“Relax, little human, I will teach you everything.” said the demon.

Alex felt irritated. He was called to this place to understand the tutorial and yet the creature was joking with him. “Can you hurry and tell me how to access new abilities and use the ones I already have?”

“When you get a new ability, simply recall the ability name and the instructions on how to use the ability will be imprinted on your mind.” The demon turned around. “You can practice your skill in the forest of testing. Every minute a new monster will spawn if you command it. These monsters are similar to the ones in the dungeons and have the same hp and skills. However, they are in a virtually inert state and cannot harm you.”

Whoa. That’s a lot of information but I have to try it. “Okay, show me the way,” said Alex.

The demon pointed to a red line across the ground which faced a clearing in the forest. “Get in front of the red line and mentally command, unleash wave 1. When you are done with a wave, call forth the subsequent waves to practice more.”

Alex stepped towards the red line facing the clearing. He felt a chill in the air but his footsteps didn’t waver a bit. After what he went through in the dungeon, this didn’t feel that dangerous. Well, except for the demon lurking behind me, but if it wanted to kill me, it could’ve done so many moments ago.

“Wave 1” shouted Alex. Suddenly, a blizzard graced the clearing of the forest and settled into the middle of it disturbing the ground. Bits of mud and rocks erupted from the ground as a skeletal hand emerged out of the ground. One at first and then two followed by a skull. Cracks formed in the ground and the skeletal monster pulled itself up from the ground.

Alex felt his throat get dry and sweat trickle down the side of his head. The monster was shorter than him, especially in its hunched state but its deep, hollow eyes looked gloomy and forlorn. Somehow, Alex could feel the bleak emotions resonating from the monster and it depressed him.

Poor monster, how long has it been dead? The monster advanced towards him. Roaming the dungeons all alone. I wonder if it remembers its life when it was alive. Is it even sentient?

The skeleton inched closer, tugging his spine with his right hand. With a solid crack, it pulled a portion of the spine and held it like a makeshift sword. Its skull fell to the ground and it walked forward with a v-shape torso with a space in between.

Suddenly, it lurched towards him and swiped its skeletal spine at Alex. The skeleton wants to be my friend…wait…what…Alex involuntarily closed his eyes and pulled his hands over his face in an attempt to guard his body but he was too slow. The spine collided with his body and dissolved into motes of light. It was an illusion.

“And, you are dead.” A loud buzzer rang all around him. “Well, you would be if you were in a dungeon. Skeletal minds are tough to beat if you don’t have a skill to resist mind control.” said the demon.

Shit! The fucker was controlling my mind? Of course, he was. Why else would I care about some fucking monster? A chill ran through his body. Alex realized he was not at all ready for any type of system apocalypse. The system was being generous by providing him with a tutorial area where he could practice. Wait. don’t I get a skill for recognizing monster names and other related information?

“Ah...I forgot to inform you, that when you encounter a new monster, you can use your ‘inspect’ skill to learn some information. Here, I will activate it for you.” The demon snapped his fingers and Alex felt a warmth spread through his body.

[Congratulations! The default skill (inspect) has been activated by the tutorial manager. Now, you can move on to the tutorial ground and practice your skills.]

Once again, Alex felt irritated with the demon. He glared at the demon.

“Now, now. No need to get angry. No harm done, right? Besides, it is more fun to learn this way.” The demon hissed a laugh testing his patience.

Well..whatever. It just proves that I cannot depend on anybody, and anything can happen in a dungeon.

—

Alex stared at the trees in the distance. Not the long trees with green leaves you would find on Earth or even the ones he saw during the Tutorial session. The Demon transported him to another area which he called the [Level 1 survival challenge floor].

He pulled up the notification he received when he arrived on this floor.

[Welcome to the Level 1 survival challenge floor]

Objective: Survive for 24 hours. No experience gained in survival mode.

Completion reward: Choice of a novice grade skill.

At least he would get a reward. Alex released a sigh. Damn, I wish the lizard was around to guide me. It seems I have to survive on this floor for 24 hours, somehow. The theme of the jungle was a forest with alien trees. Trees twisted in different directions crowned with thick foliage and purple leaves. He could hear the sounds of frogs and crickets from somewhere around the woods but couldn’t catch a glimpse of any insects or animals. He determined it was morning guessing from the position of the sun, which looked surprisingly similar to that of Earth.

