“Reginald,” Su'ong said stiffly. She was trying not to sound excited, but the crazed gleam in her eyes was hard to miss. “I need to know what is going on. Tell me the truth. How long have I been here? Four years? Five? What is that in relation to real-world time?“
“You see, that wasn't overly difficult, now was it?“ Reggie asked Su'ong, his expression softening considerably. He huffed out a long, dramatic breath, and gave her a hesitant smile.
In Alan's opinion, the Wraith was being a bit of a dick. But when he factored in sixty-thousand years of accumulated frustrations, it was a wonder the being could find it in himself to smile at all.
“You have been here roughly five years, so nearly a month has passed outside,” he said confidently, “And Alan, nearly a month inside. So… roughly twelve hours have gone by in the Tutorial since you stepped into the Dungeon. In the grand scheme of things, neither of you have been here for very long. You haven't missed much, and I'm sure your grandmother is fine.“
A look of utter shock flashed across Su'ong's face. "I..." She started to speak, but the Wraith was having none of it.
“I'm sorry, but I must be getting on my way before long.“ Reggie said, tossing a nervous glance over his shoulder. Alan didn't see anything other than a field of gently swaying grass, but the Wraith was much more familiar with the environment.
“While I don't believe the Core has the ability to exert its influence in a System-enforced Safe Zone, it is far too dangerous for the three of us to be gathered like this for very long. I happened to overhear your earlier conversation while I was doing some engraving, and felt I might be able to offer some assistance.“
“Although I haven't the slightest idea what Celestial Energy is, I have a few alternative suggestions on how you could possibly retrieve your inventory from that mass produced, malfunction prone, nearly-worthless as anything other than a spy of a Tutorial Storage Ring on your finger.“
Surprised by the sudden, and shocking revelation, Alan looked at his Storage Ring with concern. The thought of a spatial device malfunctioning was concerning to say the least. Thinking about Reggie's explanation of a spatial distortion collapsing and erasing a portion of reality left him wondering what the odds were that something similar could happen to him.
Worse yet, what in any of the Nine Hells did he mean by a spy? Was such a thing even possible? It was a disconcerting idea, but if someone was able to hide a dimensional space with one hundred storage slots inside of a tiny silver ring, for all he knew, there was always a chance that the actual storage space was sealed within the tiny red stone, and the ring itself was used for more nefarious purposes.
“What with the Tutorial Administration casually dumping a fresh Tutorial denizen into the Dungeon every five or so years, I've had the opportunity to study quite a few of these over the last few decades. It is my understanding that the first time anyone uses one of those Tutorial Storage Rings,” Reggie said, oblivious to Alan's consternation, “it registers, and is then bound to, their individual Mana signature. And while it functions moderately well as a simple storage device, the true purpose of those Rings are to track your movements, and closely monitor your development. As well as to keep tabs on any valuable treasures or artifacts that one might happen upon.“
“Hold up,” Alan interrupted, his eyes flicking back and forth between his Storage Ring and the Wraith. “This thing is tracking my location and development?“
That didn't make sense at all. “Why wouldn't they just monitor my Stats?“ Alan asked skeptically, “Seems like that would be an awfully roundabout way to track something that is so readily available.“
Having remained mostly-silent since her recent outburst, Su'ong chose to speak up. “Even I can answer this one,” She said with the faintest hint of a smile.
“There's a reason that it's called a PSA. That is your Personal System Access Screen. As far as I know, aside from the System itself, and perhaps high ranking members of the System's Administration, only you can access the contents of your own PSA.“
“You can, of course choose to allow temporary access to your PSA. Like when you so generously allowed me to browse your Statistics.“ She took a step back and motioned that she was finished.
