“Get up,” Loboden calls as he approaches, casually walking with his hands behind his head. “One more thing for you to do before you finish up here.”

“Is that right?” I mutter, raising off the ground. Surely, ten minutes after I crawled out, my limbs felt brand new. “Does everyone go through this same process?”

Loboden scratches his chest and shakes his head. “Definitely not.”

“How come?” I wonder. Not for a second did I think many other people could take the beatings I’ve been given since coming here.

“Your [Mental Fortitude] helps expedite this process by a large margin,” he explains, shrugging. “Consider it good luck. You’ve gotten farther than most people do because of that trait.”

“That’s why you said I would determine what I can get from the beginner tutorial package,” I say, understanding dawning on me. “Quite curious. I really do wonder what the person who made this package was thinking.”

“Investments,” Loboden provides without skipping a beat. “You’ll be a tastier offering once you’re inside the Towers, one that looks like a heavy return. I imagine your Potential Rating has also gone up quite a bit, but I can’t be sure without you getting an upgraded ID card.”

“Which implies the existence of a bunch of hidden things in the system that aren’t unavailable to me,” I conclude, not having once heard about any “Potential Rating” value as of yet.

“Said that earlier, didn’t I? With the beginner EID, they don’t even let you see your stats, show you anything you have that’s upgradeable, or let you see upgrade paths. You probably are aware of one percent of what’s offered through the status,” Loboden explains, shrugging. He holds up three fingers. “Taxes, death, and upgrading your EID. Three things you can’t escape in life.”

“Got it.” I nod, storing that tidbit for later. Getting an upgraded EID sounds like a good idea, seeing as so much information isn’t disclosed, but for now, I need to get through the rest of the beginner tutorial and into the Tower. “What next?”

Scowling, the hairy man snaps his fingers. The forest and pond shift to a gladiator arena. Loboden sits where the VIP usually do, eating grapes while being fanned by faceless servants on either side.

“You have ten rounds to use what you’ve learned. You can stop after each one, but if you do, your final reward will be reduced. Got it?”

I give him a thumbs up. With a snap of his fingers, all the water weighing me down dries, my weapon appears in my hand, and my armor creaks as the dents caused by Loboden straighten out as if new. Finally, energy rushes through me.

Unlike with the equipment, this energy overcharges me. I buzz with it, body alight with an urge to move, to fight. And every movement is as light as a feather, weightless, unencumbered. My sword feels like a toothpick, my armor like cloth.

“I think you gave me a little too much, Loboden,” I state, though I don’t really want him to take it away. I just don’t want whatever trial awaits me to be won with anything but my own newfound strength.

“I did not.”

“What?” I pull out my EID and look it over.

Name: Gaian One

Race: Human

Innate Trait: Mental Fortitude

Level: 6

Class: None

Active: Slash, Harden

Passive: Two-Handed Swordsmanship, Heavy Armor Handling

Equipped Items: Greatsword, Beginner’s Steel Platemail

Merit: 0

World Coin(s): 0

I’ve leveled four times since I last looked, though I can’t really tell what that means. I have a new active, not that I know how to use it. In addition, I have the two skills for handling my armor that I got while running.

“Are levels really this amazing?” I ask, and he nods. “I really want to be able to see the rest of my status.”

“Then don’t surrender this fight.” He holds up a cube, one similar to the beginner’s tutorial package. “This is the reward for winning all ten fights, a status augment. One that gives details of your attributes and allows attribute allocation.”

“I see.” I pull down my visor and grip my greatsword with two hands. “Then let’s get to it.”

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Loboden waves his hand, and a gate raises. I don’t know what I had expected to come from it, but nothing wasn’t it. I stay there and wait, and wait, and wait. Then a bad feeling comes over me, so I throw myself forward.

I roll, recovering a bit slow but on my feet nonetheless. Where I’d been, an odd creature with oily skin comes into view. A spear occupies the space I just left, and before the creature can recover, I bear down on it with a powerful [Slash].

When my greatsword meets its skin, the amorphous blob thing bulges in half, becoming thinner where my blade hits it but thicker to the sides. But when the [Slash] ends, it clips the small connection between the two large sacks.

The creature pops like a water balloon without a sound. Its spear clinks to the ground, and I simply watch in confusion.

“What was that thing?” I ask Loboden, but he just shrugs.

“Looked like a water construct to me. Maybe it’s one of the novice mage’s failed summons,” he suggests, then shrugs again. “Doesn’t really matter. What’s important is if you want to continue?”

“Of course.” I reset my stance and look around, still confused about how the creature had snuck up on me in the first place. “Doesn’t matter, I suppose. I just need to be more aware going forward.”

