Connor flew away from the other members of the Tutorial he’d been assigned to by The SYSTEM. If they all wanted to kill each other, he’d let them. He might be powerful, and he might regenerate, but if enough people tried to kill him at once, he’d have issues. It was a good thing he could hide with Stealth and that it suppressed anything his other Tutorial participants could possibly have to see him.
As he flew away from the clearing, he noticed a group of creatures moving through the forest toward the clearing. Connor altered his course and flew a large circular path around the clearing to see if anything else was being drawn toward the stupid humans who were making a huge ruckus. As he flew around, he saw that groups of various creatures were making their way there.
The larger creatures and groups of creatures that Connor saw were genuinely terrifying, even to him. He saw large, dog-like creatures that were about the size of what he’d expect a small bear to be. A snake that blended in with the forest. If not for Uncanny Perception, he wouldn’t have even seen it. It was at least as long as a bus and at least three feet in diameter, and even a large cat that also had a stealth or camouflage-based ability. The large feline had the ability to change the color of its fur, allowing it to blend in with its surroundings. Connor’s Uncanny Perception picked up on it easily. Connor was intrigued by the cat, so he flew down to get a better look.
The large cat was about the size of a small brown bear and probably weighed between four and six hundred pounds. Its eyes were grey with a silver sheen around their Irises. Its claws were the size of small daggers and easily dug into the trees it was jumping through on its way to the clearing. Connor’s perception allowed him to focus on the details of the cat with little effort, while his Stealth skill kept him unnoticed.
When he approached the cat within 10 feet to get a good look at its eyes, two things happened. The cat shook its head as if it smelled something but couldn’t quite track it before turning back toward the clearing and continuing on its way. As he followed above, the notification appeared.
SYSTEM Message.
All creatures start with the ability to learn one Skill. Skills take up a minimum of one Skill Slot. Once a class is chosen, you will earn an additional skill slot for every 10 levels you earn in your class.
What are Skills? The ability to perform normal tasks, even tasks that require some training and skill, does not automatically meet the requirement of a Skill for The SYSTEM. The ability to perform complex actions that some would deem to be a skill relies on gained knowledge and your attributes to determine whether something you try to do is successful.
Skill Slots within the SYSTEM represent SYSTEM-assisted abilities and powers that supplement the standard everyday skills you have, spells you can cast, or physical actions you try to take. For instance, the creature you just encountered has a skill that helps it remain undetected.
An example of skills that you might possess are as follows: Rogues gain the Class Skills Stealth and Backstab. Mages gain a Skill that allows them to cast spells. If a skill is earned as a class benefit, the skills do not take up a Skill Slot. For instance, If a mage were to try to learn Stealth, it would take up a slot. Additionally, it should be noted that the rank of a skill can be improved as your Core improves. The Rogue Skill, Stealth, automatically improves as your Class Rank increases.
Information on Ranks will be provided later. For now, the ranks in order are Common, Uncommon, Rare, Advanced, and Master. There are ranks higher than master level, which you will need to learn for yourself in the future.
Skills that are not obtained as part of a Class must be slotted. One Common Skill takes up one Skill Slot, One Uncommon Skill takes up Two Skill Slots, and so on. If a Mage wishes to improve their Stealth Skill, they must meet the minimum requirements, find the upgraded version of the skill, and have a free Skill Slot for the upgrade. When the new skill is slotted, it will replace the original lower-rank skill and take up an additional slot.
NOTE: Skills cannot be of a higher Rank than your Core.
During this tutorial, Common Skills will be offered after specific, much less stringent criteria have been met. Be aware that spontaneously discovering skills outside of a Tutorial is practically unheard of. This is one such instance.
Congratulations!
You have scrutinized a creature to try to discern its offensive and defensive capabilities. You have met the criteria to learn the Common Skill, Identify.
Identify (Common): You may learn general information about any creatures within your range by focusing on them. Only one creature may be targeted at a time.
Range: 10 Feet
Mana Cost: 10
This Skill will provide the Name and Level of all Common Creatures.
Would you like to learn the Common Skill Identify, Yes or No?
Connor read the notifications while he flew above the cat below him. As he read, he smiled. This would come in handy, and with a bit of time, he could quickly increase the rank of the skill with Malleable Skill.
Connor chose “Yes”.
Congratulations! You have learned the Common Skill, Identify.
Connor moved back within range of the cat and activated Identify. A tooltip popped up above the cat's head.
