With a pop, Connor appeared in an open field surrounded by trees with a couple hundred men and women around him. As he took in his surroundings, he saw people in blue and others dressed in red, like gangbangers in Los Angeles. In one area, he saw quite a few people dressed like bikers. In another area of the clearing, he saw Latino and Hispanic people dressed as bodyguards with tattoos visible above their collars or on their faces.
After a few moments, his perception allowed him to determine that there were precisely 999 people near him and that all of them were criminals of some sort. Near him were individuals that he’d categorize as Italian mafia or maybe members of a Cartel. Why the hell was he with a bunch of criminals? He watched as everyone looked around, sizing one another up. Those who looked his way discounted him immediately, which was precisely how he wanted it.
Before anyone could say anything, an elf, an actual elf in flowing brown robes, appeared above the clearing. He was floating in the air, which surprised everyone else. Connor just watched while he also remained cognizant of his surroundings. The elf looked around the crowd of humans until his eyes came to rest on Connor. A frown creased his brow, but then his gaze moved on. When the elf was done, he spoke in a loud, soothing voice.
“First, Let me welcome you to your new life in The SYSTEM.
What is the SYSTEM? Think of it as a neutral entity that watches over and governs all aspects of existence. You are here to learn how to access the basic functions available to everyone and then choose a class before you are sent back to your planet.
“What is this horseshit? How are you floating?” A large man in biker gear started to exclaim before he was cut off.
“Silence!” the elf declared. Connor could tell by pressure that the word created that it was more of a directive than a request. It didn’t affect him but everyone else in the clearing shut up instantly.
“If and when I wish for questions, I’ll let you know. Otherwise, remain silent and listen!”
When no one responded, the elf continued, “Due to circumstances beyond your control, the SYSTEM Integration of Earth scheduled for 362 days and some odd hours from now has been accelerated. The typical method of induction is to subject the population to an ever-increasing level of mana over a year so that the change is slow and steady. There is some disruption, but not as much as was required today. Unfortunately for all of you on Earth, someone decided to change that in an attempt to…you know what? You don’t need to worry about that. What you need to worry about is figuring out how to access the SYSTEM and choose a class.
The elf paused for a moment before continuing, “Let’s get this started. Everyone either thinks or says ‘Status.’”
Connor listened as the elf went through the basics of controlling the interface with a thought or using a holographic interface that only the user could see. He warned everyone that while you could work that way to make things easier for themselves, learning to focus their minds and control the interface with their thoughts would allow them to utilize the SYSTEM without anyone else knowing. This went on for about an hour, by which time Connor had tuned him out.
Connor’s attention was brought back to the elf when he started talking about leveling, “Now we get to how to become more powerful. To get to a point where you can cast spells like the one I’m using to float or fight higher-level monsters, you will need to improve three portions of yourself: your Class, your Core, and your Race. Race evolution usually takes the longest and is subject to evolution and mutation. Killing monsters and completing quests is the easiest way to acquire the materials needed to evolve your class.”
One of the girls in the back raised her hand.
“Yes, girl, you may speak. What is your question?”
The girl raised her voice a little so that she could be heard, but it was nowhere near as loud as the elf, “Mr. Elf, Sir, did you say monsters?”
“I did say monsters. First, though, you may all address me as Initiate Ellron if I allow you to ask a question. As for your question, young miss, Monsters and Magic are real. When you return to your planet, you will find that it has been saturated with mana, the energy that fuels magic, since your departure. There will be monsters and other challenges to overcome on Earth when you return.
“Thank you, Initiate Ellron,” the girl said as she stepped back.
Initiate Ellron looked around to make sure there were no more questions and then continued, “Now, as I was saying, You have three aspects of yourself that you must improve. Each improvement in your Race and Core will increase all of your base attributes by a minimum of 10. A common core will garner 10 points for each of your attributes. An Uncommon Core will garner 20. Each rank of the core increases the award.
You improve your Race by Evolving it. You strengthen your Core by finding a Core Shard and absorbing it. It requires 10 Core Shards of a specific rank before you can absorb a Crystal of the next higher rank. You don’t really need to understand the specifics except that improving gives you more base attributes, and attributes allow you to fuel more spells and skills.
