The glowing blue ball appeared in front of the wand’s tip. The lion moved at the same time that the sphere flew towards it. With a roar, it moved to the side, but it was not quick enough to avoid the attack completely. The Mana Sphere hit its left leg right above the knee and burrowed into it, damaging it severely. The lion roared in pain. With a pained expression, Michael pointed his wand at its head once more. He had hoped to kill it in one shot, but it was only obvious that the lion would react. Unable to run properly anymore, the beast leaped in his direction with surprising strength. Even though they were several meters apart, the distance was closed in an instant.

Startled, Michael rolled to his right, making the lion land on a tree’s trunk. Its claws sunk into the tree bark, allowing it to stay in that position and ready itself for another jump. Blood flowed freely out of the leg that was hurt. The wound didn’t seem to be serious enough to cause too much blood loss. Even though his Intelligence was quite high, his Skill hadn’t been powerful enough to completely sever the leg, only crippling it at most. Gritting his teeth, he pointed the wand at the lion’s head and started gathering his mana.

The feline jumped at him, forcing him to dodge to the side once more. This time, the lion fell on the stone ground instead. It used its claws to stop, then lowered its body. Michael hurriedly stood up and took aim again. As he expected, the mana he had gathered had dissipated. There was casting time to his Skills.

The lion’s jump finally landed. Its claws dug into Michael’s shoulders, making him grunt and pressing him against the ground. There had been no time to cast a Mana Shield. The beast opened its mouth and attempted to bite into the man’s head, but he used every drop of strength in his adrenaline-filled body to forcefully push its chin upwards, making it miss. For the first time, Michael was grateful for the increases in all of his Stats. Without sufficient Strength to hold the lion off and Dexterity to move quickly enough, he would have already died. At the same time, he knew he couldn’t even begin to be compared to a lion. He had avoided death once but it wouldn’t happen a second time. He needed to act while he still could.

He placed the wand’s tip on the lion’s chest, just over its heart. His original intention was to cast a Mana Sphere and pierce through the beast’s chest, but he changed his mind the moment his eyes met the lion’s. As if listening to his thoughts, the enemy stopped trying to bite him. Michael felt the beast’s arms tense up; he could tell it was about to maul his chest, which would likely result in his death. Words left his mouth the moment the lion started moving.

“Mana Shield!”

It clawed at him, attempting to pierce through the Shield in a flash. Michael gritted his teeth as the Mana Shield rippled and trembled. The lion continued to maul the layer of defensive mana, but it stopped after a few seconds, tilting its head. He didn’t have the time to wonder if it was simply confused or frustrated at its inability to hurt him. He needed to dismiss the Shield in order to attack. The mana layer disappeared. The lion didn’t miss this chance. It dragged its claws across his chest, but it had been a reaction and not a true attack; the wounds were shallow. He thought he was about to pass out from the pain. A System notification rose in his line of sight but was dismissed and ignored.

[Your blood starts to burn.]

Powering through the pain with inhuman determination, he pointed his wand at the lion’s open mouth. He only had just over a second before it dug into his throat and ended him.

“…Mana Sphere.”

The Mana Sphere drilled through the beast’s fangs, searing through them on contact and reaching the palate. It pushed through it, carving a path through the lion’s skull and finally reaching the brain. As he was showered with blood, he was only thankful for still being alive. Michael’s muscles complained as he pushed the lion’s body off him. It was much heavier than he expected. After it was all said and done, he stared at the sky, partly hidden by the crowns of the trees. Judging by the suns’ position, it should be around three in the afternoon.

[You have slain a Lion (Level 5.)]

[You have reached Level 3.]

The adrenaline flooding his bloodstream because of the battle started to wear off. He couldn’t even feel sorry for the lion, given how much pain he was in. He furrowed his brow as he ran his fingers on the wounds.

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I thought the claws had reached a lot deeper than that.

