Nick stumbled out of the ocean, spat out a mouthful of sand, and then stepped onto the rocky shore.
Judging from the surrounding terrain, it was clear that his intuition had been correct. The Searing Isle had undergone a radical transformation in his absence. The entire beach biome was now submerged, and the new shoreline came all the way up to what had originally been the border of the forest. Soaked with seawater and alight with adrenaline after his close encounter with the terrors of the deep, Nick sat down with his back against a boulder after checking to make sure there were no hostile creatures lurking nearby.
He was unfamiliar with the local terrain, even though he had rounded the bay below it on several occasions. He regretted not exploring the forest when he had the chance, but his reasons had been sound, and there was no point in worrying about it now. Regardless, Nick intended to use the remaining hours until the sun rose to decompress. He needed time to recover from his ordeal, and it was too dark to relocate until the morning anyway.
He took off his shirt and wrung it out as best he could, then pulled out his bathrobe and put it on underneath his new leather jacket, shivering in the moonlight as the sea breeze broke over him. But he didn’t mind the cold, at least for tonight. The chill wind blowing across his face meant that, against the odds, he had survived the dungeon and made it back to the island in one piece.
He was uninjured thanks to the System’s healing and his own quick thinking, but Nick was hyperstressed, overstimulated, and deeply shaken by the traumatic events he had endured, despite whatever the System was doing to help keep him sane.
He hadn’t had time to internalize almost being killed by leeches while he was sleeping or his pyrrhic victory with the sword-wielding rat boss. And that wasn’t even the worst of it. He had not only almost lost his life. He had nearly wound up with his mind trapped inside his body while he roamed the island, collecting energy for the parasitic plague that had destroyed the ratmen’s civilization.
The whole ordeal honestly felt like bullshit, considering that the dungeon was supposed to have been a tutorial where Nick “could learn the ropes of dungeon crawling.” Although, to be fair, it would have been easier if he had begun the challenge at the recommended level of 5 instead of stumbling inside while he was still Level 2.
He sat there, listening to the waves lapping against the shore while processing just how close he had come to dying on at least four occasions since arriving on the Searing Isle. While Nick’s extensive planning had kept him alive by the skin of his teeth, it hadn’t been nearly as helpful as he had hoped. He would have to reexamine his approach going forward.
At least he wasn’t tired or hungry. Apparently, being completely healed by the System included restoring him to a pristine condition on every conceivable level. Bathed in the soft silver light of the moon, Nick unfastened the clasp of his magic bag, took out his new sword, and set it across his knees, thrilled to have obtained a decent weapon at last. It felt like he was finally standing at the starting line of his new life, at least as far as having adequate gear for adventuring was concerned.
Although it felt dangerous to sit beside the forest at night, waiting for the sun to rise gave him an opportunity to internalize the events of the last week. A night of reflection without the distraction provided by starvation, deadly magical weather, or being hunted by predatory beasts. He passed the time by reviewing everything that had happened to him, then consolidating his plans for the future.
Despite being forced to engage in a series of risky moves that had nearly ended Nick’s life, his gains from completing the dungeon had been enormous, especially once he was able to spend his KP and assign his free attribute points.
While he never wanted to cut it so close again, he was in a better position to survive the rest of the tutorial than he had been a little less than three days earlier. But he held no illusions that he would survive repeated gambles of that magnitude. I need to take control of this situation. Become faster, tougher, and stronger. Start playing the game instead of letting the game play me.
Ever since he had begun evaluating his circumstances through the lens of a game, Nick had felt like he was well below the power curve of his environment. Or, put another way, he was weak enough that every threat on the board, even simple accidents or misfortune, had a real chance of crippling or killing him.
But he had been closing the gap hour by hour and day by day, climbing up from the bottom of the food chain on the Searing Isle. He had begun to rigorously condition his body, bolstering his underdeveloped attributes and training his skills. Both the ones provided by his class and the mundane skillsets he had brought with him from his old life.
