As morning broke, soft embers of light filtered through the thin material of Jason's makeshift tent. The tent was little more than fabric draped over metal posts, offering minimal protection from the elements.

Inside, the tent was an empty, desolate space with only a single, thin blanket laid across the floor where Jason sat. The cool ground beneath Jason contrasted with the growing warmth outside as the mysterious object in the sky, the "sun" of the tutorial, slowly got brighter, casting beams of light through the small gaps in the tent.

Outside of the tent, the camp began to grow more active as people stirred, their footsteps muffled but noticeable. The sound of voices rose steadily as some of the tutorial initiates gathered at the centre of the clearing and began loudly discussing their plans for the day amongst themselves.

Despite the outside movement, Jason remained seated on top of the thin blanket, with his attention solely focused on the ethereal screen in front of him that displayed the 'system store'.

Jason had spent much of the night and early morning sifting through the 'system store' contents, deeply analysing all the items and skills available to him. In the demonic world, or in fact, for any of the ascended realms, the system did not have a 'system store', so Jason decided that now was a good time to familiarise himself with it.

While looking through the list of items, Jason could easily see their potential if utilised correctly. If Jason could acquire any of these items, they would serve as a potent boon for his time during and even after the tutorial.

The store offered legendary items, which were incredibly rare and potent beyond measure. However, once purchased, these items would be permanently gone from the system store. After all, these items could be considered one of a kind, so Jason decided to familiarise himself with them while he could.

As Jason looked at the 'Legendary' items, with their icon tinged with a golden hue, he had to admit he was impressed with what the system store offered.

Jason's eyes scanned the description of the most valuable items first. The 'Aspects'.

These items were Catalysts of immense power that, when infused with enough mana, could trigger powerful effects based on the nature of the aspect itself.

However, they were also priced in response to their powerful effect, with all of them costing an eye-watering 999,999 SP. Unfortunately, such wealth was currently beyond Jason's reach.

Following these aspects, the next items with the highest prices had the effects of improving and upgrading the user's body or race. A Racial Upgrade Potion called 'Pure Ambrosia' was priced at 800,000 SP and promised to evolve the user's race to a higher level than their current form.

There were also draconic materials, which, if used properly, could also vastly improve the body or be used to create powerful items. These 'Legendary' items included a 'Dragon's heart', which was cheaper but no less valuable.

Jason could almost taste the potential each item held. His demonic instincts, his greed, which came from being from the demonic race, surged within him, urging him to reach out and claim everything. But his wealth, his SP, was a cruel reminder that he could not indulge in such desires.

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This moment only served to prove that wealth was truly above all else.

As Jason continued to explore the store, he examined items in the mid-tier range, priced around 500,000 SP.

These items included navigational tools like the 'World Map' and the 'Desire Compass', invaluable artefacts used for exploring and finding key locations or objects. This price range also included a powerful staff constructed from a branch of a world tree and inscribed with potent enchantments.

The further Jason worked through the list, the more diverse the store's offerings became, including further organic and metallic materials such as blood from rare species and mystical metals like 'Mithril' and 'Orichalcum'. Each item dazzled with a deep golden hue, but alas, once they were purchased, they would be gone without replacement.

It was possible to find or create some of these materials and items outside of the systems store, but that would require time and lots of effort, unlike this relatively simple method of exchanging SP for items.

Looking through all the system had to offer, it might seem that the tutorial was an incredibly fruitful place. Sure, it was fraught with danger, but with every challenge came the promise of more EXP and SP, and with that, even greater rewards.

And that was because this entire space had been crafted for that very purpose.

In the clearest sense, the tutorial was designed to filter out and cultivate the strongest, most capable individuals, like ripened fruit. All for the eventual harvesting by the Supremes.

In dark humour, Jason could not help but acknowledge that many of these items and skills, offered with such promise, were gifts from the Supremes themselves. This also explained why so many of the items offered in the 'system store' could be used to quickly enhance their users' growth, much like soil to nourish crops.

'Legendary' skills, however, were conspicuously absent from the store. Unlike items, they were far more intertwined with the essence of one's soul, and even the Supremes were unlikely to give such powerful abilities for mere SP.

No, such things were reserved for those under the Patronage of higher beings.

In that regard, it was easy to conclude that humanity's presence in this tutorial was little more than a cultivation exercise, a preparation for consumption for the Supremes.

Yet, in its own twisted way, the system was somewhat fair.

After all, the Supremes used this as their entertainment, a place to foster growth in those they deemed worthy. Thus, the system limited even the most powerful beings to stats comparable to the upper percentile of humanity.

No one, not even the Supremes, could escape that restriction. They were bound to the same stat limitations as humanity within the Ascension trial, and it was only because of that fact that humanity even had a fighting chance.

This stat point restriction also explained why the earlier encounter with the giant had been surprisingly manageable.

The giant, for all its raw power, had only ten free stat points allocated to its stats, besides the basic one stat point in each attribute. This limitation in status points was in response to all the tutorial initiates who gained the 'Tutorial initiate' Accolade rewarding ten free stat points at the commencement of the Ascension trial tutorial.

In actuality, the giant's overwhelming power stemmed from its racial perks and natural abilities and not from inflated stats. As mentioned before, a human with a strength stat of one would perform vastly differently than a giant with the same stat. The giant's enormous frame, denser muscles, and unique racial attributes allowed it to demonstrate far greater power despite similar status points.

Furthermore, the rank of the giant, and in fact, all beings besides the challengers, followed a different system. Their power levels were determined by the rarity of their highest-level skill or ability rather than their Level and Class.

For instance, the giant Jason faced was categorised as 'Uncommon' rank because its most potent skill or ability was of the 'Uncommon' rarity. This ranking system did not reflect the Giant's stat points because if they had faced an unrestricted giant, even one of 'Uncommon' rank, the disparity in their stats alone would have resulted in a one-sided massacre.

Jason doubted that even if all of them attacked together, they would be unable even to injure it, let alone kill it.

Thankfully, unlike the Ascended, the Supremes, beings of the transcendent rank, faced more restrictions regarding their 'skills,' 'perks', and 'traits', limiting them to the highest rank of Ascended power, the 'Mythical' rank.