The first action I had to do after evolving was to get to work fixing everyone's gear. Now that I was a blacksmith I had to service all the gear and make sure it was up to snuff.

I took the time to walk Vinny through how I got the class and watched over him for a couple of hours until he unlocked it. Now that there were two of us, work would go a lot faster.

Fixing everyone's weapons was a lot harder than anticipated. Some weren't that bad and were barely used, only requiring a grind down and sharpen, while some would have to be reforged completely. Mark's battle axe was near scrap metal by this point.

Getting the profession didn't make us master blacksmiths and there were still major learning curves to figure out, but Vinny and I were getting the hang of it. I used some of my personal points to buy some more tools we needed and got specific oil used for quenching.

I had no way to tell how much better it made the weapon as everything we made was labeled crude by the system. When I used Identify on the knife that got me my profession it said, [Crude Iron Knife].

All of our starting weapons were the same and had the Crude label. I didn't know what it would take to go above that and we tried to make them the best we could with what we knew.

It took a few days to service all the weapons and the eighth wave came in that time. There wasn't anything of note during the wave and we got through it without any major problem.

My new class was a blast to use and it had me mowing through the enemies. The increase in stats from my evolution and two levels in blacksmith really proved themselves.

Austin was the same way. He didn't tell me what he picked but whatever it was, it was devastating. We didn't tell each other our classes but I did manage to get his affinity out of him. He had the solar affinity.

I guess my joke about the sunflower was more truthful than I thought it was. As soon as he told me I refused to use his name anymore. If I had to get his attention I would call him my little ray of sunshine.

I thought it was hilarious.

He did not.

I asked what the difference is between a solar affinity and a light affinity and he didn't know. It was the same with me not knowing the difference between an Arctic and Ice affinity.

Everyone knew we had evolved and revealed that they knew for a while now. There were some who even made bets on when! The bastards. In hindsight, we were pretty dumb to think that we could hide it and our levels were a dead giveaway.

Now that the cat was out of the bag, we could start bringing back the bodies of what we hunted. Armor made from the thick boars hide would be a lot better than the leather we had lying around camp, especially the evolved boars.

Or other tools made from the bones and tusks. It added to the travel time while hunting but it wasn't that bad. Our increased strength made the weight manageable and it wasn't like we were bringing all the meat back.

The secret now out, we had to give up half our points from hunting. We had been keeping all of the points previously since we wanted to hide what we were doing, but now that everyone knew, we had to give them up.

People were shocked at the amount of points we had. We were hunting level 10+ animals and each one was worth over a hundred points, how many did they think we had?

Giving up our points couldn't have come at a worse time too. I didn't know whether the evolution caused it or the fact I had already purchased two skills, but now all the skills cost a lot more.

Instead of the 1,000 points they used to cost, it was now five times more. It was extremely frustrating and I thought it was an error when I first saw it. I guess they didn't want people buying whatever they wanted.

Being able to kill a dozen or so beasts and get a skill was kind of overpowered but it was still aggravating for it to change. The new price tag wasn't that unfeasible, but what if it increased again?

The eighth wave brought an influx of points and we finally purchased the Alchemist book. Now that all the essentials had been purchased, we were saving up for the information about the multiverse book next.

That was highly anticipated and we all wanted to gain more information about our new world. Austin and I had revealed our affinities and we all wondered what other abilities were hidden from us.

The days continued and my routine stayed the same. Hunt in the morning, blacksmithing until dinner. Then magic practice and training until it was time to go to bed.

Blacksmithing work strained my magic stats a lot and was a great way to increase wisdom and acumen, but fell short for intelligence. I didn't have to maintain Sense Metal the entire time now that I got the profession, but the book said that it would help improve the final product.

Something about saturating it in mana throughout the crafting process helped increase its final grade, or something? I still didn't understand it fully but I used it as a great way to train.

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The constant use of mana helped increase wisdom and the constant need to replenish it increased acumen. The precise detail work helped train agility. That left only two stats that I had to train separately so they wouldn't fall behind, intelligence and perception.

They could be trained at the same time, which was great for efficiency's sake. Intelligence training involved a lot of mana manipulation and attempting to make your mana more concentrated.

It was tedious and repetitive work that got annoying fast. Perception training was focused more on the spiritual side and was used to sense the mana you were manipulating along with the changes in it.

After my evolution, it was easier to sense, but it was still not my best trait. I might have to conclude that I just wasn't magically gifted.