Ghost Panther
Level: 53
There was not much in the way of information, but at least he knew what to call the creature now. So, the Ghost Panther was level 53. Connor quickly flew over to the largest dog and the Giant Snake. Identify worked on both.
Forest Mastiff
Level 35
Nettlewood Viper
Level 87
Connor watched as the monsters continued toward the clearing. He considered stepping in but decided that if the criminal types wanted to draw attention to themselves, this would be a perfect opportunity to see how well human weapons fared against monsters. The Panther and Viper were headed toward the group of humans from two points of an equilateral triangle, while the Mastiff and about 20 small versions of the creature were heading in from the third point of that triangle.
The Mastiffs were heading fast, and the Panther was not far behind. The Viper relied on its camouflage, so it wasn’t going to be within range until well after the Mastiffs and the Panther arrived. Connor floated back up over the clearing and looked around. A lot of the gang members lay on the ground dead. Two groups, a set of what looked like oriental businessmen and the group near Connor when they first arrived, had retreated to the trees, utilized cover, and set up a perimeter. They seemed to be working together and were doing pretty well for themselves against the other people who hadn’t fled.
The people who had run off were now encountering other monsters that Connor hadn’t Identified yet. His Perception allowed him to pick up the screams and combat, but the trees around the clearing prevented him from seeing what was happening directly.
Suddenly, he heard rushing wind coming from above him and turned to see something that looked like a cross between a giant eagle and a Pterodactylus diving toward the group below. Connor made sure to stay out of its way as it rushed by, but he moved within 10 feet so that he could Identify it.
Vesnar
Level: (Uncommon) 35
A small man who had thought he was being sneaky crawling through the grass only had time to scream once before the Vesnar’s claws pierced his chest and silenced him forever. Without missing a beat, the Vesnar pulled up, lifting its prey with it, and began flying over the trees. Connor flagged the information for future reference. A few people nearby shot at the Vesnar, but they either missed or the bullets didn’t do anything.
An Uncommon creature well within the range someone that had just arrived could achieve, which would make it a quest reward for the tutorial. Yep, he wasn’t waiting. Connor shot off after the Vesnar as the Mastiffs arrived in the clearing, and chaos ensued below him. They had their enemies to fight. He had his.
While the Vesnar was fast, it was flying while carrying a man that was almost half as big as it was, not including its wingspan. Connor wasn’t carrying anything. As he drew close, Connor drew Fang from his inventory, positioned himself above its back, and drove the blade down as he willed himself to stop. Fang was an extremely sharp two-sided blade. It ripped down along the body and out between its legs, causing it to drop its catch and lose control as it died in midair before it fell into the forest below.
Congratulations! You have killed a Level 35 Uncommon Vesnar
XP Awarded 3,500.
Congratulations! You have completed the Hidden Quest “Kill the Terror in the Sky.”
XP Awarded 10,000.
Connor watched the Vesnar come to rest on the forest floor. As he watched, two yellow crystals formed, floating directly above its head. He’d been right; there had been a hidden quest. The XP wasn’t going to help him out too much, but every little bit helped. Connor checked his HUD. Stealth and Flight were still active. He moved down to the yellow Crystals and touched one. A Notification filled his vision.
Congratulations! You have found a Common Ranked Tutorial Skill Crystal.
Tutorial Skill Crystals may be utilized to teach you one of the following Common Skills, provided you have an unused Skill Slot.
Identify – This skill will allow you to identify monsters and their levels.
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
Analyze – This skill will allow you to Identify any Magic Spells, barriers, or items that you encounter.
Dodge – Once per hour per rank at No cost, you can dodge any attack of equal or less Rank. Additionally, your normal chance to dodge is increased by one for every rank in this skill.
Inventory, Common - You have been granted a dimensional storage area that may hold up to 10 slots worth of equipment.
Each slot may hold up to 5 pounds of a single hand-sized item. Multiple Slots may be required for larger items. The number of slots required for any specific item is based on its weight.
Items summoned from your Inventory will appear either in your hand or on the ground in front of you, as you desire.
Regardless of the weight of the items you carry, they do not increase your weight.
Eye of Eris, Common – Range: 10 Feet. This is a 360-degree spherical perception skill. You may now perceive everything within 10 feet of you. This Skill Negates all Levels of Stealth, though Incorporeal Opponents that are also invisible may not be detected.
