Alex only remembered drowning. The next thing he realized, was him crashing into hard ground. Painfully his pelvis and shoulder hit the paved floor. He looked up. At this moment he was at the end of a corridor. At the very end, he saw a dim light shine.

Alex got up and walked towards it. He then reached a huge hall. The ceiling was so high, that he doubted any humans could have built it.

“That is the last task on the third floor. Break the capsule with your mana and you shall receive the information.”

His mind went crazy. Information was something he and all of humanity needed. A pedestal suddenly rose from the ground. But he realized another important thing. The tutorial had spoken about mana. Then he understood. His power was mana in his body.

Alex couldn't wait any longer. He stormed off to the center of the hall. It took him almost ten minutes to get there. Then on the pedestal sat a small ball. That must be the mentioned capsule.

Alex put his hands on it and pushed his mana against it but it halted on the outside. With all his concentration he mustered every crumb of mana he had and crashed it against one spot on the capsule.

A thin crack seemed to be forming but it was so tiny that Alex might as well imagine it. He kept trying but nothing happened. In the end, he got a headache. Then Alex stopped. His back slumped against the pedestal.

The next thing he remembered, was him opening his eyes. He saw the dome above him. His headache was gone but he still had the impossible to break capsule before him but he had an idea.

Like sandpaper, he wrapped the sphere in his mana and rasped the shell off. Soon his first successes became apparent. Then his concentration peaked once more. His time was running out like last time. Yet this time he felt definite progress. After a few more minutes the outer shell weakened considerably.

It turned into an endurance fight. Alex's headache became stronger by the second but he didn´t want to surrender.

Eventually, he broke through. His mind was instantly folded with information. There were people, sometimes strange two-legged beings and straight-up monsters who fought, with spears, swords, and bows. After that, they used skills like a fireball, another acid, ice, huge infernos, and entire tsunamis. He lived through their struggles, lived through their final moments. Hunting scenes of all kinds of monsters followed. Some people made potions but Alex didn't recognize the plants. Then his visions ended.

It felt like he had lived in the wilderness and on battlefields for fifty years of his life. The word horror took on new meaning but at the same time, it was like watching a movie, refreshing in a way.

But Alex was disappointed. He wanted to know what the tutorial was, who made it or what happened afterward. Although he suspected that the visions existed to prepare him for the things ahead of him.

“Congratulations on completing the third floor. You will be returned to your place of origin.”

Suddenly Alex was back in his room. A tempting smell was coming from the kitchen. He didn't know how long he was in the tutorial but he felt his incredible hunger at once.

He rushed into the kitchen. His mother was standing there and as she saw him, she started crying. It was partly due to joy and partly due to worry. “I missed you so much. You were gone for so long.”

Alex was a little confused. “It´s all good.”

“All good? You've been gone all day. I thought-“, said his mother. She didn't finish the sentence.

Then Alex looked at the clock, 8:40 pm. “I'm really sorry, mom. I've lost track of time.”

Then Alex tried to distract her. “The food smells delicious. Can I get a plate?”

“Just one more a moment,” said his mother, while she wiped her tears away. ”You're lucky that I cooked so late. I´ve waited.”

There were three of them at the dining table. His father talked to him through his gaze. “You better not do stuff like that again. His mother shall never endure that again.” Alex ate his noodles meekly. His father broke the silence after everybody had finished diner. “Alex, I have a problem. The pattern in my dream is becoming clearer and clearer. It´s a matter of days.”

Alex was shocked. His mother, on the other hand, seemed to know already and looked depressed again.

“Take your time off and you will write me sick. Then I'll prepare you“, Alex said, “Oh and we'd better buy you sturdy clothes, biker clothes, or real armor and I can give you a healing potion, that stuff is truly unbelievable.”

“Aren´t you too casual?” asked his father. Alex halted for a moment. He was but he never actually cared about violence if it meant protecting something dear to him. Additionally, he is often rational. “Don´t mind me. We´ll get you ready.”

-

Alex was sitting in his room. His gaze was fixed on his chat with Malle. He wrote. “How are you? What about your dreams and the patterns?”

“I have no idea. I forget most of it after waking up, it's like math, no clue,” wrote Malle.

“That’s good,” answered Alex.

-

Early the next morning Alex practiced with his father. Alex made him attack a tree for the first hour. Blisters kept tearing and bleeding, but Alex kept healing him. In the meantime, he also hit a tree, but his hands, strangely enough, were much more robust. That could be because of the mana that was the only explanation he had.

Then they did one-on-one fights. Both tried a wide variety of weapons at Alex's suggestion. This allowed his father to test the weapons and establish a preference and Alex could practice the different weapons, which will hopefully broaden his horizon.

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The fight was one-sided. It was almost as if his father was attacking in slow motion. Alex could foresee most of the attacks. Fortunately, his father improved quickly. After one noon they went deeper into the forest. Alex aimed at a stump and used his fireball ring. It tore out some of the wood and the fire continued to blaze. Alex quickly covered the fire with dirt. The show of the fireball impressed his father nonetheless.

Then Alex gave him the ring. “Try it.” His father did with all his strength and concentration. Yet he was unable to conjure a fireball. He failed.

“Interesting,” said Alex. His father looked slightly annoyed at him. “What?”

“You might have to kill the first beast in the tutorial before you gain mana to use the ring,” said Alex.

They continued to spar until his mother joined in the evening. While fighting her Alex held back even more. He had already given his father the fireball ring and a healing potion. He could never know when the tutorial took him. After a while, Malle got to them too.

