Nearly a week had passed since the battle with the insects, and for Alex, life had reached something akin to normalcy during this time. He had a modest source of income with his over healing, and was finally paid for the two swords he sold. The influx of ant parts and cores was a huge boon for the town’s economy and crafting community as a whole. Light chitin armor had become popular with some of the adventurers, and the healers as well as alchemists were no longer run ragged with the influx of injured people, allowing them to work their craft in moderation and stock pile more healing potions.
Alex’s team had grown a lot stronger, noticeably faster since the battle, and the reason was because he had learned that basic classes level much faster than intermediate or advanced classes, as such, they will likely reach their evolution at some point, where they can finally specialize and evolve.
Much to Alex’s dismay however, he still hasn’t had any luck with getting the right materials for his craft, so his Utility was lagging behind greatly. All his ideas were swimming in his head with no form of outlet. The question remained however, should he risk going out to find the said materials? If he does, he would be absent for a long time, and he couldn’t ask the others to come along for his own gain.
Either way, he was becoming wrestles with his utility class stagnating.
‘It’s decided, if I make no progress by the time people come back, I’ll try my luck with finding remnants of civilization on my own. Krysta is on my map, and I can always come back in the future.’
The reason he came to such a decision, is because the past week that passed since the battle, his team had been working their Utility class, meaning he was stuck doing nothing of real note and with no means to pass the time, he was bored. Even Rahl was working as an apprentice blacksmith, using his income to buy materials to work with under the guidance of a more experienced crafter.
His party is on his friend’s list, so he has no qualms with separating with them for an allotted amount of time. As novel as his experience has been, he longs to socialize with people from Earth. He wonders constantly about the tutorial, and how they are coping. Alex knows well enough that not every one can cope, and those that do will either come out a better person, or have the power go to their heads, or maybe even both.
Alex had really lucked out when it came to his situation. Not just his power, class and race, but finding a well developed town with such accepting and generous people. They are well off, and there’s no criminal underworld or factions that he knows of.
‘it would be odd to have a well thought out Nexus town have its own criminal underworld when the people in charge would be very selective of who they let through.’
It wasn’t all good news however. Scouts have managed to locate the nests of the ants, which was easier then it would have been, since a great deal of the jungle has burned down, luckily the heavy rain over the past few days kept it from spreading too far. Not only that, ants are traveling further and further away from their nest in search of food, so some have been spotted on the plains and had to be dealt with before they discover Kyrsta.
Scarlet however sees it as a boon. Their economy is thriving due to the increase of monster parts and cores, teams are getting a work out from the scouting ants and crafters are gaining experience from repairs and new materials to work with. The mayor has plans on setting up a garrison past the farms towards the plains where the ants originate from, so they can constantly farm them. With nothing better to do, for the past week, Alex had volunteered to help protect the workers, along with some guards while they set up their defenses.
It got done in record time, with his pylon set up, fatigue was not a worry for the construction workers, building at super human levels.
After the massive fort and towers were done, Alex met up with his party, as they ran out of funds and were in need of more so they could work their Utility classes.
“Productive two weeks huh?” Inquired Rahl. “ Managed to net me self 16 levels in blacksmith… My new boss is a task master, but the results speak for them self.” He preened proudly.
Ester coughed, and discretely gestured to Alex.
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“It’s okay guys, I’ll get there one day.”
Alex felt like an idiot for being jealous. His Utility class is Advanced and very specialized, so of course it will take time, specific resources and tools to work with.
“What do you guys think will happen when the tutorial ends?” Inquired Alex.”There’s less than a week left.”
“An Earth week is 7 days, correct?” Asked Shoga. Alex nodded.
“We don’t know if any one else will appear nearby during this time, so Kyrsta could find itself flooded with refugees.” Answered Alex.
“I’m sure the mayor has thought of that already.” Rahl stated with a dismissal wave of his hand as he drank from his mug. “What about us? There are a ton of scouting and extermination missions piling up with the ants on the loose. We haven’t even discovered any nearby nexus towns.”
”Nor dungeons.” Piped in Ester. “We cou-
“No.” Shoga denied.
Ester had been pestering him about going to the hidden dungeon, but it being level 20, means Shoga wasn’t willing to risk it yet. It’s why they worked on their Utility instead, he wants them to be over level 20 on both their main and Utility before trying the dungeon.
The reason that is, is because the difficulty spikes with the more people that participate in a delving party.
“Ant extermination?” Asked Sylvie.