The wounds weren’t nearly as deep as he expected. He couldn’t tell if it was out of sheer luck or if there was something else at play. There would be new scars on his torso, and his robe was damaged. He had killed another creature, but most importantly, he had come out on top and survived. That was the only thought in his mind. While he had considered the morality of his actions when the fight began, that was no longer the case. He had almost died, but he had survived. That was all. He needed access to water and food. Killing and cooking the beast would suffice both needs, since he would be free to drink from the river.

Trying to put these thoughts out of his mind, he struggled to stand up, clenching his jaw as his arms supported his weight. Somehow, he managed to do it. Michael could only hope that he would eventually find a Healer. After walking up to the river and drinking his fill of water, he surveyed his surroundings. The sound of birds, which had stopped since the combat began, had returned. This whole area seemed more alive than where Michael had first been teleported to. He even saw a few more daring small animals approach the water. Some of them were carried away by birds, while others were lucky enough to live another day. Beyond them were large plains, covered by short grass and held in place by soft earth. It was the complete antithesis of where Michael currently was.

There was no rhyme or reason to the topography of this place. Michael silently gazed at the plains, tempted to go to them. While there was no cover and nothing that even resembled shelter, it might be easier to find water over there. There might be more animals as well, given how few of them Michael had seen in the sand-with-trees biome. At the same time, he felt that he knew what he had to do.

He turned to his left and walked until he reached the waterfall. As he expected, once he looked down he was able to see some footholds and a clear path downwards, one that most people would be able to walk with no problem. Above ground, there were few animals, no caves or places to hide, and seemingly little water. The trees bore no fruit and the plains could be a vast stretch of nothingness.

Michael went back to the lion and silently dragged it closer to the trees, getting ready to cook it to the best of his ability, hoping the meat wasn’t tainted. Since he didn’t have a knife or sword, he would have to be creative. He glanced at the hole once more. A strong conviction had formed in his heart.

It was possible that the true stage of this Tutorial would be the underground. There was no way for him to know for sure, but it was his interpretation of the circumstances surrounding him. The two biomes he’d glimpsed on the surface didn’t seem to allow for much to survive. In the end, this was still a tutorial; he needed to believe that what he’d seen on the surface wasn’t everything there was to it.

***

Michael stared at the lion’s corpse. He was stumped. Without any tools, how was he supposed to skin it and remove its guts, especially without puncturing any organs? He had already prepared a place to roast the animal’s leg or something like that, but he couldn’t start without getting it ready. He sighed. He didn’t regret picking the Mage Class; when choosing his Class, he hadn’t considered that the Tutorial would be such a hostile environment. Right now, however, he dearly wished the System had granted him a knife alongside his wand. His only resources were his mana and his Skills.

Didn’t I automatically get a new Skill after reaching Level 1?

He opened his Status Window, focusing on the new Analyze Skill.

[Active Skill

Analyze (F): a good eye can be one’s most effective tool for survival.

Enables one to see the level and name of other entities. Higher proficiency results in different, better effects.]

It was a simple skill, both in concept and in practice. Now that he was checking his Skills, Michael figured it wouldn’t hurt to check his only offensive Skill.

[Active Skill

Mana Sphere (F): the first step in a magical journey is the most memorable. A Mage’s most basic skill.

Mana is condensed into a glowing sphere and fired towards a target. Higher proficiency and a higher Intelligence Stat result in greater power.]

Another simple Skill. This one was even described as “most basic.” Nevertheless, these were what Michael had. Mana Shield wouldn’t be helpful here. An idea started sprouting in his mind, but he didn’t know if it was even possible.

There is no proficiency bar or Skill levels in the Status Window. Is proficiency dependent solely on one’s experience and abilities?

Maybe he just hadn’t progressed enough to find the proficiency bar or records. After all, he had only used his Mana Sphere Skill three times. Perhaps the Skill would level up if he kept using it. It was possible that he was limited by a Skill’s level.

Information might enter my brain once the Skill levels up, just like it happened when I acquired it.

The way to utilize the Mana Sphere Skill had become instinctive from the moment he received it. He didn’t even have to think about manually guiding his mana. It happened naturally, like breathing. It was why all the Mana Spheres he had fired possessed the exact same amount of mana and power.

In spite of these facts, an idea had still sprouted in Michael’s mind.