Nodding his head in agreement, Reggie picked up where he was before Alan's interruption. “As to the reasons behind why the Tutorial Administration does whatever it is that they do, all I can offer is my own personal conjecture. I can think of many reasons why they would want to track, and monitor the development of Tutorial denizens. Newly integrated worlds often contain unusual variants of known Races, or new Races altogether. What better way to learn their behavioral patterns and social structures than being able to watch in real-time how they adapt to a new life under the guiding hand of the System.“
A sudden screech, and the soft thud of a Silver Chub slamming into the grass marked the return of the Banded Roc. “I'll get that.“ Su'ong stated casually. Unable to keep from smiling, she dashed forward and claimed her kill. “This bird is really starting to grow on me,” she said, tossing the remains up into the air.
“Whew! Those Chubs sure are pungent,” Reggie grimaced and backed away. “But you should also consider this. Similar to the isolated space created when a Dungeon Core with spatial properties claims territory, A Tutorial Realm is a massive dimensional space created by the System itself, mainly using portions of uninhabited worlds…” His voice trailed off when Su'ong cleared her throat excessively loudly.
“I said mainly!“ Reggie retorted. A dazzling burst of teal radiation flared across his face in a strange approximation of a blush. “While it is usually an uninhabited world, sometimes, when a world is at risk of total annihilation, the planetary Monarch, or in some cases, council, will cede complete ownership of their world to the System in return for saving them from whatever calamity they might face.“
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“In the case of the Tutorial Realm we currently reside in, this was once a portion of Cerath, the Beast-Folk home-world. Several thousand years ago, the Beast King of that time was the Sole Ruler over his entire planet. As it always had been, and probably always would've had fate not decided to intervene.“ He hesitated and looked to Su'ong. “Should I tell him, or would you like to?“
With a grunt, and a shake of her head, Su'ong signaled that she had no qualms with him divulging the information himself. To Alan, it appeared that Reggie's earlier revelation was making it hard for her to concentrate on the present.
“As I speak, please keep in mind that I'm working with secondhand information at best. Somewhere close to three thousand years ago, something happened that would forever change the dynamic of power on Planet Cerath. The Beast King of the time had a Unique form of Oracle Class. Using highly psychedelic substances as a catalyst, he was able to read the past with unparalleled results. The future however… Is a far more complex subject.“
“Try as he might, he was unable to peer more than a few seconds into his future, yet he wanted more. His thirst for the knowledge that was seemingly being kept just out of reach eventually turned into an unhealthy obsession. The confidence he had in his Class was unshakable. And why should it not have been. If the stories are to be believed, that Oracle Class was what raised him up from a commoner to Beast King in the span of a dozen years. Convinced that the ingredients his Alchemists used to fuel the various ceremonies were the root cause of his many failures, thus began the Beast Kings pursuit of rare, and sometimes even never-before-seen ingredients.“
The Beast King was going around getting high on random shit to try and see the future?! Alan wondered, shocked that the owner of a planet would be so carefree. Some Ruler… I bet he would've been able to get something potent from Uncle Alex…
His sarcastic thoughts aside, Alan found the idea of an Oracle Class to be strangely fascinating. He never would've thought there were Classes that allowed something as miraculous as getting baked, and browsing through the past at will. Or taking quick peeks into the future. It was an exciting thought, but it also seemed unnecessarily risky.
Ingesting psychedelics on a regular basis was a sketchy plan for a normal person, but for a King? Out of the question. Although, he had to admit that with Resistance Skills built up high enough, there might become a point where it was impossible to catch a buzz. And that would also explain Alex's insane tolerances. Wait! Is that going to happen to me?!
That line of thought was distressing, but before he could put too much actual thought into it, he realized that both Reggie and Su'ong were staring at him. And at some point, Su'ong had gotten close enough to touch him!
“You should refrain from thinking so hard,” Su'ong poked his forehead and smirked, “I can smell something burning.“
It took a moment for it to sink in. “Something… burning? Hey! Eat shit!“ Alan said, swatting at her hand. “Cut me some slack! Ever since I Evolved, my brain has been going crazy!“ Although all eyes were suddenly on him, he couldn't fight back a grin.