Improving your class is a bit easier. You accept a class that you have qualified for and then level that class. When you reach level 100, the process starts for the next category. You can keep the class you have, or you can try to improve by multiclassing. Each time you Evolve your Class, you may make this choice. But I’m getting way ahead of myself. Most of you won’t live to see level 20.”
The Initiate Ellon paused for a minute to see if his words had any effect. When he saw that all he received was flat stares, he continued.
“It should go without saying that the higher someone's level is, the more powerful they are. For instance, none of you here should have a single attribute above 20 yet. Most of you won’t have any above 10. When you choose a class, that class will improve your attributes and resource pools. Resource Pools are Hit Points, your ability to take damage, and Stamina, your ability to make your body do things. There is also Mana; everyone can use it, but it is vital for mages to cast spells
Now, To give you an idea. Because of my completed evolutions, my minimum attributes in each category are at least 300. That is before adding class-level bonuses. That means if I flick any of you with my pinky, you die.
Connor held his breath. Of course, there had to be one. One of the Bikers shook his hand at the elf. It was obvious he was trying to say something, but the compulsion the elf had laid on the group at the beginning was still affecting him. The elf looked at the biker in his leather jacket with obvious disdain as he said, “Yes,” while making a gesture with his hand.
“Big words from a tiny man, even if you can fl..” The biker yelled up at the elf.
Before the biker could even finish his sentence, the elf had moved, appeared in front of the Biker, lifted his right hand, pointed at the pinky on it with his left hand, and flicked the man in the middle of his chest. The blow caused the biker to fly up and over the group, until he came crashing down into the ground beyond the trees in a very obviously “dead” heap.
“What a waste. The XP wasn’t even worth the mana I had to use to float down in front of him,” Connor heard the elf mutter as he floated back up above the group. He looked around quickly to make sure that he had everyone’s attention before continuing as if nothing happened, “Now. Returning to the topic, As you kill monsters and complete quests, you receive Experience Points and may receive class shards. To create a Class Crystal, you need 10 shards of the rank you desire. Please note that the class crystal that is created is based on the shards used in its composition. As an example, when I formed my Common Class Crystal, I utilized two Fighter shards, five Mage Shards, a Cleric Shards, and two Rogue shards. When combined, my Common Class Crystal ended up being a Mage Crystal because more Mage Shards were utilized. It wasn’t as good as if I had utilized just Mage shards, but it allowed me to upgrade my Class Core.
You should also know that besides the four common classes I’ve mentioned, there are shards for uncommon and rare classes as well. Such shards significantly influence the type of Class Crystal that forms. I only added one Uncommon Light Mage Shard to my Uncommon Class Crystal, and that uncommon class crystal allowed me to learn the Mage of Light Class, which gave me significant bonuses when casting light magic.
None of that matters to you right now, but the information may help you as you move forward.
Initiate Ellron paused for a moment, “Okay, I can see that this is boring you, so I’ll get to the important stuff. All of you are uninitiated human mortals. As such, you only have the attributes you have earned on your planet until now. You may also choose one of the basic classes, which will give you some bonuses as you make your way out into the forest and work to improve yourself before heading back to your world.
The woman raised her hand again. When he pointed at her, she asked, “How long will we be here?”
“Thirty of your Earth days. Why thirty days? Because there is another way to become more powerful, you may earn Titles. Titles offer unique upgrades and may only be earned during unique opportunities. During your 30 days here, earning Titles, choosing a class, and leveling that class are the quickest and easiest ways to become more powerful, even before forming your Common Core, which is the goal ALL OF YOU should set for yourselves before you return to Earth.
If you decide to choose a class at this time, the SYSTEM will provide one weapon and some very limited basic survival gear.
If you choose to go out on your own, kill some monsters and complete some quests. You will form your core the way you will need to for every level after Common. Going that route may award you with unique class opportunities.
Until you receive a class, all Experience Points that you earn will be banked.
What are Experience Points? Experience Points are used to level your classes. For now, all you need to know is that you will need 1000 XP to reach level one, 2,000 more XP to reach level two, and 3,000 more XP to reach level 3. Each new level will cost that level times one thousand XP to earn.