The ninth wave came and went and we finally had enough points for 'Introduction to the Multiverse'.

It was a surprise, to say the least. We all gathered expecting a book to appear after we purchased it. Instead of a book appearing, a humanoid creature flashed into existence.

Before we got a chance to comprehend what was happening the thing shouted out in a cheerful voice.

"Hello, thank you for choosing 'Introduction to the Multiverse'. I will be your instructor Cypteris."

All of us jumped at the sudden voice and I even had my new axe in my hand, ready in case it attacked. After fixing everyone's gear, I had the time to make myself a new weapon and she was a beauty. I had Scott carve a handle from the toughest wood we could buy from the store and I picked the best iron I could afford to use for the axe head.

I still hadn't gotten the hang of making good quality steel yet so I had to settle for iron, but it was still a monstrous two-hander and it had the weight to prove it. I had gotten rid of my shield and gone full into the heavy weapon since acquiring the skill.

It made it so I got injured more frequently but it was nothing that I couldn't handle. The feeling of slicing through monsters in one powerful blow still brought a smile to my face. When it connected, it was devastating. I thought about naming it but figured I would name it when I made it better out of steel.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" Granddad was the first to respond to the new creature.

We were all staring at the creature now and on guard should it move aggressively. It was relatively the same height as us, over five and a half feet tall, and it looked mostly humanoid, bipedal with two arms and legs. That was where the similarities ended. It had green skin with blue accents on its arms and face. Its body was covered by a strange set of clothes but its two sets of eyes were what stood out. I half expected it to have wings or something.

"I am to be your instructor in teaching you the ways of the multiverse. Throughout hundreds of integrations, the system has learned that a more... personal touch, is best to make sure things are learned correctly." It said matter of factly.

I didn't know whether to take that as an insult or not. Was it calling us dumb?

"That isn't to say anything negative about you, it just means more information is retained through this medium of learning. It also helps the newly integrated voice their questions." Cypteris said.

"As for what I am doing here, well that's rather obvious, I'm here to teach you. As your settlement pylon is only at the outpost level, this cabin will have to do... unfortunately." It continued while looking at the dull surroundings. We had put up some new furniture Scott had made, but there wasn't anything on the walls. Decorations were a waste of points and the room was a reflection of that.

All of us were too dumbfounded to speak. The last thing we expected was a creature to appear in our cabin to be our teacher.

"What are you going to teach us?" I couldn't help but ask.

"Good question human. Most of the basics and requirements to level up, along with the various things you need to know to evolve effectively. Now, there are some things that The Great System will restrict me from saying so if I cannot answer a question, that is why." Cypteris answered.

I didn't think that I'd ever been referred to as human before. That was such an odd thing to be referred to by. Yes, I was a human but it felt weird being called one.

Austin leaned over and said, "How did it know you were human?"

How was I supposed to know that, it wasn't like I told the thing.

"Humans are a common species in the multiverse and are not that hard to find. I, myself, have met many humans throughout my life, you are not special. Plus, I was told who I would be teaching to keep what I told you applicable. It wouldn't be helpful to teach an elemental race about human tendencies now would it?" Its cheerful voice was getting to me, why was the thing so happy?

It sounded like an overexcited kindergarten teacher with the way it spoke. I certainly wasn't going to say anything but it was certainly off-putting.

"Are there any other questions before we get started?" It said while clapping its... hands. Now that my attention was brought to them, I noticed that they weren't quite right. There was a webbing that connected every finger and each one was longer than it should be. It looked more like a fin than a hand.

"None, good. Now before we start I should note that I cannot reveal any information about the tutorial you are in or information about any other newly integrated not in this tutorial. So no questions about that. Secondly, I cannot do anything for you. My body isn't actually here and this is just a projection of it so I can't fight nor make anything for you." It said promptly.

None of us knew what to do with that, so we just nodded absently.

The thing took that as acknowledgment and continued, "Good. Now to begin, what is leveling?"

I didn't know what the alien was expecting, but blank stares must not have been it.

"Seriously, nothing? What have you guys been doing this whole time? I can see that you have all leveled before." It lost some of its cheerfulness the longer the silence continued.

"We get experience from killing things and level up when we get enough," Hal said back like it was common sense.

The alien did not like that answer and narrowed its eyes onto Hal.

"You gain experience? That's what you think happens? What about the transfer of essence? Or the enrichment of the soul? Have you just been murdering anything you could find?" It seemed the alien was getting worked up.

"Oh dear Honored Mother, help me. These apes are clueless."