I hope the sun rises in the east and sets in the west. Otherwise, it would spell disaster for me. I need some time to prepare. Alex had no knowledge of survival, especially in the wild. He had no camping gear, food, or even water. Interestingly, he felt thirsty and hungry at the thought of food and water. His stomach growled. I need to eat something.

He glanced around the woods, searching for any hint of animals or wild beasts. If there was anything he learned during his stay in the dungeon, it was to not let his guard down. He came across a small shrub around his height. It had orange leaves, pink flowers, and red cherry-like fruits decorated on its body. Hmm…let me see how this works...Inspect.

[Willowbore shrub - Native shrubs in the Forest of gloom. Favorite fruits of Cindermane beasts and red ants.]

Well, that didn’t explain much. Should I eat it or not? Alex scratched his chin. Why couldn’t the system just label it as edible or non-edible? It was frustrating, not being able to decide on this matter. Suddenly, he felt a longing for the old world. He took his previous life for granted. Ordering and eating food on demand, eating whenever he felt like it. Gone were those days.

In the end, he decided to pick up a few fruits and store them in his pockets. He already decided to delve deeper into the forest and explore the surrounding regions. There was no telling whether he would encounter another willow-bore shrub or find any type of food for that matter. If push comes to shove, he would eat the fruits and die rather than remain hungry.

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As he began to pluck a few more fruits, he felt a tingling sensation crawl up his arms and his forearms. He jerked his arms and shook them vigorously. What…shit..where did these come from? His arms were crawling with red ants and not the small variety. These were about half-inch long bastards and he didn’t want to get stung by them.

Unfortunately, he did get stung by one ant. A hot glob of pain shot through his arm and rushed towards the back of his spine. Alex screamed as the pain intensified by the moment. He felt his hand become numb but the pain reached bone deep and threatened to knock his senses off. He backed off the shrub flinging his arms wildly. There was no ant on his hand anymore, at least, he didn’t see any of the little fuckers.

[Warning: You have been stung by Red-ants. Debuff: experience mild pain for 10 minutes]

You’ve got to be kidding me. Mild pain? I will shove it up your ass. Alex didn’t imagine he could survive 10 minutes with this pain. If this was considered mild pain by the system either he had zero pain tolerance or the system was sadistic and he didn’t look forward to what awaited him.

An idea formed in his mind.

(Fire wave). Alex called his skill and aimed his hand toward the shrubs. Fruits be damned! Incinerate. A spark of flame shot forward from his palm and landed on the shrub, engulfing it in a ball of orange flames. The flames lacked the power of the lizard’s flame attack which incinerated anything it touched in seconds. However, his attack suited his purposes just fine as he saw the shrub get charred, numerous ants roasted alive and a few trying to escape alive to futility.

Alex pushed his painful arm right into the flames. Fight poison with poison, wasn’t there a saying like this? He couldn’t feel the burn since his forearm was already numb but he could feel the fire entering his arm through the skin, burning away the poison from within. Yes, it’s just as I thought! The fire didn’t burn him and instead had a purifying effect on his body.

No, Alex was not insane. He once saw the lizard dive into the flames created by its attack to tackle a large horned beetle. When Alex looked surprised, the lizard simply called him an idiot and told him he was the originator of these magical flames recognized by the system. Of course, it didn’t hurt him. In fact, it could help Komodo heal his body, although nothing in that dungeon was strong enough to hurt him.

At the time, Alex didn’t believe in the authenticity of the statement but now, he was once again grateful to the lizard for sharing this information.

[Fire wave skill evolved to level 2. You can now use your magical flames to burn away impurities from within your body.]

Why doesn’t the system explain all these details before I discover them myself? Alex sat down on the ground. His arm regained its senses and it didn’t hurt like hell. He took a deep breath. I have to be more careful from now on. I was lucky this time but luck will not always be by my side.

Alex looked towards the sky and released a sigh. The sun moved a little. At least I have some time until nightfall.

He heard a rustle from behind him and noticed a nearby foliage shaking. A boar head pierced the foliage and presented itself. Alex became more alert and started charging the fire wave skill. Roasting an animal alive didn’t feel good but he couldn’t take any risk.

