The group walked slowly through the winding tunnels. Makeshift torches were in the hands of two of the Mages in the middle; the torches had been a pain to create, but at least they seemed to be doing their job. Dylan led the group and James covered their rear, alongside the remaining Warrior, Anthony, who seemed to be just as nervous as some of the casters. James strongly suspected that the only reason why the man had chosen the Warrior Class was because his Stats didn’t suit a Mage at all. Even then, perhaps he had been caught up in some fantasy about fighting and slaying his foes as a Warrior, just like the main characters of some books. Reality had hit him hard.

Even James himself couldn’t say that he was unaffected. He still grappled with fear and hesitation and kept remembering the feeling of slashing the enemies they had encountered on their way here. As he had noted before, only Elizabeth seemed to be taking their current circumstances in stride. She didn’t appear to be excited or joyful, but she sure as hell was handling everything better than many others. She walked in the heart of the group, right in the middle of the Mages.

Just put one step in front of the other. Let’s go.

He didn’t have enough leeway to be lost in his head. He needed to keep moving. James looked around, attentively watching their surroundings. He and Anthony were the first line of defense in case something decided to attack them from behind. Thankfully, he had good spatial awareness, and his senses had been sharpened after he leveled up a bit as a Warrior.

We came across more enemies than I anticipated.

Truth be told, he had expected the downward tunnels to be completely free of foes. They were dark and too small for a group like theirs to walk comfortably. He could only imagine the nightmare that would be trying to walk through them with a larger number of people. These arrangements clearly favored some Classes over others and contestants in smaller groups. As such, he had deduced that the game-like System that ruled over this reality wouldn’t have placed enemies in their way, at least until the space opened up. He had been wrong.

The group had barely walked for one hundred meters before their first foe appeared. Coming from deeper in the tunnel in a mad dash, a person-sized, unidentified animal leaped at Dylan the moment it laid eyes on him. He had blocked with his shield, enabling the Mages to hurriedly start casting their Mana Spheres. Their efficiency was terrible and their concentration faltered, however, resulting in most of them failing to use the Skill properly. They either missed or took too long to cast, even though it was a basic Skill that should be engraved in their minds. Thankfully, Elizabeth’s Mana Sphere hit the beast square in the chest, allowing Dylan to finish it off with shaking hands.

It was only after the creature had been defeated that the group realized that it seemed to be a wolf, maybe one on the smaller side. James looked at its corpse with a complex gaze. He hadn’t had time to even participate in this battle, but his heart had still jumped when he saw the beast running at Dylan. It was only natural, but it bothered him that he was less adapted to the situation than he thought. In comparison, Elizabeth had performed admirably. With a sigh, James told everyone to calm down and keep it moving. They stepped over the wolf’s corpse and continued on their way.

Soon, they realized why the animal had been running toward the exit. A huge bear, surrounded by the broken bodies of several other wolves, most of them even bigger than the one they had fought, stood in their way. James had felt immediately tempted to turn back and run away, a sentiment that he had been certain was shared by almost everyone in the group. Almost.

Without a word, Elizabeth had conjured up a Mana Sphere and hit the bear in its left side just as it turned its head, making it roar in pain. She then yelled.

“We can’t go back now! It’s already nighttime! Run past it!”

Her words had barely finished echoing in the tunnel before Dylan started running with a desperate roar. The group dashed past the bear while it thrashed in pain, continuing their journey downward. They had come across two more enemies on their way, before finally getting to their current position.

James dismissed his thoughts, turning his gaze upwards from the heels of his friends. He almost stumbled, stopping in place. A few hundred meters or so ahead of them, an opening shone with light. The rest of the group had obviously realized this as well, as they had started walking faster.

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“It’s light…!”

“Oh my God!”

