Thomas, who had been silent until now with a complicated expression, raised his hand and spoke.

“I’m pretty confident in my cooking skills, but there’s no way I can manage to cook enough food for everyone here before nighttime. My vote is that we keep moving. As we were eating in a restaurant, nobody here has an urgent need for food or water.”

Nobody voiced any disagreement. Elizabeth and James nodded at the same time. He glanced at her, letting her speak. She gave him another small nod.

“Very well, then. We move. There’s not enough time for everyone to process what happened, but we will talk about that once we find a place to spend the night. We must survive.”

Her last sentence was spoken with so much conviction that it surprised James. Who would have thought that a seemingly ordinary yet beautiful woman in university would be able to keep her cool like this in such an extreme situation? It seemed like people’s true selves really did come out in circumstances like this, even though it was novel for everyone here. The amount of respect and admiration he felt toward Elizabeth surged. She wasn’t just a pretty face, huh?

Calming down even further as time passed, James observed their group. Three warriors, two of whom were himself and Dylan, and five casters. There was no healer. If James had to guess, most people had picked the magic Classes due to their proficiency in long-ranged combat. Forced to choose in a situation that surpassed their understanding, they had opted for staying at a safe distance from whatever they would have to face. James didn’t blame them. The only reason he had picked Warrior instead of Mage was his Stats’ distribution. He wasn’t fit to be a caster, unlike Elizabeth.

Dylan moved to the front of the group with listless eyes, while James and the other Warrior stayed at the back. In between them were all the Mages. Dylan scouted ahead, while the other two protected the rear. Elizabeth and Thomas were discussing something in low voices, while Naomi seemed to have finally picked herself up; she had a determined expression on her face. The others’ state varied. Some of them flinched and looked around at every sound, while others seemed to have given up completely, only staring at the ground. All of their expressions, without exception, were filled with fear.

James himself wondered why he was so calm. Yes, after killing the bull he had been lost in his emotions, but now he had significantly calmed down and pretty much accepted the situation he was in. Since there was nothing he could do about it, he could only try his best to survive.

I need to find Michael.

The worry he felt toward his friend was something he was unable to ignore, no matter how quickly he had accepted his circumstances. He didn’t know why Michael had been separated from them, even though everyone from their group in the restaurant had stayed together.

What about everyone else at the restaurant?

Had they been transported together based on who was at their table, like his group? Or had something else happened? James didn’t have the means to answer these questions. If that were all there was to it, then Michael should have been here with them. The fact that he wasn’t only served as an indication that the teleportation criteria were not so simple. There was no way to figure out what they were, so he promptly put those thoughts on hold. It was better to focus on the here and now.

The group followed the cracks in the ground without any concrete destination, merely looking for a place to spend the night. They circled around the tall trees as the two suns sunk beneath the horizon. Howling resounded. James didn’t know if it came from wolves or another type of beast, but he wasn’t willing to find out. Soon, their group ran into a roadblock. Another bull walked within their sight, around thirty meters in front of them. Its hair was black and the trees had hidden its figure until now. There was no reason to believe that the animal wouldn’t be aggressive once it spotted them. The previous bull had attacked them on sight, after all. Making too much noise would also attract more beasts to their location.

Once this thought crossed James’ mind, he realized most others in the group were getting ready to fight, pulling out their weapons. Two or three still hesitated, but they were the clear minority. He nodded to himself. It looked like they had finally started to realize the situation they were in.

He pulled out his sword slowly. It was time to fight once more for the right to live another day.

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And he would survive, no matter what.

***

Michael pushed himself into the gap as much as he could. Using a Mana Sphere, he created more space where there was only stone. Finally, after much effort and much Mana spent, he entered what seemed like a small room, formed naturally in the middle of the rock. It could be described as a tiny cave. The shape was irregular, as was to be expected from a naturally-formed cave, even one of this size. It was monotone, with yellowed and gray stone being seen in all directions. The air was stale and didn’t smell like anything.