WARNING: Each rank of this skill multiplies the current range by 10. If any of the following attributes: Perception, Wisdom, and Intelligence are lower than the current range, you will suffer information overload and receive the debuff – Distracted
If any of the following attributes, Perception, Wisdom, or Intelligence, are lower than the current range by more than half, you will suffer information overload and receive both the debuffs: Distracted and Pain-Racked.
To utilize the Tutorial Skill Crystals, you must have a Skill Slot available.
Note, Tutorial Crystals may NOT be utilized to increase the Rank of Common Skills.
Connor closed his notifications. Inventory was a no-go; he already had the uncommon rank version of the skill. Identify was also out because he already had it. He’d like to pick up Analyze, but Dodge and Eye of Eris were really calling to him. The ability to Dodge without spending Stamina or using one of his attacks sounded powerful. Eye of Eris looked like that ability in that Hunter series he’d read. That could come in really handy, especially if it would allow him to see through Stealth, no matter what rank it was. Then again, if the uncommon version of that skill had a range of 100 feet and the Rare version 1,000 feet…Advanced would be 10,000 feet, and Master Rank would give him a range of 100,000 feet. Could he even get his attributes that high? Anyway, if he could increase Eye of Eris to the Rare rank, his current attributes could handle that for sure. Maybe another skill would allow him to process all the information.
Connor used the crystals to slot Dodge and Eye of Eris. Connor felt the energy from the crystal pouring into him and unlocking the potential of the skill, which then locked up one of his Skill Slots. While he stood immobile and considered how those crystals would have allowed anyone else from Earth to learn one skill and that there was no way for them to have a second skill. Then again, his class had stated that he didn’t receive extra skill slots at Common Rank. Maybe the other classes did. Even so, he couldn’t see any class giving more than one or two more open Skill Slots, which would make a total of three. There were five open skills for the Tutorial Crystals. If everyone received an additional Skill Slot every 10 levels, then there had to be other creatures in the area that would allow people to level, at least up to level 50.
Sure, there had been an uncommon creature, and with a reward of 3,500 plus 10,000 XP for the quest, that would raise anyone’s Common class to level 4, but that wouldn’t get another skill point. The only reason he was able to slot the two skills he’d just learned was because his titles and perks had required the SYSTEM to increase his Class and Race to Master Rank, which had allowed the XP he earned to level him artificially.
Connor had a feeling that while he had a ton of stats compared to everyone else from Earth, if and when he ran into other sentient beings of the multiverse, his class was going to prove lacking in specific areas. However, it did look like it made up for the lack of specialization in the ability to learn and utilize skills from all four main classes.
Connor was brought out of his musing when a gunshot rang out nearby as a bullet slammed into his forehead.
WARNING! You have received a Surprise Attack.
9 points of damage have been inflicted to your forehead.
Physical Damage Resistance negates Damage.
Connor looked around and saw someone trying to dodge back behind a tree. He caught the telltale signs of a handgun being pulled back. If he’d used a pistol to hit him in the head from what looked like 100 feet away, that was a pretty impressive shot. What was more impressive was the fact that his Uncanny Perception hadn’t activated, and he thought he was still Stealthed. Maybe he’d become visible when he’d accepted the skills. If he’d glowed for even a moment, that might have been enough for the man to see him. Also, he was at least a half mile from the clearing, what was this guy doing this far away from everyone? That was a dumb question; he wasn’t fighting everyone else; that’s what he was doing, which meant he was at least partially intelligent.
Connor’s thoughts came back to the fact that the man must have a skill or ability that allowed him to hide from Uncanny Perception, and his Stealth must have a weakness he wasn’t aware of. Luckily for Connor, he could move up to 1,175 feet in a second, and the guy with the answers was only 100 feet away. In a moment, he was standing behind the man as he tried to activate his Stealth skill. Because Connor was looking directly at him, he felt the power of the skill wash over him and fail. The weird thing was that Uncanny Perception still didn’t activate.
Connor reached and locked his hand around the man’s neck as he pushed him up against a tree. He noticed that his Stealth was still active, but he also knew that the man in front of him could see him. It was weird. If someone else could see the man he was holding and not him, so much the better. Connor made sure not to squeeze his neck and instead thought of his hand as a shackle holding the man to the tree.
The man brought the gun in his right hand up and tried to shoot Connor with it. Almost lazily, Connor reached out and placed his hand over the other man’s hand on the gun and slid his finger behind the trigger, preventing him from pulling it.
“Do you really wish to draw attention to yourself, friend?” Connor asked. He could get into this whole overpowered villain role, but no, he wasn’t going to do that, at least not yet.