“Finally…”

Some sobbed, but most just smiled and started running. The light approached faster and faster as if it were a promised land that would take them away from this cursed scenario. Even if it wasn’t, that would be fine. To be granted hope in such circumstances was better than nothing, even if that hope was taken away right afterward. The land beyond the opening became clearer as they approached it. Running ever faster, they crossed the opening’s threshold. The group stopped immediately, taking in the scenery.

Huge stone columns held everything together while glowing mushrooms were the only source of light in the natural maze that stretched in front of them. They had clearly entered through an opening in the lower ground. James took note of several other openings, both on the same level and on higher ground. He was almost certain that they led to other tunnels. It meant that the place they had reached was the gathering point of more people as well. For the first time in the Tutorial, there was a real possibility of finding others. James wasn’t sure if that was a good thing. He had been constantly thinking about meeting other people and becoming allies with them, but now that it could actually happen, he hesitated.

There’s no reason to believe that everyone is going to be friendly.

Just like there were good people everywhere, there were also evil ones out there. He had no way of knowing which kind he would meet. He didn’t even know what criteria the System had used to teleport them here.

What would he do if he needed to fight another human being?

James didn’t have an answer to that question. If the need arose, he would fight to the death. Could he truly end another’s life so easily?

Lost in his own thoughts, he barely noticed that the group had started walking once more, straight ahead toward the core of the zone. Elizabeth slowed down, moving to the place beside him. Anthony didn’t walk away but seemed to be trying his best to give them privacy. The young woman spoke in a low voice.

“James.”

Her voice dragged him out of his stupor. He blinked a few times before looking straight ahead, then turned to her. He responded.

“Yeah?”

“I don’t like this. This place is too open, even with all the pillars, and we’re not really going anywhere. I didn’t see any source of water or other beasts. It’s too quiet.”

He was about to dismiss her concerns as overthinking, but stopped himself. She had earned his respect; he trusted her ideas and abilities. She was the most level-headed one in their group. He was forced to consider her words carefully. Indeed, she was right. He couldn’t even hear flowing water or the sounds made by any sort of animal. Far above, there seemed to be a few very large bats, but that was it. Since a lot of tunnels seemed to lead to this space and they had encountered beasts on the way, it stood to reason that the animals had also made their way down and reached this expanse. It shouldn’t be this quiet.

“…I don’t like this either. Should we turn back?”

James asked the question while already knowing the answer. By the look on Elizabeth’s face, she understood it too. There was nowhere to go back to. It was nighttime above ground and none of them were even remotely equipped to fight nocturnal predators in complete darkness. They would also struggle to try and find water without any light source while using torches would only draw the beasts to them. They were stumped. Their only real option was to keep going, taking advantage of the light provided by the mushrooms to find resources as soon as possible, including maybe a place to sleep. Even if there was something wrong, they couldn’t back out now. The woman cursed.

“Fuck. You know there’s nothing else we can do. Convincing the others to turn back would be near-impossible.”

“I have to agree. We should just try our best to stay on our guard and not make too much noise.”

Elizabeth nodded and went back to her place in the crowd, near the other casters. James tried not to get lost in his thoughts again. The situation wasn’t safe enough for him to do so. They needed to find out what was going on. For their survival.

As they walked, distinct sounds started to make their way to them. It didn’t take James too long to realize that they were voices. Laughing, yelling, talking. From afar they had seemed almost like the groans of beasts, but no longer. There were other people here. Elizabeth looked back straight at him, and he could tell that they were both thinking about the same thing. No words were needed.

They are probably the ones responsible for this silence.

If a group of humans was being so loud in the middle of unknown territory, it stood to reason that they had a reason for believing they were safe.

Did they kill everything nearby?

There was no way to be sure without meeting them. James felt both excited and terrified at the prospect. He could only hope that they would be good people. At that moment, three arrows flew up from around a hundred meters in front of them, aiming straight for the few bats on the stone ceiling. He would have missed them if it weren’t for the fact that they were glowing with a red light. Some others in the group noticed them too and stopped in place, while the rest kept walking. Elizabeth got everyone on the same page.

“All of you, stop.”