Where the tip of the powerful storm touched the ground, the energy swirling within was so dense it seemed to be solid. Alan quickly understood that the energy hadn't been gaining density as it neared the floor, it was actually the complete opposite. The storm, as it turned out, actually originated from underneath the sand. The surging energy simply dissipated as it traveled upwards, losing strength equal to its distance from the power source.
The source that was seemingly hidden within the very mound Alan just tripped over. With a possible target in now in sight, he activated [Examine] and the storms information was revealed to him.
Lvl 15 Sandstorm Elemental HP: 3200/3200
By now he was blinded by the raging sand-nado, and completely unable to breathe. Alan relied on the limited sight provided by [Mana Perception] as he aimed at the strange mound of sand only a few feet away, directly in the center of the room.
With his pulse pounding in his temples and white spots somehow appearing even within his Mana vision, he knew his body required air, and soon, or he was going to pass out. As it were, he was struggling to remain sitting. To his horror, he was now starting to feel the storm sucking out the moisture from within his body, slowly drying him from the outside in. Terrified that he'd be turned into human jerky, Alan briefly considered casting [Spectral Plasma Storm], but his dimming vision made him change tactics last-second.
He wasn't sure he could survive the necessary cast time.
As fast as he could, he activated [Dual-casting]. After quickly charging and loosing two [Spectral Firebolt]s, he activated [Mana Regulation] and started channeling Mana into a pair of [Wind Blade]s. Alan knew he was on borrowed time, and needed to make this attack count.
Through blurry eyes, he saw a green flash as his Spells struck the base of the whirlwind, but he was deaf to the explosion. His hearing had devolved into nothing more than the furious pulse in his temples sounding out over a static roar.
I could really go for a {Suit of Anger} rage mode right about now! A panicked Alan thought. But unfortunately the one time he actually needed the Technique, his Stockpile had yet to even reach the eighty-percent mark.
After cramming as much additional Mana into the developing Spells as he had the time and confidence to safely maintain on his weakened state, Alan released the blades right as his inability to breathe reached a tipping point. His vision faded out and his light-headedness passed the point of no return, sending his head crashing back down to the floor.
As his first [Wind Blade] slammed into the flaming mound of sand, beneath the sandstorm, the ensuing eruption of debris revealed an amber-hued, watermelon-sized crystal pyramid hidden within. The second overcharged blade of solidified air arrived half a second behind the first. With a sound like shattering glass, it cleanly sliced the odd crystal structure into two pieces which the Spectral Flames gleefully consumed. In his fight to remain conscious, Alan was never given an opportunity to properly study the obviously special Core of the Sandstorm Elemental.
Remarkable! Your Spell (B)[Wind Blade] has grown to Level 6!
...
...
Remarkable! Your Spell (B)[Wind Blade] has grown to Level 8!
Remarkable! Your Skill (C)[Dual-casting] has grown to Level 7!
...
Remarkable! Your Skill (C)[Dual-casting] has grown to Level 8!
Remarkable! Your Skill (C)[Mana Regulation] has grown to Level 4!
...
Remarkable! Your Skill (C)[Mana Regulation] has grown to Level 5! +1 Free Status Point!
Thrashing on the floor, Alan arched his back and clawed desperately at his neck in raw terror. This can't be the way it ends! I refuse to die here...
Mere seconds before passing out due to lack of oxygen, an absolutely overwhelming rush of Experience propelled him over the edge and into the blissful embrace of unconsciousness.
Remarkable! You have defeated a Lvl 15 Sandstorm Elemental!
+262,144 Exp gained!
Remarkable! You have reached Level 17! +35 free status points! Evolution to next Evolutionary Stage (F) is still available! You have 38 unallocated status points.
Remarkable! You have reached Level 18! +35 free status points! Evolution to next Evolutionary Stage (F) is still available! You have 73 unallocated status points.
238,147 Exp to next Level!
∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆
Rexus
Only a moment ago, Rexus had been sitting in a weird green room. He fidgeted nervously, being lectured at length about self control and restraint by a hovering eyeball calling itself Tutorial Administrator Shace. Before he could get any truly useful information, the weirdly officious eyeball had bid him farewell and sent Rexus on his way to the Tutorial.