Initiate Elron’s head cocked to the side as if he was listening to something before he said, “My time here grows short.
Choose your class, or don’t.
Group with others, or don’t
Explore, or don’t.
Make your decision and go forth.
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
May the SYSTEM Guide you.”
Before anyone could ask Initiate Ellron any more questions, he vanished.
Uncanny Perception has Activated.
Connor noticed that Initiate Ellron was now hovering invisibly 1,000 feet above the clearing. That was weird; Uncanny Perception let him know exactly how far whatever he was seeing was away from him. In addition to seeing where the SYSTEM Guide had gone, he also heard others talking.
“What should I do?”
“Who was that guy?”
“Was he an elf?”
Those were just some of the questions that were uttered aloud. Another thing Connor noticed was that the woman who had asked the questions in a meek manner seemed to change right before his eyes. Her eyes had glazed over for a moment and then glazed over for a few moments. When her eyes focused she activated Stealth and vanished.
Connor could see her clearly. No one near her could, though. He watched as she zeroed in on someone toward the edge of the clearing and drew a dagger from a scabbard she now carried. The burly man she was making her way toward looked around as he pulled a longsword from a scabbard he now wore on his waist. Connor was sure he hadn’t had it a few moments ago.
“Fuck Yeah! I’m a Fighter,” he declared. “Sasha, where are you? I have a bigger stick to poke you with this time,” He called out tauntingly as he looked around for her. Other people nearby realized something was going on and moved away from the man. Connor watched as she came up on his left side and waited until he raised the left arm to point.
Connor considered what was about to happen and wondered if he should intervene. Then he asked himself a better question: did he care about human criminals killing human criminals? It was a bit callous, but unlike one of his favorite characters, he wasn’t going to hem and haw about whether he was doing the right thing if he killed someone or allowed them to die because of a choice he made. He fully intended to kill whoever the fuck had killed his mom. If that ended up being the SYSTEM, that just meant it was a long-term goal. If not, that meant that goal was going to be a bit easier to achieve.
Connor watched as Sasha, if that was her name, moved with the brute until, finally, he raised his arm to point. She appeared from Stealth as she drove her dagger up under his left arm and into his heart between his ribs. It was a perfect blow. The brute stopped moving like a puppet with its strings cut. Without a whimper, the brute fell to the ground, dead.
Unlike Connor’s version of Stealth, Sasha became visible as soon as she struck, which caused a few people nearby to scream. It also set off a chain reaction throughout the clearing. Connor watched as everyone drew guns and other weapons before a single word rang out from Initiate Ellron.
“FREEZE!”
Initiate Ellron became visible and floated down until he was 20 feet above Sasha. Then, he made sure everyone could see him before he continued, “Very good, Sasha. The First Rule of the SYSTEM, Strong Rule, and are rewarded. Please tell everyone what Title you earned is and the benefits it provides.”
Connor felt the pressure of the spell that had been cast, which hadn’t affected him, release. He saw Sasha consider ignoring the request, then thought better of it, “I received the Title “Murderhobo -You have killed a member of your race during an Integration Tutorial. +1 to Strength and Agility.”
“Did you receive more than one Title,” Initiate Ellron asked.
Sasha nodded and continued, “The second Title I received was Human Slayer 1. Normally, you do not receive a slayer title until you have killed at least 100 creatures of the species. During a Tutorial, this is modified. You receive +1 to hit and +1 to damage per rank of this title. This title may be upgraded to a maximum of Human Slayer 10,”
Sasha paused as her eyes glazed over. When she spoke again, there was a hint of excitement in her voice, “I also received another Title just now, “Instructor’s Pet – You have helped a SYSTEM Instructor teach a vital lesson during a SYSTEM Integration Tutorial Charisma +5.”
Initiate Ellron nodded, “The last lesson I have to teach is that during this Tutorial, titles are available for almost any accomplishment. While I’m not allowed to tell you how to get them, you can help each other out with anything you wish. I will offer you this word of warning, though. You might be able to kill anyone with this tutorial without repercussions. I would warn you that the Multiverse is large and that any thoughts you might have of killing indiscriminately once you leave here can lead to dire consequences. What is that Earth phrase? Do not bite off more than you can chew.