In the complete dark, Michael sat alone next to the wall opposite the entrance. Of course, the floor was hard and uncomfortable, as was the wall behind him. He stared at the ground, even though there was nothing to be seen. Having finally found a moment of respite where he could be considered safe, the gears in his head started turning. Immediately, he thought of the single most important person to him.

My mom.

What was she doing? Had she managed to find water and shelter? Was she even in the same general location as him? His worries were endless, but there were no answers to any of his questions. Thinking about this would only create a downward spiral, given that there was nothing he could do.

Please, let her be safe.

He prayed to no god in particular. He had never been a religious person. In this despairing situation, he could not even believe his own prayers. While the idea that a higher being was looking out for his family was comforting, he couldn’t bring himself to put his faith in it. In the end, he sat in the darkness, feeling more alone than ever. His torso was still wounded and hurting from his earlier struggles, and his robe and clothes were torn. As he thought of this, Michael recalled the creatures he had killed.

It had been his first time intentionally killing anything that wasn’t an ant or the like. He could still see and smell the blood, feel the strength in the lion’s limbs leave them as its head was destroyed. His robe was still soaked in the blood of the three animals. The moment when the light left their eyes was replayed over and over in his head. For him, who had never fought to the death before, it was strange territory. Yet, he was calmer than when he faced the jaguar. The image of his enemies no longer made him want to puke, and he wasn’t shivering anymore.

I just need some more time to get used to it.

He doubted these memories would one day be comforting, but he needed to get accustomed to this life. At the very least, his next three months would just be more of what he had been through. If it could end up helping him ensure the safety of his loved ones, however, he would throw himself in front of death a thousand times over. Determination flooded his gaze as his thoughts reached this point. He clenched his fists. It didn’t matter how many beasts he would have to mow down or even if he would have to fight against another person. He was willing to do anything. Even if it meant turning himself into a kind of person he never expected to become.

He raised his head with a sigh, keeping the same determination in his eyes. He had never considered himself a fighter and certainly hadn’t expected that he would need to fight for his life. At such a young age, his life consisted of nothing but going to university and sometimes hanging out with his not-so-close friends. That was it. There were no hobbies or other activities, given how much time was taken up by university. He didn’t even go to the gym. Now, he had been thrust into this madness-inducing situation with the only support being the gift of magic and sent on his merry way. It was more than upsetting, reaching the level of “hateful.”

I didn’t even agree to this.

He had been forced to fight and kill. He now knew that he would have to do both things many more times. He didn’t try deluding himself into thinking that he could find some safe haven to spend the three months in. After finding his mother, his most immediate goal would be to become powerful enough to protect her, so powerful that nothing in this Tutorial could threaten them. Now, it would be his turn to help her, who had sacrificed her entire life for his sake.

Keeping this in mind, Michael’s thoughts turned to his abilities. Since he had decided to fight to find and protect his mom, he needed to improve himself. Mana Sphere’s casting time had almost resulted in his death. If his other Stats hadn’t been increased because of his Race, that would have been the end of his journey.

At least my injuries stopped bleeding not so long after the fight.

If anything, this was a testament to his Constitution Stat if his guess about the Stat’s effects was correct. Michael owed much to his Stats. Without sufficient Wisdom and high enough Intelligence, he would have already been killed, but the other Stats also proved their value. Since Intelligence and Wisdom were the two Stats that increased the most after leveling up as a Mage, and given Michael’s knowledge about role-playing games, he could safely assume that they were the most important ones for him, in spite of the others’ value.

The Stats hadn’t been explained to him, but he could still try to infer what each of them was responsible for, even if only partly. Strength, for instance, likely referred to the power of his muscles, while Constitution referred to their recovery ability. Of course, those were only guesses. He could only be sure after conducting some testing or finding someone who had already done so and getting them to tell him.

Based on his current knowledge, he felt quite certain that Intelligence ruled over the power of his magic Skills, while Wisdom resulted in his mana pool. Either way, so long as he used magic Skills, these two Stats could carry him to a higher level of power. His greatest weakness currently was his limited mana pool.

I can’t use enough Skills.

He needed to find a solution to that, and fast.