They soon finished training. Alex and his parents were just walking past the house next door when they heard someone crying. The sound came from the stilt house in the garden.

“Do you think that's little Amelie? That’s so unlike her,” said his mother. Then she went closer to the garden fence. “Amelie is that you?”

The crying got louder but they waited. The situation became more uncomfortable for Alex by the second.

Finally, Amelie came out of the stilt house with a tearful face. She was just eight. “Ms. Nowak, do you know where my parents are?”

Alex's mother looked puzzled. “No, aren't they home?”

“No,” said Amelie, and burst into more tears.

“Did you call your grandparents? Maybe they can help you,” said Alex's mother. Then turned towards Alex and Norbert. “You can go without me. I´ll help her out.”

It was late at night when Alex's mother came back. The news was disturbing. Amelie's parents were gone, probably devoured by the tutorial. Alex's own mother was visibly depressed.

The day ended and they continued training until Friday. Alex's father disappeared shortly after getting dressed. His mother came storming into his room and fell into his arms sobbing. Alex hugged her back. “Don´t worry. Dad is prepared and strong. He has much better chances than I did.”

He didn´t tell her that almost 60%, perhaps a little more, died on the first floor. But the people now know about it and should wear good clothes, and be prepared as well as they can.

They waited together. After about an hour later and a half, noises came from their bedroom. The time before that seemed like an eternity.

His mother immediately ran. Alex followed. He was happy that apparently, everything went well. Alex saw the big holes in his father's clothes and could imagine his pain and ferocity while fighting. His mother fell sobbing around his father's neck with renewed tears. Norbert gently stroked her hair.

“Everything is fine,” said his father.

“Why is this happening?” asked his mother. Her voice was broken.No one had an answer.

Later his father came into Alex's room. Both sat down on the bed. His father handed him the ring and a potion back. “They helped me a lot,”

“That’s good. How was it for you?” asked Alex.

“Horrible,” said his father, “I will never forget the blood and the dead. The fights themselves went reasonably well. I immobilized the orc in preparation with two fireballs. The rest was easy. The same strategy worked well in the following fight against the two orcs. ”Alex looked at him in surprise. “You got further than me?”

“Yes, but the group fight was terrible. We all had protective gear, but that did little against the orcs' fists. I and another person had fireball rings. That way we disabled some orcs before the fight even started but the melee-” His father stopped. He struggles with himself. “I hear their screams, Alex. I can still hear them.”

From then on, they stopped talking. His father was about to leave the room when Alex asked. “What do we do with mom?”

“She takes a sick leave, and so do I. We will train and when it happens you´ll give her your ring.”

-

Later that evening, Alex got a call from Malle.

“It's crazy, isn't it?” asked Malle.

“What do you mean?” asked Alex.

“Huh, the school is down but of course you didn't know that. Our country is officially in an emergency state. Everyone is asked to prepare for the tutorial,” said Malle.

“Makes sense,” said Alex.

There was a brief silence.

“Are you still coming to the party?” asked Malle.

“What party?” asked Alex.

“It´s Friday you know. Let´s enjoy life once more,” said Malle.

“You must be joking,” said Alex. He had forgotten about that.

“Don´t be serious. Since life is going downhill, you have to enjoy it one last time,” said Malle. Alex still hesitated. He didn´t care anymore.

“I will not beg you,” said Malle.

“Fine a last goodbye to the old life,” said Alex.

Alex left the house when it was already dark. He went alongside a narrow in the forest, until he reached an abandoned house hidden in the forest. Malle was waiting at the house with a sixpack. A few others from school and the vicinity were already there. Alex and Malle shook hands. Then they went to the backyard.

Malle gave him a beer. Someone had already grilling sausages over the fire.

“To the end of the world,” said Malle and toasted with Alex.

“To the end of the world,” replied Alex.

Over time, more and more people came. Some brought a backpack full of alcohol, others a shopping cart. Everyone did whatever they wanted. Malle disappeared after a while. Alex saw him briefly again with a girl from the parallel class.

Alex drank his second beer but couldn't enjoy it. Looking at the music and the bustle of people, he became reflective. He rested his eyes for a moment, leaning against the wall.

Then someone pinched his side and when Alex looked to the side, Lotte was standing there. “Have you fallen asleep?”

“No, just rested for a moment,” said Alex. While they were talking, two lunatics drove across the meadow in a shopping cart.

“You're missing the fun, you'd better come with me,” said Lotte. Alex shrugged. They went into the house. There were rickety chairs and some tree stumps to sit on.

Some of the girls and boys from the class were sitting around the table. They played a card game when a boy screamed at another. “You have to drink the shot.”

First Lotte sat down next to her friends. Then Alex sat down next to Lotte. He was dealt his cards.

“It´s so relieving to hang out with everybody,” said a girl.

“You tell me. The bloody humbug about the tutorial. That’s just bullshit,” said a boy.

“But it´s real you know. Alex was there,” said Lotte.

One of the girls, Mellie was her name, got up. “So what? He can summon a glaive out of thin air. He might have gotten that somewhere else. I see my pattern very clearly, but nothing has happened so far. Don´t believe them.”

Then suddenly a bright light enveloped the girl. In the next instant, her seat was empty. She vanished. Panic broke out. Everyone except Alex was horrified. It´s all so very real. His blood boiled once again. Not because of their words but because there was so much of the tutorial he didn´t know yet, so much he hadn´t conquered.