana and focus he could bend the rules slightly. He did not know how far he could take this as last time he tried he suffered a nosebleed and a pounding headache that got increasingly more painful. He was too scared to find out what would happen if he persisted.

Regardless, these factors seem to dictate how much mana and focus it requires.

1. Volume

2. Distance

3. Age

4. Amount

5. Speed

So far he could control a maximum amount of 18 fl oz. Just a bit more than the average water bottle. Erik discovered this when he was testing if he could control other's blood. While he could use human blood with limited control, he couldn't use the Shadow Beast's at all. There was no way of knowing for now if it was because of his low skill level or if what flowed within it simply wasn't blood or too alien for his current abilities.

On the bright side, he figured out a few tricks. If he used the same blood type as himself than it was much easier to control. Perhaps because the familiarity to his own helped his focus. Also if the mixed his own blood with other people's than it helped the skill recognize it as his own thanks to the similarity he presumes. 

He couldn't seem to get it to leave much pass 10 ft away in any direction. When he went back to his room and tried he found that he had a lot more difficulty trying to interact with his blood from when the trial started. It wasn't impossible, but highly more difficult than fresh blood. He estimates that more than 5 hours was a lost cause. He could split his blood into 3 'separate' units in the form of orbs or the like, but any more taxed his focus too much to be of use. In orb form it's speed and impact was like being splashed with a cup of water, and if he enlonged it then it could move twice as fast!

... Which was still ended up at an unimpressive of being barely faster than a Super Soaker water gun.

So much for copying anime characters with blood projectiles, oh and he had to rule out weapons made of blood too. Blood was frankly too brittle and weak. He could control it's traits to a limited factor, but no matter how much blood he condensed it didn't work out. Sure, it looked cool when the Hero made a sword of blood and deflected bullets and sliced through buildings, but reality rarely turns out how we wished it too... Although with this nonsensical System being a factor and his manipulation skill level currently so low and only at the Basic version, perhaps once he leveled it up or acquired the higher version he could pull it off.

Suppressing his inner Weeb he thought about his options.

On one hand he could attempt to find his parents in the unlikely scenario they survived and his friends. On the other, he could hold up here and prepare himself for the next phase of the tutorial. Thoughts raced through his head as he considered the outcomes of both.

He was in the middle of Boston and his house was miles away. He doubted the streets would be clear and the subway is certainly shut down. Plus his invisibility only applied to monsters of his own Tutorial type.

Sure they were locked in their rooms or standing mindlessly in the halls, but that didn't mean other types couldn't roam around, and what of the people outside? People who were in groups? Would it be a group battle? Or would they get something big enough and mean enough to wipe everyone out? What if there was random monster spawns already out and about?

In most games he had played the tutorial took you to an isolated throwaway map or a ridged and limited path where you HAD to follow along with its script. This fell in neither of those categories. This was a goddamn open world sandbox. There was no 'safe zone'. Even if he didn't meet any random monsters, he only had 7 hours to traverse a dozen miles of wrecked terrain home during mid-apocalypse before the next Phrase of the Tutorial started, and if it was another encounter he'd be fucked. Dropped the soap in prison with a tramp stamp fucked.

Yeah... He wasn't Rambo, there was no way he'd survive such a reckless move.

His mind made up Erik got up to prepare. He diligently walked through the halls and every room gathering blood into a bucket he took from the janitor closet. Carefully doing so to go unnoticed by the Shadow Beasts, which thankfully he managed thanks to the System making them seem to ignore anything he did. He even sang and tap danced right next to one when he went into the room to search only to be completely ignored. It didn't even seem to notice the door was opened. He pillaged a bunch of phones, chargers, food, water, change of clothes, and even a lighter. He threw away the packet of cigarettes he found lying next to it.

Really, some people had no manners at all, smoking in a hospital, especially with so many patients in delicate health.

For shame!

Oh well, at least the man had style as he managed to pick up a new well fitting leather jacket. Sure it wasn't armor per se, but it was tough and durable and should help him in the upcoming fight. Not that he planned to get close enough to it for that, after all, he didn't play fair, he played to win. He'll farm everything here and get enough power so that he could survive the trip home and check up on everyone.

Whatever strange creatures were invading this world, whether they be monsters, demons, or gods better pray they don't stand in his way.

This Hunter is on the prowl and he's going to carve A Bloody Path.