Alan awakened alone in his room, stomach grumbling painfully. After realizing that he had no idea when the last time he'd eaten last, Alan pulled the covers off himself, and exited his uncomfortably warm bed.
Placing his bare feet on the cool dirt floor, he had to admit that he had no clue where he placed his shoes. He then slowly started to recognize that his memory of the previous day's end was rather foggy. The last thing he was able to remember was noticing he had been poisoned by the goblins, asking Rexus to get help, then... Nothing. Looking at his Tutorial timer, Alan found himself shocked by what he saw.
TIME REMAINING UNTIL TUTORIAL: 46m 02s
Slowly processing the fact he had slept for at least twelve hours, Alan was unsurprised to find his leg already healed. Though he may not have System access, things like healing and recovery times were nowhere near as slow as they had been pre-system, or at least that's what he'd been told. Pulling himself to his feet, he soon located his missing shoes and blood soaked gear, all of which were still rancid with the stench of goblin blood.
Equipping his filthy gear, he resolved that the first order of the day would be to make his way to the river to bathe himself and scrub his disgusting leathers. Exiting the now doorless south gate, Alan made a beeline for the edge of the apple forest, quickly swiping few of the ripe fruits. Meal in hand he retreated back to the road and finished up his trip to the river whilst eating his breakfast. Trying his best to keep his head tilted back, so as not to smell himself as he chewed.
Arriving at the gravel beach, Alan didn't bother to stop, simply walking straight into the cool, green water. Scrubbing his skin and leathers with handfuls of gravel and sand, he eventually deemed himself presentable. Walking back up the beach, Alan sat on the dry rocks, allowing his still somewhat rank armor to begin to dry out. Rapidly devouring his last apple, he started to finalize his mental to-do list for the tutorial.
I have less than an hour remaining before being teleported to wherever this 'Tutorial' is taking place. Alan stared out over the river, lost in contemplation. Even uncle Alex admitted he has no clue where the Tutorials are located, if they are even real places, or just hyper-realistic holograms. He did however inform me that all tutorial participants are usually teleported to the same location, to participate in the 'Tutorial Introduction' to learn the basic uses of the SYSTEM, and the benefits it provides. He also said not all races receive the same Tutorial, so it's hard to be sure. The SYSTEM ban against humans is so strict, it even blocks users of the SYSTEM from discussing the SYSTEM in any detail with humans. Employing some kind of a sound distortion, making any valuable information revealed sound like nothing more than monotone gibberish to my ears. The damned System has been causing every one of uncle Alex' attempts to divulge any really useful information to fail, but most times through uses of nods, or shakes of his head, he's been able to get a little information through . First and most importantly I need information. Levels, skills, magic, classes, I am lacking in even the most basic of basics. Surely some of it will be covered in the Tutorial, but I'm not holding my breath for any good info. I wonder if they have a library, or some kind of memory crystals like in the old games Rexus used to play before the t.v died. Will there be other races in the town? What about currency, food, housing, a shop? Will I be forced to buy new skills or do they have to be learned by trial and error? What about the other humans? Will I be forced to defend myself from other people as well?
Missing the relevant information to make any actual plans, Alan understood the reality of matters was that he is going to have to just see what happens, and try his hardest to not just survive, but thrive. No more sleeping in, no more lazy days fishing, he's going to hit that tutorial full speed, and do his best to not allow anything to slow him down.
Lying in the gravel, staring up at the dungeon ceiling, he berated himself for lazing about procrastinating, when what he realistically needed to be doing was locating Rexus, and insuring they had everything prepared for their absence from the dungeon.
Completely unsure of any type of timeframe, he and Rexus could be in the tutorial for ten minutes, or a year, he truly didn't have the slightest idea. Getting up off the ground, Alan stretched his arms and legs before walking back to the village. Approaching the gate however, Alan was able to hear the steady beating of metal on metal, signifying the windmill powered forge hammer was pounding away at a block of heated metal.
Stepping off the stone road, and into the colorful grass, Alan trekked around the western wall of the village, headed to the old blacksmith workshop his uncle tinkered around in occasionally. Located in the northwestern side of the dungeon, the workshop was built right next to the river, placed directly in the shadow of the large water wheel that not only provided the dungeon with a small amount of electricity, but also powered the bellows, power hammer, and several essential tools for smithing. Approaching the larger than usual, but still very obviously mud-brick building, and walking in the open door, Alan was surprised to find it abandoned. The large, currently cooling forge located in the back right corner of the building, The water-powered hammer standing in the far left.
Between the forge and hammer, stood a long work bench, piled high with tools and scraps of metal. "Anybody in here? Alan wondered aloud, his voice echoing oddly in the large, mostly empty room.
Removing the basement key from his neck, he placed it on the work bench, assuming his uncle would find it sooner or later. Knowing it could very possibly be his last chance, he allowed himself one final look around the well-used workshop.
With his mental snap-shot taken, a glance at his timer showed that he had less than a minute. Alan cracked his neck from side to side, and braced himself for teleportation. Unsure what to expect, he inhaled a deep breath as the timer hit zero, holding it in as he clenched his fists. For the first time ever, a new notification flashed across his vision.
INITIATING TELEPORTATION TO TUTORIAL. PREPARE FOR SPATIAL TRANSFER IN 3.... 2.... 1.....
