At first he was afraid, he was petrified. He kept thinking he would lose against this kind of fight. But he had spent too many nights, thinking how he’d been done wrong. So he grew strong. He learned how to–

He died.

The wolf’s howl was enough to root him in place initially. He tried to fight against it. It felt as if gravity itself bent to the will of the great beast, keeping him pressed firmly to the ground. Every cell in his body screamed for him to minimize his presence, to stay as still as possible in hopes of being looked over by the monster. To their dismay, though, he disobeyed.

He managed to dislodge himself from the stun and run towards the blue canine, but he was swatted away and sent crashing into the cave wall with a single swipe of the paw. On impact, he was so consumed by pain that he lost consciousness right before he died.

He knew he had died. There was no way he could have survived that, so why was he still alive?

His eyes opened to see the cave’s ceiling staring down at him, through some kind of funnel. The black wall he was wrapped tightly within was the dragon, his mother. He took a moment to appreciate her. She had to have been responsible for the fact that he somehow evaded death. She had no reason to be this kind to him, yet she had consistently shown him nothing but love. If not for her, he had no idea how he would have managed to defeat this foe.

Your betrothed is much more fierce than you are.

What do you mean?

She’s died over a dozen times already and she’s still fighting. I thought it would be important to make sure your partner is worthy of traveling alongside you and offered her training. She didn’t have the will to move at first like you did, but she’s gradually adjusting.

I see…

You need to step it up. You’re going to conquer your instincts first. Die a hundred times until you no longer fear death. Control all of your senses so that, even when faced with what seems like imminent death, you still have the power to remain composed and capable of finding survival.

Send me back in, please.

His request was obliged and he was returned to the main floor of the cave, only to see Seru splattered against the ground like a particularly juicy bug. When the wolf raised its paw and turned to face the dragon, Seru’s remains rose into the air covered in a crimson illumination, and put themselves back together while also healing themselves rapidly. The vast majority of her body had been destroyed, so there was a lot of healing. Wouldn’t that make her stronger? Was being reborn an effective workout?

She was back on her feet as soon as her body was capable of standing, looking at him with tears in her eyes. “Sensei!” she exclaimed as she ran over to him and embraced him. She cried into his chest as she spoke through choked sobs.

“I thought you were dead… So I… attacked the wolf… When I died I… I kept coming back… So I kept fighting…”

She had run in and tried to attack the wolf?! He checked her status and his eyes widened as he noticed the recruit card that came up beside her regular status. Legendary with S rank loyalty? On top of the potential to be S rank in magic and combat? This was the jackpot of this tutorial! Since he was a Dungeon Master, he would be able to summon Seru later.

He gently patted her head, silently comforting her. He had to keep his character, so he couldn’t do a complete 180, but he still wanted to show her warmth so she didn’t become some kind of twisted yandere.

Once she was done crying, he heard his mother’s message.

Fight it on your own for now.

He nodded and they separated so that he could try this again.

And again.

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

And again.

And again…

The first fifty deaths were the worst. He’d only barely managed to overcome the initial stun before he was killed helplessly. After that, though, he was able to dodge the first attack. Then the wolf switched its pattern and he was back to square one. He was able to jump right back into things the way Seru had when he first woke up, but for some reason every few attempts he went unconscious like the first time and had to rest again. It never happened for Seru, though. Because of that, she was able to get her reps in while he was out cold.

He had died a thousand times before he was able to land his first blow on the wolf. It wasn’t anything fancy, just a successfully thrown rock to see if he even had the capability of doing it in the midst of battle. Seru, on the other hand, managed to jump onto its leg and bite it a few hundred tries ago because of her reckless abandon.

Their stats slowly increased between each attempt, as they pushed their bodies to the absolute limit and came back better because of it. Once he got over being afraid of dying, he shifted his focus from impulsively struggling for survival to taking advantage of the opportunity before him. He was going to take all of the training time he could. The conditions were completely in his favor, so it was his job to make the most of it.

He spent the next ten thousand tries just practicing. His stats rose gradually but his skill mastery grew exponentially with combat, much faster than it did when he tried to train skills on his own.

This was how he was able to send off the manaball using only his mind now, no longer needing to combine it with the throw skill. This was how he managed to control the Fyn into up to five bullets of mana at a time and learned quite a few skills. Still, even with that, he found him with his back against the wall. He was a bloody mess himself, but he was able to withstand a few hits now. The wolf frosted over the ground, causing him to slip while spikes jutted up all around him. He only just barely managed to avoid being impaled, but he had unintentionally cornered himself.

The wolf went in for a bite to consume him this time. He had no intention of giving up though, so he used his Guillotine skill to cut off a fat chunk of the wolf’s exposed tongue and sent it reeling back in pain as the tongue fell to the ground and blood pooled on the floor. This wouldn’t kill it and he knew that so he sent three mana bullets into its eye, furthering its injuries before attacking from its blindside and plunging his greatsword into its neck.

It fell to the ground, defeated, and he fell onto his back. He had finally won. He’d even gained a recruitment crystal, but he got no experience. He wanted some time to rest.

Again.

Both himself and the wolf were returned to full health and forced to fight again. She made him continue this until he was able to defeat the wolf with ease, and within that time Seru had only been slightly trailing behind him. Once he was stronger than the wolf, he was made to fight with Seru, giving her instructions on how to fight alongside him. To his surprise, though, she seemed completely aware of his movements and always immediately chose the best course of action before he could even give her a command. Their cohesion was flawless, but it was all because of her.

Once they managed to successfully conquer the wolf to the dragon’s satisfaction, she let them off, but he requested more time to practice skills. Thus he was given five hundred more chances to hone his skills on the wolf and collect crystals from farming it. He luckily managed to get a successful card after using the fifth crystal, so he had about fifteen left.

He now had two decent recruits for his dungeon. His status had increased significantly thanks to the dragon’s help and tutelage. She didn’t have to, but she even went as far as to give him advice and guidance wherever he needed it. Even Seru had changed to the point where she was able to actively engage in conversation.

Before I go, what’s your name? He asked his foster mom.

Your surname is Alucard. My first name is Mother.

So, can you give me a first name too? I don’t have one. He asked because he felt different once she told him the information. His status had changed too, showing that his last name had been filled in. It made him feel more… whole.

You have a first name. It will reveal itself with time. You’ll be able to nickname yourself soon.

Nickname? Would that be the name that showed when he had his status inspected? He decided that one would be dedicated to his persona, and he had the perfect name for it.

I guess this is goodbye?

For now, my child.

Let’s go, Sensei!

Thank you for everything, Mother. I’ll forever be indebted to you.

You only owe people revenge when they invoke it. All good that comes your way is what you naturally deserve. Appreciate it, but do not allow the weight of debt to burden you.

With that said, whatever spell she had put on the wolf was lifted and it officially died.

‘Blue Moon Wolf defeated! Quest completed! +5000EXP! You’ve Leveled Up! Transporting to Tutorial!”

Wait where?