That asshole Eye didn't even answer my questions! Rexus thought with a frown. It's not my fault I freaked out. He just popped up out of nowhere..a gigantic eyeball!! I thought for sure I was under attack...this busted ass dagger didn't even leave a scratch on it, so I don't even see why it got so mad..to simply refuse to answer ANY of my questions? That's just hella petty man. So much for an in-depth Tutorial...
As Rexus reminisced over his less-than optimal Tutorial Introduction, the burbling sound of slowly moving water called his dark brown eyes to the left. Just beyond a thick mat of odd purple cattails, he noticed a wide, greenish colored river lazily meandering off to the south. He was confused to see that for a good distance, aside from the cattails, the rocky bank of the river had next to no other plant life.
Instantly reminded of home, Rexus began debating whether or not he should take off his Tutorial armor before going for a much needed swim. He was interrupted by a notice flashing in his vision. Startled by the random intrusion, he stumbled backwards and almost tripped over a large blue crystal that was protruding from the sparsely vegetated, rocky soil.
*WARNING!* (DYNAMIC TUTORIAL QUEST) Now Initializing!
At the exact same time as the notification, two brand new tabs appeared on his PSA. The first one was a normal tab labeled Quests and the other seemed more of a declaratory tab than an interactive tab. It was completely inaccessible, and titled Current Human Survivors 1108/1113.
"Five people died already huh?.." Rexus pondered aloud. "I swear to Cajun Jesus if Alan already got himself killed, I'll stomp repeatedly on his testicles. Probably save his corpse and make him my zombie-butler too." Upon opening his Quests tab, he realized he now had a 15 part quest. But as of right now he was only allowed access to the very first objective.
***DYNAMIC QUEST***
1/15- Survive Your first day in the Tutorial.
Completion Reward: Varies depending on completion total and mettle demonstrated in the face of adversity.
"Survive a day eh? Pretty sure I can at least manage that much.." Noisily conversing with himself, Rexus slowly rotated in place, taking in his new environment.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
The first thing he set out to do was locate a decent vantage point. In order to figure out where to go, he first had to try and figure out where he was. As well as determine what tools he had at his disposal.
"First things first. 'Status' " Rexus stated clearly. He began to giggle uncontrollably when a large opaque screen labeled Status appeared, hovering just a few feet in front of his eyes.
Name: Rexus Robbins
Race: Human(G) LVL 0 EXP 0/250
Class:
Titles:
***STATISTICS***
Hp: 255/255
Mp: 150/150
Stamina: 309/309
Hp Regeneration: 37.5 per minute
Mp Regeneration: 22.5 per minute
Stamina Regeneration: 52.5 per minute
Strength: 5 (7)
Constitution: 5 (15)
Vitality: 5 (6)
Endurance: 5
Perception: 5
Agility: 5
Dexterity: 5 (6)
Intelligence: 5
Wisdom: 5
Resistance: 5
Willpower: 5
Luck: 3
Unallocated Status Points: 0
*** SKILLS***
(B)[Examine] Lvl 1
(C)[Multiversal Language Comprehension] Lvl 1
*** SPELLS ***
***TECHNIQUES***
"Well shit on me, that old stoner Uncle Alex was actually telling the truth for once! Rexus declared excitedly. Now feeling far more confident with his uncle's last minute instructions, Rexus continued testing his uncle's last minute advice by clearly stating "Equipment". On command, another Screen appeared, taking the place of his admittedly piss-poor Stats.
***Weapons***
Right hand: (B) Tutorial Dagger +2 strength +1 dexterity
Left hand:
***Armor***
(B) Tutorial Leather Pauldrons +1 Constitution
(B) Tutorial Leather Bracers +1 Constitution
(B) Tutorial Leather Jerkin +1 Constitution
(B) Tutorial Leather Greaves +1 Constitution
(B) Tutorial Leather Boots +1 Constitution
SET BONUS +5 constitution +1 Vitality
***Accessories***
(B) Spatial Storage Ring
Free slots 94/100
Spatial Storage Ring huh? That's weird, Alex said we'd get a Bag of Holding...