“Alright children, this is mildly entertaining, but I really must be leaving soon, so may I be permitted to continue?“ Every moment that Reggie was in such close proximity to Alan was an unnecessary risk. Freedom was so close that he could taste it, and it felt like they were just standing around waiting for the Core consciousness to figure out what they were up to. A single mistake was all it would take for this last attempt at escape to come crashing down upon his head. It made his flesh crawl.
“The Beast King's search led to him discovering Temporal Jelly. A product created by Rage Wasps to sustain the Empress, as well as her Queens. They are extremely risky to raise, so the jelly is nearly impossible to come up on by legal means. However, one way or another, he managed to secure a small jar. It was everything he hoped it would be. A single spoonful allowed him to glimpse months into the future. For a time, he was satisfied.“
Reggie frowned, even though he knew what was coming, it still bothered him to speak on the subject. Especially with Su'ong standing right there. This was the beginning of the downfall of her people he was so casually laying out after all.
Su'ong could tell by the look on Reggie's face that he was becoming uncomfortable. In all honesty, she was too. This was a sensitive subject for all Beast-Folk. But she also knew that he wouldn't bring up such a touchy subject without reason.
“There is no need to worry about hurting my feelings. Please, continue,” Su'ong said with as much neutrality as she could manage when speaking to a creature that frustrated her so.
Even though she fully planned to limit the interactions she had with the Wraith, she felt it prudent to at least try her best to be cordial. Reggie was certainly going out of his way to gloss over the fact that towards the end, the Beast King was little more than an unstable lunatic. He had become addicted to that Jelly, and his actions had brought about the near-destruction of their entire world, and everything they held dear.
Shifting uncomfortably under her icy stare, Reggie sighed. “Alright then. Well,” he said, “Unfortunately, his satisfaction was short-lived. Soon, a month wasn't enough, how could he ensure the survival of his Race with only a months advanced notice. So his appetite grew. He increased the size, and frequency of his doses. Soon after, it was said he could wholly pierce the veil. Easily peering a year or more ahead of his present time. Unfortunately, the visions he was shown were of a bleak shadow overtaking his world, and his supply of Temporal Jelly was running out.“
“This is when things fell apart. Hoping to secure steady source of Temporal Jelly so he could determine this unseen foe, the Beast King purchased a juvenile Rage Wasp Empress, and her developing hive. I'm unclear whether he failed to understand the risks, or simply believed himself to be capable of managing the foul creatures. You see, Rage wasps are a type of hive mind. The entirety of the hive is controlled by the Empress, and they reproduce at an alarming rate.“
“In the end, that hive proved to be too much to keep contained. Unknown to the Beast King, or any of the caretakers, the queen was releasing scores of wasps out into the world. One by one, they built new hives in hard to reach locations. By the time her treason was discovered, it was too late. Although the Beast-Folk set out to eradicate the infestation, the Rage Wasp Empress already held possession over nearly a full third of the planet. Within a year, she held forty-nine percent of it, and was nearing the point that she could contest the Beast-King's ownership of the world.“
Staring out over the lake wistfully, Reggie returned to his tale.
“Even enthralled to the Temporal Jelly as he was, the Beast King would've destroyed the Wasp Empress in single combat. But she knew this, and was cunning. Choosing instead to remain hidden, allowing her colony to do the work, while she controlled them from an unknown location. By then, her soldiers and drones numbered in the trillions, and hope was all but lost. Unable to find another solution, and at his wits end, the Beast King sold off the rights to his world, giving sole ownership to the System. In return, his people were saved from certain doom. As part of the contract that was agreed upon, Planet Cerath was broken up into one hundred and twenty one Spatial Realms. Most of which would end up as Tutorial Realms. And to the remaining Beast-Folk fell the task of maintaining each of them. Their population was split up between the realms, as was that of the Wasps.“
Reggie suddenly perked up, “Without their Empress's guidance, those wretched bugs stood no chance.“