Nick had begun his journey unarmed and unarmored, with only his trusty bathrobe standing between his tender flesh and a world filled with talons, fangs, and claws. At long last, he had acquired gear appropriate for an adventure, and he was no longer easy prey for every beast on the isle. He realized that he had been lucky in more ways than he could count. This backpack was a godsend. I would have lost most of my inventory after being portaled into the ocean otherwise.
He was shocked at how much he had changed over the last week. Back on Earth, Nick had been sheltered from casual violence, along with a wide range of the hardships that had plagued those less fortunate than himself throughout most of human history. Before waking up on the beach, he had no experience dealing with predators, both animals and those of his own kind.
He had spent his days playing games, competing from behind the safety of his monitor and keyboard. He knew that he was only beginning to adapt to the reality of his new life as part of the multiverse. But he could feel himself changing by the day and could only wonder who he would become in the years that followed. Assuming that he lived long enough to find out.
Now that he had acquired a genuine advantage, Nick intended to do everything in his power to keep the ball rolling. He held no illusions that he was special or uniquely blessed; that he would gain ridiculous power through luck or by gaming the System; that he would survive mistakes and misfortune through the serendipitous plot armor that protected the heroes in the stories he had read all his life.
In the end, he didn’t care if he had been dealt a raw hand and the deck was stacked against him. He gritted his teeth, looking up as he made a promise to the heavens above. Somehow, he was going to find a way to beat the odds. Going to survive.
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
Bathed in moonlight, staring up at alien stars, Nick vowed that he would find a way back home, protect the people he loved, and do everything in his power to ensure that humanity established a foothold in this new, magical multiverse. Taltos and the System be damned.
On that note, he realized that more of his memories had returned to him ever since that sedative-and-blood-loss-induced nightmare in the sewers. He still couldn’t remember what had happened before his orientation, although he was now certain that something terrible had occurred. But the rest of that experience, including Taltos hacking the System and stealing the Earth from the Green Mother, was now clear to him.
None of it changed what Nick needed to do in the short term. He would grapple with those cataclysmic events later. For now, he just needed to worry about finishing the tutorial and finding a way back to his people. Everything else could wait.
Nodding to himself, he shelved his existential crises and returned his attention to his immediate survival. Taking in the weight of the blade balanced in his lap, he began contemplating the weapons and tools he had added to his kit.
Nick set his worries aside as he took in the sword gleaming in the moonlight, soaking in the menace that the mangled blade exuded. He could already tell that it would change his life on the island because the weapon gave him a way to deal damage while keeping his enemy away from his body. Being armed with the pockmarked killing tool offered him a level of reach, penetration, and defense far beyond that of his crudely hewn spear. Fighting with it would be a night and day difference from facing the beasts on the island with what had basically amounted to rocks and sticks.
Trell’s sword would let Nick dish out serious damage, keep his opponents from closing the distance, and block a blow if held at the right angle. Your origin and properties are still a mystery, he mused while running his finger along the holes etched into the metal. But I can already tell that we’re going to be friends. It was weird that the edge was so sharp while the rest of the blade was in such bad shape, but it would serve him well until he was able to repair the weapon or trade it in for something better.
Finding the dagger was almost as valuable in its own way. More than a mere backup weapon he could use in a pinch, having a sharp knife gave Nick the power to manipulate his environment in ways that had been impossible before, including the ability to create a wide variety of simple devices. Once he had some time to harvest raw materials and get busy crafting, the cutting tool would dramatically increase his range of options going forward.
In that moment, he felt a deep appreciation for the ingenuity that had led humans to develop these tools over countless generations. Now that he had been forced to survive in a hostile wilderness, he understood that these devices had been born out of a brutal struggle between man and nature, eventually allowing his species to dominate their environment and conquer the globe.
In addition to acquiring his sword and dagger, Nick had finally learned how to use his wand. It was definitely a magical device, releasing a powerful cone of force without transferring any of the energy back in his direction. He still had no idea what allowed the wand to accumulate charges, making each use a precious resource until he gained the ability to refill it at will. Even with its limitations, the wand was a powerful tool, able to distract, unbalance, and wound opponents within a radius about twice as far out as the reach of his sword.