This time, when he vanished, Connor couldn’t see him.
“You BITCH, You killed him, a woman said as she successfully shoved her longsword through Sasha’s chest, killing her instant.
That attack started a free-for-all as attacks rang out throughout the clearing. Connor wasn’t surprised when a weasel-looking man near him tried to backstab him. Connor had been watching everyone and moved when the man moved in for the attack. He dodged to the side so that the blow wouldn’t be fatal, which proved unnecessary as his attacker and he both heard the blade hit his skin with a “TINK.”
Connor wasn’t wearing armor, nor was his skin made of metal; what the hell? Connor activated Flight and Stealth and jumped up into the air. The weaselly man below stood there in shock until a dagger pierced the back of his skull from a different attacker, which killed him instantly.
Connor moved up until he was at least 1,000 feet above everyone. He pulled up his message log and checked to see what had happened.
WARNING! You have been Backstabbed
Base Damage 4
Strength Bonus 0
Critical Multiplier x3
Total Damage 12.
Armor: None
Physical Damage Resistance 13
Damage negated; Attack has no effect.
He had a Physical Damage Resistance? That would explain why the few rocks that dropped on him in the mineshaft hadn’t done any damage. That was interesting but not relevant right now. Connor looked down and couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Everyone was either attacking someone, standing there, trying to run away, or dying. Connor saw one guy cast a spell that killed someone who was pointing a gun at someone near him. As far as he could tell, no one saw him. As he was looking around, a flash appeared out over the forest about a mile away. It was just above the treetops, which meant it wouldn’t be visible to anyone on the ground. Connor flew over to where the light had flashed and found Initiate Ellron sitting at a table with a single chair opposite him. He looked to be sipping a cup of tea as he looked up into Connor’s gaze. “Normally, I wouldn’t be able to see you, but as the Administrator of this Tutorial, I can see everyone from Earth who is here automatically. Please join me,” the initiate said as another cup of tea appeared.
Connor floated down and deactivated both Flight and Stealth as he sat opposite the Administrator. Then he picked up the tea and sipped it. When it didn’t immediately taste awful or poison him, he allowed himself to swallow. It reminded him of sweet tea, which had probably been sweetened with honey.
“If I might ask, Why do you run these Tutorials?” Connor asked.
“Because SYSTEM Generated Quests pays quite well. Depending on how it goes, my reward is variable. My turn. Why are you in this Tutorial?” Initiate Ellron asked
“Because I integrated into the SYSTEM with everyone else on my planet?” Connor said.
“Truly? But you don’t have a class. At least I can’t determine what it is.”
“Can you determine my Core or Racial ranks?” Connor asked.
“No, I just knew you were special because when I scanned you, I only received question marks?”
“Huh, that’s good to know,” Connor mused.
If I had to guess, though, you're definitely some kind of Rogue. You used Stealth easily enough, and you flew without spending mana, which means you're some sort of psychic caster.”
“Close enough,” Connor agreed. “I have a question: why was I put in a tutorial with a bunch of criminal types?”
“The SYSTEM does sorting and placement. If I had to guess, it’s probably because of your physical attributes. As you saw, the Tutorials can turn into blood baths in some cases.”
“They won’t all the Tutorials be like this one?”
“Heavens, No. Speaking of which, would you like some information for a boon?
“Boon?” Connor asked.
“There are various levels of boons. For this information, I would ask for a minor boon. As there is only one rank below minor, trivial, I believe a minor boon for the information I’m going to share would be fair.”
Connor's intelligence was well over 1,000. In a moment, context and word association cross-referenced themselves with what was going on back in the clearing and his meeting with the Initiate, which brought the psychopathic character from one of his favorite series to mind, William. Connor laughed, “Let me guess, you going to tell me there is a special Title awarded for being the last person alive when this Tutorial ends?”
“Well, yes. How could you possibly know that?” Initiate, Ellron asked.