Rexus focused his gaze on the unexpected ring and a full list of its contents suddenly materialized. Somehow hidden within the tiny ring were 100 (Copper) Lotus coins. He was pleased to see all 100 coins stored in a single storage slot.
"Well at least the slots hold multiples of the same item.." Rexus huffed in disappointment.
Also stored within the ring were twenty-five pounds of 'Trail Mix' twenty-five pounds of 'Jerky', a self-refilling water canteen, three (Basic) Heath Potions, and three (Basic) Mana Potions.
It required as much effort as a simple glance to his right to locate his best option for a vantage point. It was definitely going to take a while to reach it on foot, but towering over the river valley in which he stood, a large, sheer cliff face stretched off into the distance in either direction. The cliff was formed of glaringly white stone. As far as Rexus could tell, the walls completely enclosed the entire valley.
"How in all the Nine Hells am I supposed to get up there?!.." Rexus shoved his lanky, sweat soaked brown hair out of his face and surveyed the face of the curved cliff. After only a minute or two of searching, he noticed a dark, jagged scar marring the otherwise pristine surface of the white stone wall.
It only took him a moment of inspection to understand that he'd already managed to locate a sketchy-looking switchback stairway. The stairs clung to the face of the cliff, and seemed to be carved into the stone rather than built. Rexus hoped the distance in-between himself and the stairway was playing tricks on his eyes. From this distance, the stairs looked so damned tiny that a strong breeze would be more than enough to shove any unlucky travelers over the side of the cliff to be dashed upon the gravel-filled soil below.
Although he definitely wasn't looking forward to the climb, his search had failed to yield a better location to gather information.
"Get to the high ground." Rexus said mockingly, thinking back on the last words his uncle spoke to him before the System garbled his words. Only moments later he had been teleported to the Tutorial. He grabbed his canteen and a long strip of Jerky from inventory. Once he'd shoved the entire strip of dried 'Meat' into his mouth, he upended his water canteen over his sweat-soaked head, in an attempt to cool off before heading out. A glint on the ground caught his eye. Rexus bent over and peered at the strange blue gem he had nearly tripped over.
Since the strange stone was still more than halfway buried in the dense grey soil, he took out his Tutorial Dagger and started chipping away at the ridiculously hard-packed ground. With the sun beating down upon his back, Rexus was soon drenched with sweat, completely nullifying his recent makeshift shower. He had been toiling in the heat for less than five minutes when another random notification appeared at the edge of his vision, and he happily gave himself a break from his tedious labor to view his PSA.
Remarkable! Due to your basic knowledge of using the pointy end of a small blade you have acquired the (Basic) Skill [Dagger utilization]!
(B)[Dagger utilization] Lvl 1- This passive Skill provides a slight increase to comprehension of dagger usage and damage dealt when using daggers.
Comprehension and damage increase with Skill level.
"Oh HELLS YES!" Rexus exclaimed, intrigued by his newly acquired Skill. By this point he'd already broken away the majority of the dirt holding the smooth rock in place. Figuring that he should be able to tug it out of the ground, Rexus grabbed the fist-sized blue stone in both hands. The chilling surface of the remarkably cold stone was not only unexpected, but it was biting. He gasped in surprise, yanking his hands away from the stupidly cold rock and stuffing them into his armpits for warmth.
Rexus smacked his forehead with a cool hand as he remembered the set of Skills he'd begrudgingly been given by Tutorial Administrator Shace. He glared intensely at the stone while thinking the word [Examine], and a bland description came into existence in the shape of a neatly arranged small box floating next to the freezing cold stone.
(F-Stage) Mana Crystal (Ice).
"Thats it?! But what the fuck does it actually do? Well..aside from freezing my fingers." Unimpressed by his very first activation of a Skill, Rexus released a breath and stomped on the side of the Crystal several times. For no better reason than to release a bit of stress. He continued to pound away at it with the heel of his boot until finally his repeated stomps broke the stone free from the ground. It rolled a few feet across the dirt before slowing to a stop.