*******
Alan's introduction to teleportation left him feeling somewhat letdown. There were no flashing lights, vivid colors, distorting images, or any kind of a time delay. Just a momentary feeling that he was being sucked through a skin tight unlubricated tube, unable to do so much as exhale the breath pounding away at the inner walls of his lungs. One moment he was in the workshop, dropping off his key, and the next thing he knew, Alan was sitting in the most comfortable, form fitting chair he'd ever been given access to. Admittedly, he WAS slightly out of breath.
Laying his head against the headrest, he fought down the urge to vomit, and caught his first glimpse of his new surroundings. Above him, a vaulted green ceiling stretched out as far as his vision was capable of following, simply hanging unsupported more than thirty feet above a highly polished, equally vivid green marble floor. No walls in sight, this room appeared to have no end, floor and ceiling extending an unknown distance in all directions.
Looking down Alan noticed his new favorite chair was the same green as everything else, and unless focusing, he almost appeared to be reclining on the air itself. Placed directly in front of his chair he saw an excessively large, equally empty metal desk.
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
"Some Tutorial..." Alan muttered, glancing at his Tutorial counter, only to find that the counter in the right corner of his vision was nowhere to be seen. In its place was now a small screen, and as soon as Alan focused his attention on the small screen, it suddenly stretched across his entire vision.
Several tabs were placed down the left side of the screen, listed in order he saw Statistics, Spells, Skills, Equipment, Items, Party, Contacts, and Map. Unfortunately all of his new tabs except Statistics and Equipment appeared to be greyed out. Concentrating on the Statistics tab opened up Alan's Status screen, which he greedily consumed with his eyes for the first time ever.
Name: Alan Robbins
Race: Human(G) LVL 0 EXP 0/250
Class:
Cultivation core: (Dormant)
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: 10
Unallocated Status Points: 0
*** SKILLS***
*** SPELLS ***
***TECHNIQUES***
Slightly confused as to what he was looking at because of the additional parentheses and numbers next to his base Stats, Alan glanced down at himself and it finally registered that he wasn't even wearing his goblin leathers anymore. The old, ratty, somewhat rank leathers had been replaced with basic, yet sleek, oiled and most of all clean leather armor.
His personal weapons were nowhere to be found, the only weapon in his possession seemed to be a twelve-inch dagger, sheathed and hanging from a belt at his waist. A simple silver ring, set with a small red stone was a new addition to his finger. Pulling up his Equipment tab, Alan perused his current gear.
***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
Concentrating on the ring, Alan found he was suddenly able see a list of the contents. 100 (Copper Grade) Lotus coins, all 100 had been placed into a single storage slot, so apparently the slots held multiples of the same item in the same slot. Nice.
Also in the ring Alan found 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.
After assuming the other tabs were greyed out because of the fact he was currently Skill and Spell-less, Alan noticed a small box in the the top right corner listing his Max HP as 255/255, Max MP as 150/150, and Max Stamina was also listed. This one currently sat at 309/309
The bottom left-hand corner of this new screen contained a Mini-map. Alan seemed to be marked as a blue dot in the center of the map, but his surroundings appeared hazy and blurred, as if the map had difficulties scanning his current locale.
Not that it makes much difference, Alan thought. Not much to see here aside from the desk and way too much green anyways. I can't see any other people, so I guess I'm alone here... I wonder where Rexus is at? Are the Tutorials set up individually?
Lost in thought, Alan failed to notice the sudden arrival of the large desk's occupant. No sound, wind or any noticable aftereffects heralded its arrival. A massive floating eyeball just suddenly appeared, hovering silently above its metal desk.
Just over 6 feet in diameter, it made for a disturbing sight. The eye was lacking any lids or lashes, containing nothing but a red veined white sclera, dark purple iris, and sparkling golden pupil. A long, semi translucent tentacle slowly unfurled from the under-side of the giant eye, and unbeknownst to Alan quickly made its way toward his ear canal.
The only warning Alan received before a mechanical voice echoed throughout his mind was a sharp pain as the tentacle jabbed itself into his left ear. Suddenly unable to move a muscle, he could only sit in silence as the voice spoke directly into his mind.
A strange warmth beginning in his left ear quickly radiated inward, heating up his entire brain. Rapidly increasing from somewhat uncomfortable to simply painful. The pressure behind his eyes built to the point he was sure his eyes would pop out if this continued any longer. "Stop it!" he cried out, still unable to move.
Grunting in pain, Alan was given no choice but to endure.
Remarkable! You have acquired the (Basic) Skill [Examine]!
(B)[Examine] Lvl 1- Upon activation, this Skill Allows you to attempt to gather information on whatever object or entity you focus on.
Success rate, and amount of information gained increase with Skill level.
Remarkable! You have acquired the (Common) Skill [Multiversal language comprehension]!
(C)[Multiversal Language Comprehension] Lvl 1- This passive Skill allows for basic communication and understanding between sentient races of the multiverse. Communication and understanding improves with skill level.
Shaking his head in confusion Alan had far too many questions. This Skarg really didn't seem to him like one for providing off script answers. In desperate need of information Alan settled for shooting off questions before he had time to talk himself out of it."I don't understand, what is a (G-Stage), or an (F-Stage)? And how do I go about evolving? I was led to believe evolution takes place over the span of millions of years..."
Skarg's golden pupil immediately shrunk to less than half its original size, focusing intently on Alan's nervous face. Several seconds passed by in silence, and just as he'd become convinced he wouldn't be receiving any answers, her voice boomed out within his mind again.
"Wait! I still ha..." Another momentary bout of darkness cut Alan off mid-sentence. After once more feeling his body being sucked through a skin-tight tube, he popped into existence in another location. And by the appearance, he'd been sent somewhere far less friendly.