“What?”
“Say, What again?”
“What?”
Connor laughed as he halfheartedly said, “Say what again, motherfucker”
“Are you quoting Pulp Fiction to me?”
“Well, if you’re going to die, seems kind of appropriate,” Connor said.
“Me, die? Why kill me? I’m….”
“Did you not just shoot me in the head?”
“Well, yeah, but you did just completely destroy a fucking dinosaur,” the man said.
“Point taken, which brings me to the questions I actually have. Answer them honestly, and I’ll let you go. Lie, and you die?” Connor said.
“Fine, fine, what do you want to know?
“Simple, what skill or title do you have, besides Stealth, that allows you to remain undetected?” Connor asked.
“And you’ll let me live if I tell you?”
Connor looked around to make sure no one else was sneaking up on them before he answered, “If you hadn’t noticed, I wasn’t fucking with anyone else when you shot me in the head. The only reason we’re talking is because you brought my attention to you. So, the consequences of your action are to answer my very simple question or not—your choice. Perhaps we can be friends in the future, perhaps not. But at this moment, you're immobilized, and I’m not going anywhere until I have an answer. Eventually, the creatures that are attacking the rest of the tutorial participants are going to come this way…”
“Fine. Fine!” The rogue hissed, interrupting Connor, “It’s not a skill or title. I have an ability called Personal Shroud. It makes my Stealth skill much more powerful. It also makes it so I don’t show up on anyone’s minimap unless I want to.
“An ability, you say?” Connor quickly checked his Status and noticed that the only information displayed under his Ability tab were two question marks. “Last question, then we part ways. What’s your name, or the name you’re going to want people to call you in this new SYSTEM-run world?”
“Sam. It’s short for Samuel. I don’t plan to change my name because the world is changing.”
“Well, Sam, I’m Connor. This was your freebie. If you can survive the Tutorial and we run into each other in the future, you owe me. If we run into each other in the future and you attack me again, there will not be a third time, one way or the other,” Connor said.
“You’re not going to stick around and fight to be the top dog?”
Connor raised his eyebrow and looked at Sam before Sam caved, “I concede the point.”
Connor leaned back and removed his hand from Sam’s throat, “By the way, Sam, That was an awesome shot from at least 100 feet away.”
“Must not been good enough. I must have missed.”
“You didn’t miss,” Connor said as he shot up into the air and headed in the direction the Vesnar had been flying. When he was over 100 feet away from Sam, he felt the flaw in Stealth, which was weird. He could feel that someone was piercing his Stealth Skill. Anyway, once he was over 100 feet away from Sam, his Stealth skill felt whole again, and he continued on his way.
Connor smiled as he thought about the look of shock that came across Sam’s face before he was out of range and speeding away. He could hear the combat happening in the clearing, but he ignored it. If any of them were going to survive, they’d need to work together or have skills and abilities like Sam.
Connor kept his speed down to around 200 miles per hour as he flew above the treetops. He had to pull up a bit to dodge some birds that were floating on the currents above the treetops, but that was the only encounter he had as he sped in the direction the Vesnar had been traveling. Just normal-looking birds, no monsters. After he’d been traveling for about 30 minutes, the forest dropped away as he flew out over a cliff that dropped into the clouds far below. As far as he could see to his left and right, there was a cliff face with complete cloud cover below him.
Connor ran his gaze along the cliff and found a giant cave about 500 feet below the forest line that was still above the clouds below. He flew over for a closer look and found a nest with three large eggs in it. Also present were a bear cub corpse and a few smaller mastiff corpses. Connor landed and looked around. The cave wasn’t that large, only about 50 feet wide and about the same distance into the back. He could leave the eggs, or maybe he could sell them.
Connor touched one of the eggs and activated Identify.
Vesnar Egg
Level: Viable
Connor placed the egg in his inventory. He left the egg in her inventory for a minute and then removed it and checked it with Identify. It was still viable. Connor replaced the egg in his Inventory and then added the other two as well. Maybe he could sell them to a beast tamer or something if that was a thing. He checked his inventory and found that each egg only took up one slot.
As he looked through his inventory, he realized that he was going to have to find more clothes. Everything that had been in the closet or the dresser was in that mineshaft buried under who knew how much earth. Connor looked around the cave but found nothing except for bones and the three caresses.