The boar revealed itself fully but kept its distance. It was larger than a regular boar with thick muscles and hooves. Alex was not sure but he spotted something growing in its head which looked like a small horn.

Maybe it won’t attack…shit! Before Alex could complete the thought the boar charged at him. Its hooves caught on fire and he could feel motes of purple light gathering in its head, right where the horn-like growth sprouted. Alex dodged to the side and rolled to avoid a beam of laser that burned a foot-deep hole in the ground. Crazy bastard!

[Horned boar (level 3): Impatient boars bestowed with the power of light magic. Avoid when sighted or kill on sight. Stubborn wild beast immune to fire and light attacks]

Alex released the charged-up fire wave but didn’t wait around to see its effect on the boar. He ran for his life. The boar was immune to fire attacks and he could only deal fire attacks. It was impossible to defeat the beast physically. The best option was to lure it deeper into the jungle and try to lose it.

Alex turned around to steal a look and just as he expected the boar ran through the raging flames, not an inch of skin burned. It stumbled around for a moment before noticing him and followed him while making a grunting noise.

Stupid beast. I hope it doesn’t attract any more beasts!

Alex parted the foliage and ran through tree shrubs. He didn’t know where he should go but he ran for his dear life. A beam of light blasted chunks of rocks off the ground where he was just a moment ago. Alex charged up another fire wave but this time he could feel his body get limp.

Crap! Not enough mana? I didn’t have time to experiment with this shit yet!

Alex aimed the fire wave at a nearby dense gathering of shrubs just ahead of him and dived into the flames. It was an attempt to blindsight the boar but he knew he didn’t have much time before the boar locked onto him by scent or sight.

There in the distance, he spotted a river. Maybe I can cross the river? If it’s immune to fire and light, perhaps it is weak to water. He sprinted towards the river and after a while reached the river bank. The boar was still following him but slowed down when it detected Alex by the riverside. It seems I was right. No wait!

Alex dived into the pool as he avoided another laser blast. Doesn’t this beast run out of mana too? Wait..it was level 3, so perhaps it has more mana than me? Of course, it does.

Alex swam to the middle of the shallow river trying to get across to the other side. The boar blasted a few more lasers but when it noticed that the laser didn’t reach past the middle of the river it screeched and turned around.

Yes, finally, saved at last! Alex felt a smile creep up his face. That was thrilling. I haven't had so much fun since ages. Alex decided he could swim across the river to the other side. Just as he was about to reach the shore, he felt something creep up his leg. A vine or snake?

He looked down to spot a finger-thick green tendril coil around his left ankle. It pulled him into the river and Alex panicked. He frantically tried to swim towards the shore but the pull of the tendril was strong. Alex grabbed the tendril with both hands and pulled on it with all his might. The tendril was strong and resisted but it snapped after some time and Alex pulled his head out of the water gasping for breath. That was too close! Just a few more feet until I reach the shore.

He swam faster and touched the shore and immediately regretted it. The shore was covered with translucent star-shaped spikes. He felt his hands burn and saw the edges of his fingers get black. What is this, poison?

[Translucent Starfish (Level 0): These are found on shores and filled with necrotic poison. Handle them with care. Don’t try to eat.]

No shit! Alex charged the flame wave skill to purify the necrotic poison but it seemed the effect was too slow. Shit. I don’t have enough mana!

Suddenly he felt his left ankle gripped by a tendril once again and then another on his right ankle. He instinctively grabbed the shore once again only to get stung once again but he held on to his dear life. No, God, why me?

Alex lamented but it was no use. One by one multiple green tendrils coiled around his legs as the pull got stronger. Then, thicker, stronger red tendrils filled with spiky bumps coiled around his thighs and pulled at him. The bumps were strong enough to shave off his clothes and the flesh of his thighs and Alex experienced immense pain. He felt lightheaded.

A purple tendril thicker than his arm filled with suction cups wrapped around his torso and finally pulled him into the water. He could feel his consciousness fading, the water entering his lungs, and his body becoming limp. The final tendril seemed to contain some kind of paralytic poison.

As Alex lost consciousness, the last thought on his mind made him smile... So, this is how I finally die. At least it is not painful anymore.