Though he may not have known what to use it for, Rexus knew a magical stone when looking directly at one. With visions of mystical abilities granted from magical Crystals dancing in his head, he extended his right arm and placed his hand on the stone just long enough for it to be silently absorbed into his Storage Ring. With his treasure stored, Rexus set out to complete his long walk to the far-away cliff.
Not even five minutes into his journey, Rexus saw something that made him halt in his tracks. Sitting maybe fifteen feet away, carelessly sunning itself on a large rock, was the weirdest creature he'd ever laid eyes on. He paced a wide circle around the beast. Keeping his distance, watching as it jiggled and wobbled like jello, yet never actually moving from its perch. During his examination, Rexus was able to draw several conclusions, whist making sure to maintain a goodly amount of space between himself and the unsettling monster.
First off, it was mostly colored in a mixture of dull greens and dark yellows, splashed with the occasional burst of red. From a distance it could probably be mistaken for a beat up old tie-dyed towel wrapped around a partially-aired-up beach ball.
Secondly, as he studied it closer he realized that the ball-shaped thing possessed no visible eyes or mouth, nor limbs of any sort. It was simply a semi-spherical blob. Once he got to within five yards of the creature, Rexus changed his mind. This thing both looked and smelled like a mostly-see-through sack filled to bursting with bloody vomit and pus.
Activating [Examine], Rexus gathered what little info he could. All the while trying his best to remain upwind, fearing the smell of the beast would surely make him gag.
Lvl 1 Scumbag Hp: 26/26
"That name...actually suits you perfectly!" Rexus snorted out as he failed miserably to stifle his oncoming laughter. "What a SCUMBAG!" He folded his arms over his heaving midsection just as his laughter reached all-new heights. Attracted by the sound, the Scumbag slowly rolled forward, apparently headed towards the noise.
As it advanced, Rexus' laughing suddenly stopped.
With a curious gleam in his eyes, he watched as every random blade of grass and piece of stone it passed over were rapidly dissolved and absorbed into the disgusting sack of refuse. It left behind a trail of bare-grey soil. Glistening wet, and utterly devoid of any kind of life.
"EAT MY MAGIC ROCK!" Rexus shouted, simultaneously pulling the Ice-attuned Mana Crystal from inventory and lobbing it at the beast before the stone had a chance to freeze to his palm. His aim was true, and the Mana Crystal struck the front of the putrid beast's spherical body, instantly freezing the spot of impact and bouncing off of the sketchy creature's rubbery flesh.
The collision between the Scumbag and Mana Crystal made an audible dull slap. Simultaneously a series of ripples started to spread around its jelly-like body. The waves slowly lost their momentum as the beast continued its journey towards Rexus' feet. While Rexus watched on in anticipation, the simple-minded creature rolled right over the Ice Crystal. It began to freeze-over as it both tried, and visibly failed to absorb something far too powerful for its tiny body.
Glimpsing an opportunity, Rexus unsheathed his dagger. Back home he had always been the best at throwing knives. Having spent countless hours perfecting his technique, Rexus was completely confident in his abilities. He swiftly took aim at the nearly frozen Scumbag and threw his blade in a powerful overhand toss.
His blade crossed the distance in an instant and slammed into the frozen Scumbag's midsection. A hollow crunching sound echoed out as the blade sank hilt-deep into the icy surface, and cracks quickly began to branch out from the point of impact. Without hesitation Rexus charged forward and jumped up into the air above the crackling Scumbag.
Another notification arrived and was simultaneously dismissed as he lifted his knees up to his chest. Right as gravity started to tug at his airborne frame, Rexus thrust his legs down and landed like a falling meteor on top of his incapacitated enemy. Its frigid surface was entirely unable to withstand the crushing blow, and exploded into a pile of tiny chunks of putrid smelling ice.
"I really should've thought that one through.." Rexus stated through grit teeth. The smell was practically lethal.
He stared down at his Scumbag-covered boots and began to puke.