He picked up the bear carcass and dropped it over the edge. Then he watched as it fell into the clouds and disappeared. Once he was sure there wasn’t a barrier above the top of the clouds, Connor exited the cave and dropped toward the cloud layer. When his HUD told him he’d dropped 500 feet, a New Notification appeared.
You are exiting the Common Tutorial area. Uncommon Challenges await.
NOTE: You must return to the Common Area before the 30-day Tutorial Limit expires, or you will be left in this dimension to find your own way. There are exits to other planes and Universes, which may or may not lead back to your world.
Connor closed the notification, so he was leaving the Tutorial area. Cool. Connor continued down into the cloud layer while staying close to the cliff face. As he came out of the clouds, the cliff disappeared and became the underside of a cave ceiling that was not really a cave.
Connor stopped and looked around. As far as he could see, in all directions, there were flat rolling planes with grass, trees, small oases, and rivers spread throughout. In various areas, columns of stone rose from the ground to the underside of the landmass above but they were spread out as far as the underside of the upper area extended until the ground below fell into darkness. At the cliff face, the clouds extended out as far as she could see and allowed the light from above the clouds to filter down, bathing the ground below in a hazy twilight. If he had to guess, it was about a half mile from the bottom of the underside of the cliff to the ground below. If someone jumped from above without the ability to fly, it would be the last thing they did.
At various places along the cliff face, she could see rivers of water dropping from the clouds to the ground below and forming small lakes and rivers that led off into the distance under the sun. So, if he followed one of those rivers downstream, he should be able to follow it back to this location and then travel back up into the Tutorial area, hopefully. One thing was for sure. That water would be fresh. With half a plan on how to spend the next 29 days, Connor headed toward the biggest lake he could see. Time to find out what was so special about this lower area.
***
Sam watched Connor go. He said he’d hit him with that shot. Truthfully, he was pretty sure he’d hit him right where he aimed, the middle of the outlined figure's head, though he had a hard time keeping his eyes on Connor, even while looking directly at him. Sam looked around and thought he saw movement back toward the clearing where the shooting and screaming had slowed down.
He looked around quickly, found a tree, and climbed up until he had a good vantage point from which to watch. He only had five bullets left. He’d used four so far. He’d killed three others who had tried to attack him first. The fourth bullet had bounced off Connors's head. He’d chosen the Rogue class and received a short sword, dagger, and small pack which had a canteen and some dried meat in it. Besides those items, he only had clothes on his back, a gun, a small survival knife, and his wallet. Maybe he could use the dagger or sword, but using the gun would have been a lot easier. Dad had made sure that he received training with all kinds of weapons while growing up.
Sam made sure Stealth was active and settled in to watch. He didn’t have to wait long as three people came into the area and moved up on the carcass of the dead Vesnar.
“What the fuck killed it?” the first man to the Vesnar asked as he poked it with his long sword.
“No idea, it’s dead,” The second man called out as he continued looking around
“Ralph is over here,” The third man called out from 30 feet away
“Boss isn’t going to like that. Did he have anything else on him?” The first man asked.
Sam continued to listen to the three men as they grabbed Raph’s gear and then ran back toward the clearing. Another thing Dad taught him was how to survive on the land. He was going to let the groups continue fighting back in the clearing while he made his way to somewhere he could create a bow and some arrows to give himself another range weapon he could use. Hopefully, by the time he returned, he’d be able to thin out the herd. Then again, why even fight the other participants? He’d felt the power radiating from Connor. He could go after some of the smaller creatures he’d seen until he became more powerful.
Sam wasn’t unfamiliar with Massively Multiplayer Online Games and understood that leveling his class would allow him to get more powerful, which meant he had to earn Experience Points. That meant that he needed to kill monsters. Sam was about to drop from the tree when he paused. Something didn’t feel right. A moment later, a lithe form appeared next to the Vesnar. The figure walked quickly around the Vesnar, whistled, and pointed in the direction the three men had walked off in. Then, it followed something on the ground until it came to the tree Sam was hiding in.
Sam drew his gun and pointed it at the humanoid below him. Before he could think of doing anything else, sparks lit up around the tree and then moved to swirl around him. They didn’t hurt, but he knew that anyone looking at the tree would be able to see him in a second. Before he could even consider fleeing, his body locked up, and he slipped off the branch and fell toward the ground headfirst. He saw two figures that had appeared out of nowhere, waving their hands and pointing in his direction.
You have been affected by Faerie Fire
Stealth Negated
You have been affected by Immobilize
You take 8 points of falling damage
You have been Concussed
You are Unconscious.