I watch the three train for a few seconds before feeling an unusual, intense annoyance. They're wasting their time. I see the merit in their practice, but we need to grow strong, fast. I almost died from a single fucking goblin because I had no idea what I was doing. I should have died from that wolf. I'm not going to experience that again. I grab my scimitar and walk up to James. A subtle anger drives my actions. My voice, my body, my mind. It washes away the fear of conflict that I was so familiarized with before the tutorial. My voice is still gravelly and harsh, but it sounds stronger. More respectable.

"Hey. I'm going to go find a monster to kill. You should come with me."

James is sitting down, exhausted from a workout that seemed to be pretty intense. He looks up at me and, after a brief moment of consideration, nods his head and grunts in affirmation. He stands up, grabbing his shortsword that he set down and standing by my side. He has a ferocious look in his eyes. His eyes rest on the left of my face, probably on my scarred eye socket, before he looks at my right eye with an intense determination. He feels the same way as me. That's good. We make our way to the rest of the group, weapons in hand. He speaks for me. His voice is low and powerful, filled with a fervor unique to those who have experienced mind-bending pain. Unique to us. My inner introvert is thankful.

"You're wasting your time. We need to grow stronger as quickly as possible or we will all die. I'm going to go find a monster to kill with Samuel. You all should join."

Awkward silence fills the air. Eric, Sophia and Amelia all seem uncomfortable, but our iron gazes pierce through their hesitation. They look at our scars and come to a grim realization. Eric is the first to speak up with his weird little Swedish accent. I should have studied more. That's irrelevant.

"I'll join you."

He walks a few feet away to grab his shortsword. Sophia nods and goes to grab her shortsword, too. Amelia follows them and grabs her shortsword. I speak up, coughing involuntarily for a brief moment before my sentence starts.

"Everyone tell me your skills."

James answers first.

"[Reinforce]"

Then Sophia.

"[Mana Bullet]"

Eric next.

"[Pierce]"

Amelia answers last.

"[Enhance]"

I think for a few moments before I bring my right hand up to my throat, activating [Recover]. The pain is bearable this time. I assumed that I hurt my throat from screaming in pain earlier and I was right. I speak, my voice smooth and determined.

"I think we're meant to fill roles in a party, like a game. I will stand at the front of the group, James and Eric will stand staggered behind me, Amelia will stand in the middle and Sophia will stand in the back and use her skill, then come up to support us once she is out of mana. If you don't know what your skill does or how to use it, figure it out before we get in a fight."

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

I look around. Everyone seems okay with what I'm saying. I'm glad I don't have to convince anyone here to listen to me. For now, at least. I quickly take the lead and we all stand in the formation that I suggested. Hopefully this will help.

While we're walking, I take out the humanoid cores that I received from the goblins. I consume the first one immediately. I get a few strange looks from the group as the green mist from the core enters my body, but we don't stop walking. The sensation is still disgusting, but I endure it. I need to become stronger.

[Strength 6 > 7]

I consume the other one immediately after.

[Humanoid Core Upgrade (Common) 0/2 > 1/2]

Huh. So I guess I need more cores to get the stat upgrade. Wonder how that works. I take a few breaths, recovering from the loathsome sensation of the mist dispersing throughout my body. Everyone's looking at me. I guess I should tell them what that's about.

"It's called a core. I think only one drops per monster. One of you should have gotten a core from the goblin earlier. Consume it."

They look at eachother for a few seconds before a core appears before Sophia. She slightly jolts in surprise before grabbing it out of the air. She speaks to the rest of the group. Her voice is slightly higher than mine. Her tone is harsh, reminiscent of a blade. Or just a rude person, maybe.

"It was in my inventory."

Eric asks a question in response, looking at me.

"We have an inventory?"

I nod my head.

"Just think about it, and the system will open it."

I get an idea as I say that out loud. If I can take stuff out of my inventory, hopefully I can put stuff in. I open my inventory and gesture with my scimitar. Nothing happens, so I just think about the scimitar going into my inventory. It works. The scimitar fades into dust, appearing in my inventory.

[Inventory]

Crude Scimitar (Common) - A chunk of metal that has been sharpened and shoved into a handle. The shape vaguely resembles a scimitar. The blade has rusted over time from blood due to a lack of proper care.

That's really fucking convenient. I wish the system would tell me about this shit. I pull the scimitar out of my inventory and pull up my stat window.

Class: N/A

Race: Human

Rank: G (Bottom)

Potential Rank: G (Bottom)

Level: 4

Experience: 10/33

Strength: 7

Constitution: 5

Agility: 4

Mana: 7

Stat Points: 6

[Skills]

Recover: 4

I put 3 points into strength and 3 into constitution. I'm not entirely sure what constitution does yet, but it should hopefully be a good decision.

[Strength 7 > 10]

[Constitution 5 > 8]

[Strength limit reached! Increase your rank to raise it further.]

What the fuck. This is bullshit. Fuck. I definitely need way more strength than that if I want to survive this shithole. How do I even increase my rank? Also, isn't my potential rank the rank that I'm already at? Can I not increase it any further? This is fucking stupid. Whatever. I'll find a way.

We walk for about 15 minutes before we see something on the horizon. It's a forest. The forest is very, very far away. A heavy sigh escaped my lips. This is going to be a long, long walk.