“If you want.” The party more or less agreed to Shoga’s question. Shoga got up and received the quest where they would get payment for every 10 ants slain. A repeatable quest where most of the income came from the processing the ants themselves.
He was glad that his team hadn’t asked for a loan or anything. Seems they wanted to be self sufficient. Even the shrewd Ester didn’t ask him for any money, which was saying a lot about their character.
‘I really lucked out with my party.’ Alex thought with a smile before mentally sighing. ‘It will be sad to have to say goodbye.’
___
Alex awoke to his world on fire. Not literally, but his body was wracked with a familiar pain he experienced before, leaving him writhing and groaning on the ground as a gentle ringing chimed in his head.
As the phantom pain passed, he realized the ringing was his party chat, Shoga was calling him.
He answered the call while taking in his surroundings, realizing he was laying, sprawled out on a well-known bed.
“Alex!” Breathed Shoga. “What happened?! We heard screaming from you’re tent, but you’re not here. I can’t find you any where on the map!”
“I don’t-” Alex checked his recent notificaitons to see what happened.
Congratulations humans of Earth for completing the tutorial. In 10 minutes, you will return to the location you were transported from. Be aware that Earth as a whole, has undergone changes due to the increase of mana density within your world and universe as a whole.
Appropriate Rewards have been bestowed upon the highest ranked contestants from the trial and your trial points can be spent within the tutorial store.
Only starter items, reward, dungeon rewards and those received from the reward store, can be taken with you outside of the tutorial zone.
Please note that any unspent tutorial points will be forfeit.
Initializing Transference…
Error! JM3upDZ*#$
“I got a system message that states that the tutorial has ended.” Alex told Shoga. “It also explains that I was transferred back to where I started from, so it transported me back home.” Shoga sighed.
“As long as you’re safe.” He answered with relief.
“I don’t know how far away I am from Krysta though. I zoomed out on my map as much as I can but I don’t see any indication of Krysta any where. Be sure to take my gear, no point letting it go to waste.”
Alex really liked that tent, he was glad he put his armor and gear in his inventory when he sleeps however.
“So, what are you going to do now?” Shoga asked unsure.
“I’ll try find another nexus town and see how much it costs to teleport to you guys. Other wise, I’ll keep on going, I’ll be sure to see you guys again some day, just take care. Alright? Don’t bite off more than you can chew with out a healer, and let Scarlet know about the situation.”
Shoga chuckled, but Alex could tell it wasn’t genuine, he himself is likely trying to cope with the information.
“Will do, I’ll let the others and Scarlet know. Be sure to keep in touch.”
”Be seeing you then.” Alex murmured before ending the call. He slumped to his bed unsure of what to do now besides survival, before realizing he was at his house. His house that holds technology and materials. He quickly jumped out of bed and the first thing he did was rush to his old gaming computer and laptop in the corner of his room.
There was no not any wear and tear, but he already knew that they won’t work. But knowledge on how they ran from long hours playing on them, flashed through his mind like long forgotten memories or dreams that suddenly came to the forefront of his mind. Inspiration on how to improve or even jury rig a new power source using monster cores crystallized mana as rechargeable batteries or power-cells of sorts.
He was giddy with excitement, but a crash and clutter of something outside his room, instanlty made his breathing hitch as he got his racing thoughts under control.
‘It’s not safe here.’
There was either someone, or something in his two stories house his parents left for him, and he was determined to drive them out.
Being in an enclosed space, means he couldn’t use his gun effectively, so he pulled out one of his maces, and silently cursed as his door’s hinges squeaked as he opened it. The movement downstairs had halted at the sound.
“Fuck it.” He muttered as he gripped his mace and slammed the door open to announce his presence. “Come get some fuckers!”
Chattering broke out downstairs of his house and he moved from his room to the hallway leading downstairs. The stairs themselves look to be in disrepair, keeping what ever is on the ground floor from easily reaching him. Even so, he was spotted by two goblins who were scavenging through the lower floors.
“Son of a-” They screeched at spotting him, one of them, wielding a rusty spear, threw it at him but it bounced harmlessly off his shield.
It wasn’t that he was afraid he couldn’t take them, it was that they were messing up his house. He knew it was a possibility when he was first spirited away, but finding the little shits responsible for it made his blood boil. This was his families home, with everything he once held dear.
From family photos and possession to the house itself, both good and bad times that made him who he is today was housed within these walls, and it was being either stolen or destroyed by these ugly green shits.
His gun would have to sit in his back pocket for this. This was personal, and he was going to get his hands bloody.