When the gates open again, this time from the opposite side of the arena, a large boar the size of a wolf comes stomping out. It hoots and haws, locking its eyes on me. Rather than immediately charge at me, it zigzags toward me. First left, then right, then left again.

Being stalked by a boar like it's a wild cat doesn’t feel right, but it’s happening. I take steps towards it, ready to respond if it suddenly charges my way. The thought to meet it head on and test the strength I’ve gained from my new levels passes as fast as it comes, but to say I won’t use my greatsword is a different story.

“Come get me, piggy,” I call. I wonder if I can make bacon out of it? I lick my lips, looking around for anything to make a fire with. When I don’t see anything, I look up towards Loboden. Maybe he’d be willing to give me what I need to spit roast the pig? “I’m hungry, so let’s speed this up.”

I rush forward, taking several steps to close the distance, bring my greatsword down in a powerful [Slash] like I had with the water creature. To my surprise, the boar slips to the side with a little hop-skip.

Then proceeds to charge at me from only a few feet away.

Instinctively, I slip my [Slash] from the vertical to a horizontal attack, catching the boar by surprise and leaving it with half a head less. I pay little attention to the gore making a mess of things. Gross, but it’s part of combat.

Given that my whole soul is on the line, I won’t feel too bad about killing—and hopefully butchering—some bacon. Matters of morality can be pondered on if one lives to ponder them. I look at my hands around the sword’s grip and clench my eyes closed.

My first real kill.

I take a deep breath and let it out, calming myself. There are eight more fights to go, and I’m sure they’ll require even more death before I’m done. As such seems to be the new way of life.

But if I am anything, I am a survivor. So onward.

“Next, please.”

The gate opens. Three wolves come out, growling with their hackles raised. They seem fairly normal, communicating with snarls, yips, and small howls. They move well, the two on the outside taking orders from the middle one.

I stand my ground as they approach, waiting. Biding my time, I wait as the two on the outside are midstep before moving. I lunge forward, driving my greatsword through the middle wolf’s neck.

Recovering, I wrench the blade free and spin to face the charging pair. I sidestep out of the way of one and right into the other. Its weight barrels into me, and we fall to the ground. My armor shrieks against the claw and tooth that wishes to claim my life.

With two hands, I drive my sword into the breast of the wolf atop me. It lets out a shrill cry, setting the last to howling and snarling in rage. It looks behind it, as if wishing to retreat, but there is no escape.

Then, as I attempt to slide out from under the weight of the second wolf, the third makes up its mind after looking at its slain kin and charges my prone form. Unfortunately for it, a [Slash] ends its revenge in its inception.

My breath is labored as I drag myself to my feet. I still feel a healthy excitement in my limbs, but I’m already concerned about what the rest of the trial will look like. If stage three has the ability to threaten me, then I might need to reassess my current plan of taking the whole challenge face first.

However, despite the concern for my continued health and well-being, I feel amazing. The adrenaline in my veins is a feeling that makes my hands shake slightly from the thrill. If I ever wondered if I could fare against a small pack of wolves, I knew the answer now.

Only if I had a system backing me, which, in simpler terms, means definitely not. But here I am, standing victor over the corpse of a big boar and three wolves. The thrill fades with the adrenaline as I look at the blood, acknowledging the selfishness which has wrought death upon my enemies.

I sit in the melancholy for but a second before gesturing towards Loboden, wishing to get these trials through with. Without my watch to tell me the time, I can’t tell how long I’ve spent in this tutorial. It’s the tutorial, not the main show, so I’d like to finish up and move on.

Stage four starts as they all do: open gates, moments of waiting as something comes out, and then my enemy appears. This time, I fight an odd lizardman creature with a snake-like tail in place of legs. Intelligent eyes stare back at me with a sad look, conveying more than any words ever could. Lastly, it wields a sword in both hands.

Natural scales act as plating along its arms and abdomen, while some pauldrons connect to a small leather chestpiece. All in all, it seems far different than what I’ve faced so far. Unlike the beasts from before and whatever category the water creature falls under, this snake person is calm and careful.

Slow and steady, striking fast and hard, then retreating. This repeats. My strikes are effectively knocked aside or avoided with agile movements, precise and calculated. As things go on and the battle of attrition takes its toll, I grow weary from the sustained efforts. My equipment is many things, but light is not one of them. And it makes me just slow enough for my opponent to evade.

But it also suffers, gets sloppy, lets its guard down. This is its greatest mistake. An unempowered attack, weakly blocked, cuts deep into its muscled neck. I slide the blade free, and my foe balks under the sudden blood flow from its neck.

It falls to the ground, lying prone. With two hands, I bring my greatsword down and sever the creature’s neck from its spine.

A refreshing power invigorates me, and I gesture at Loboden to release the next foe. Time is ticking, and I wish to see more than this arena.