“Lucky guess,” Connor said with a smile as he made his counteroffer, “What I would agree to pay a Minor Boon for is the knowledge of how my mother died as the integration started. I want to know who killed her.”
“She was alive at the start of the SYSTEM Integration?” Ellron asked.
“Yes.”
“A simple request. I agree,” Initiate Ellron said as he sat back from the table and pulled out a tablet. A moment later, he spoke, “An Agent of your NSA, Jared Davis, was given credit for your mother's death. He is currently in a different Tutorial.”
“Is that Tutorial on this planet?”
“No, The Tutorials are scattered throughout the Multiverse.”
Initiate Ellron said.
“So I have to wait to kill him until I’m back on Earth?”
“It would appear so,” Initiate Ellron agreed.
“Okay, then. Thank you for the information. Is there anything I need to do so you can find me later?” Connor asked.
“You’ll be in this Tutorial for the next 30 days. Try to level up and find new skills. After that, the survivors will be returned to Earth if you haven’t found other opportunities. Then, the fight for your actual survival begins then.”
“Where will you be during the next 30 days?”
“My job here is done. The only reason I was able to talk with you now is that I forfeited one of my quest rewards that I didn’t need so that I could talk with you for a bit. I was curious. My curiosity earned me a Minor Boon. Whether it will be worth what I gave up, remains to be seen. I will close this encounter by saying, May the Suns and Moons guide your path.”
“You as well,” Connor said as Initiate Ellron stood. The innate nodded to Connor and then vanished with all of his furniture and accessories.
Connor activated Stealth and Flight. He had a few things to think about. While he did that he was going to go what the other people in the tutorial were doing.
***
“Sin, did you see the experience we got for killing those guys. And the Quest we completed. This is insane. I’m already level 3,” one of the younger gang members called out to his friend.
“Will you shut your mouth? This won’t work as a trap if you don’t shut your mouth,” the young woman known as Sin said. Both had been living on the streets in L.A. when they’d accepted the prompt to join the Tutorial.
***
“Noobs,” Jason Monroe muttered under his breath as he looked at the cave entrance. He’d tracked these two back to this cave after the chaos in the clearing. It wasn’t his fault he played Table Top games on the weekend, and The SYSTEM allowed him to get a fireball spell as his first spell, which he cast into the cave. Fuck those gangbangers
***
Yang saw the orange glow, heard the explosion and screams, and moved toward where the flame had originated. The idiots that had chosen mage as their class should have picked spells that didn’t give away their position. He moved in with Stealth active and found the mage hunkered down with his eyes glazed over as he looked at his menus. He was spending his XP right after he killed someone while hostiles were still in the area. What an idiot. Yang came up behind him, grabbed his head and slit his throat.
Unlike his target, Yang fled the area and activated Stealth as soon as he could. He would find a safe space a long way from here before he looked at all of his gains.
***
Connor watched the mage kill the two that had been hiding in the Cavern. He’d actually been in the cavern when the fireball went off. It had singed him, but his Physical Damage Resistance and Regeneration worked to heal the wounds quickly. He still wasn’t fully healed from his fall, but he had healed 900 hit points in only 30 minutes. That left him with 1,115 of his 1,368 Hit Points.
The Fireball had been weak. It had only done 10 points of damage to him. Yes, that could have killed a normal person, but he was beginning to understand that he was anything but a normal person anymore. Now, he had a choice. He could kill these people, or he could leave them and look for better opportunities. If they came after him after he left, that was their choice. Their last choice, but their choice.
If this was a game, he was the equivalent of a level 300 to their level one. There was no challenge, and he doubted he would get any XP. Sure, he’d miss out on a Title for killing everyone in the Tutorial, but that wasn’t something he really wanted anyway. Connor floated above the clearing, watching the idiots below, and looked for a Sun, no Suns. There were two Suns, or was that a star and a moon, or a planet that was really close to the star that he could see from a planet's surface? How close were they to that star?
Connor watched the star for thirty minutes to make sure he knew which way it was moving while it set. Once he was sure he had a direction, he began flying in that direction. Maybe he’d find something more interesting than dumb human criminals trying to kill each other. He sure hoped so.