His new jacket would help shield him from the elements and offered him substantial armor across his torso, especially compared to his shirt and bathrobe. He knew that it would provide only marginal protection from blunt force trauma, but it would make a world of difference against being bitten or clawed.
Under the light of the moon, Nick reached into his new pack and drew out the final items he had been given for completing the dungeon. The potion of antidote was a deep green liquid held within a skinny glass vial that was corked to keep the viscous fluid from leaking out. He was glad to have it, as it would help him survive a form of danger that he had no other protection against.
The flashbang orbs were formed from what appeared to be beaten copper spheres that reflected the stars above. There was a small dial placed next to the big button on top, which must be the mechanism that let him set the delay before the devices activated. The flashbangs were an incredibly useful tool that Nick intended to make the most of. He would ponder how to use them best in the days ahead. Nodding in satisfaction, he put everything back in his pack and turned his thoughts to the next steps he needed to take if he wanted to survive the tutorial.
Now that he was armed and at least partially armored, what he needed most was to acquire combat experience. Ideally, in situations where he wasn’t a single mistake away from suffering a gruesome death. Nick had a firm grasp of tactical strategy from his years of competitive play, including how to read an opponent and disrupt their rhythm, but he lacked the experience that would allow him to transform those tactics into techniques suitable for use in live combat.
In short, everything that he had learned while gaming did not fully translate to standing on the battlefield in the flesh. Or offer tangible actions he could take when the stakes were “kill or be killed.” Fights in games were too abstracted and streamlined, lacking nuance and complex interactions between hundreds of subtle variables. While his life as a gamer could suggest some useful starting points, he would have to train hard if he wanted to learn how to fight for real.
His basic class wasn’t doing him any favors either, for Survivor provided no weapons skills or combat abilities, much to his regret—although Size Up was invaluable when deciding which fights to avoid. Nonetheless, he could still learn how to fight on his own. The System only added to his innate capabilities. Nick still had everything that he had been born with, including a remarkable ability to learn.
Fortunately, he had a source of inspiration far superior to his clumsy attempts to familiarize himself with the physicality of battle—the beasts on the island. Watching a single battle between a komo and swordclaw had taught him more about hunting and one-on-one combat than all his decades behind a monitor combined. He hoped to learn more from the creatures on the island before his tutorial came to an end. He could find a proper teacher once he managed to rejoin human civilization.
With his reflections out of the way, Nick moved on to his plans for the immediate future. First goal: Head back to the spring and see if I still have a reliable source of water. I think the grove should still be above sea level, but I need to know for sure before I worry about anything else.
Judging by the height of the shoreline, the obelisk should still be accessible as well. I’m lucky that section of the beach was so much higher than the rest. After hitting up the spring, I’ll head there next and spend my free attribute and knowledge points. I know I gained at least one level in the dungeon, hopefully a second after completing the quest.
Once that’s out of the way, I’ll need to start scouting to determine how much the island has changed since the tutorial’s second phase began. With the beach gone, the surface area of the isle has been reduced by at least a third. That means more competition between the beasts for territory and resources.
I’m not sleeping without protection ever again, so I’m going to have to find or build a shelter somewhere in the woods. Which means I need to figure out what lives in the southern forest right away. I’ll consider the pros and cons of looking for more Exploration Reward Chests once I’m established and find a reliable source of food. I need to work out some contingencies for what might happen if the water climbs higher as well.
As his analysis wound down, Nick couldn’t think of anything else to do, so he turned his focus inward to his body, unclenching all the muscles that had been tight with stress for days on end. Eventually, his breathing slowed, and his body began to relax, letting him sit more comfortably and breathe a bit easier. While he wasn’t sure that he would ever sleep again, hours passed as he entered a light trance, staring up at the foreign constellations above.
Shaken but not defeated, Nick fixed his gaze upon the heavens, ready to face the next phase of the tutorial and the challenges that were certain to accompany it.