The night went by without issue, Owen wasn't able to sleep for very long though. He felt awful, he was worried about still being asleep when the timer ran out. He was most worried however, that people would arrive while his group was asleep and just take their gear. He felt a little bit better once he could see the sun start to come up. He checked the countdown again, while juggling in his head whether to wake Peggy and Myra up yet.
*Gain a minimum of 4 levels - Completed, Gain at least 1 combat skill - Completed, and reach the rest zone at the peak of the mountain in the center of the island - Completed. 1:55:02secs.*
No one else had show up and he was starting to worry that no one else was. He wasn't sure why it mattered to him, but every time the thought that he might know someone in this same tutorial or that his dad had even entered the same tutorial scared him.
He scrolled through his notifications that he had ignored the night before while talking with Peggy and Myra.
*Congratulations, you have gained 1 stat point(s) in Strength. Congratulations, you have gained 1 stat point(s) in Dexterity.*
Owen grinned, "I guess it was worth being beaten half to death by Myra." He then felt sour as he stared at the next notification.
*You are unable to gain additional stats after the initial 10, until after you have passed level ten. 1 experience gained instead. x 3*
He was a little angry now, he was sitting at a pretty 96 out of 100 experience to get to level ten and he lost out of 3 stat points because he had been a couple experience shy of level 10. Grumbling, he walked over to Myra and Peggy patting each of them lightly on the shoulder. "We have just a little under 2 hours until the end of the tutorial. No one else has shown up, so I'm gonna head down the path a little bit to find a monster to fight. I'm only a couple points shy of level ten, so I'll be right back afterwards."
Myra didn't seemed to care and waved him off, but Peggy nodded and wiped the sleep from her eyes. "Alright, just down the path a bit? I'll come with for back up." Owen wanted to refuse, since she would be accidentally leeching off of his experience, but didn't argue. Myra who had been hoping to stay back and sleep was kicked awake by Peggy. "I'm not leaving you here by yourself come on." It took only a couple minutes for them to be ready and walking back down the mountain.
Myra kept shooting daggers at Owen, but he was just as upset as she was, he had only gotten 3 experience from being abused by Myra instead of them being 3 stats, all because he had been less than 10 experience from level 10.
It didn't take them long to find a level 7 dragon enemy, if it had been even a day ago, Owen would've been intimidated by it, but in less than a second after finding it. He has rushed forward and shattered it's skull with a single spear thrust.
*Congratulations, you have slain Level 7 Volitant Dragon. 20 Experience gained. You have leveled up, You have gained 1 unallocated stat point(s).*
"Fuck yeah!" He spun and gave his friends high fives. Before looking at the countdown once more.
*Gain a minimum of 4 levels - Completed, Gain at least 1 combat skill - Completed, and reach the rest zone at the peak of the mountain in the center of the island - Completed. 1:30:48secs.*
"Interesting, even though we aren't on the peak anymore, it still says it's completed. I don't want to risk it anyways, but do you guys want to farm until you both reach level ten?" He had told them on the way to finding the dragon about how he had reached a limit of stats he could gain outside of leveling up.
Both Peggy and Myra shook their heads at the same time. "No I haven't reached that cap yet and I'd rather not risk on losing out on ones I can gain, before I know for sure." Peggy spoke first and Myra nodded her agreement. "I guess we head back then? I dunno we have have about an hour and a half."
Myra grinned evilly, "More sparring then?" Peggy mimicked the smile and then turned to Owen who surprised them by smiling even wider. "I've got stats to gain, I'm definitely down." As they turned to head back up the summit. "AAAUGH, FUCKING DIE SHIT STAIN!" All three of them gave each other looks before rushing down the mountain at top speed.
They arrived on the scene and Owen felt his stomach sink, there were already two human bodies already torn up quite a bit and one shockingly blonde man swinging a sword in a wide arc at one of the electric tigers. It was put down quickly as Owen arrived first and stabbed it through the side, while Myra arrived second swinging her fists down on top of the tiger's head, causing a loud crack to echo through the air.
Owen ignored the kill notification and rushed to check on the man who had been being attacked. "Owen?" Owen felt his whole body freeze, barely able to recognize him under the blood and gore, Owen paled. "What the hell are you doing here?" Jared asked. He had started to gain the same indignant tone he usually carried when speaking with Owen.
Owen slowly turned and did a double take on the bodies that were lying limp against the ground. "Are Sara and Kyle alive?" Owen could barely get the words out of his mouth before Jared started yelling. "Of course not, can't you see how mangled Kyle's body is?" Owen tried to ignore him and looked at Peggy instead. She nodded and moved a little bit closer to both Kyle and Sara, checking to see if they had a pulse.
Owen felt a strike against the side of his head, followed up by being pounced upon. He immediately moved to grab his spear, but it was out of reach. Jared was sitting on top of him now, tears streaming down his face.
"How could you let this happen Owen? If you had just joined us when we had offered, we could've worked together as a team, we could've all stayed alive, but no you decided you were better than us. You decided that me being the bigger man was a problem and decided to throw a fit over it. What the hell is wrong with you? Both Sara and Kyle could've been alive and well, if you had just come with us."
Jared continued to ramble and Owen listened. He felt guilty, he probably could've made sure everyone was safe, he should've thought more about it. He had seen Jared's status and known he couldn't participate in the fighting in a meaningful way, if he had just joined when he had the chance. He heard whispering from Myra and Peggy, no doubt figuring out what the best way to ditch Owen was going to be. Jared climbed off of Owen and moved to sit next to Sara.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
He pulled her close and cradled her, they all knew she was dead, but none of them were going to interrupt. It didn't matter if Owen had had issues with Jared in the past, he was partially responsible for Sara having died and he would give them a moment.
He thoughts were whirling through his head faster and faster as he tried to think of where he went wrong. Jared had never actually been that awful to him, he had certainly crossed some boundaries, but never ones that had been set beforehand. There was a small part of him that felt like he had been in the right, sure Owen had probably over reacted before, but Jared had called him and rubbed in the fact that he had taken over Owen old job.
He had been the one to create a barrier between them and if he had joined Jared's team, he would've been under that weird follower skill, which he hadn't wanted at the time either. He looked back at Jared and the corpses of both Sara and Kyle and he couldn't continue the thought process, it was his fault, even if it was a little bit of the teams fault for taking on a monster that they couldn't handle, it was still his fault since he could've been there.
Peggy and Myra were still off to the side talking and Owen barely noticed when they both came over and sat next to him. "Can you tell us about them?" Myra said, looking more uncomfortable than he had ever seen her. He told them both about everything that had gone down with Jared and his coworkers. He never looked up as he described their friend group, but if he had, he would've seen the ever increasing scowl on Myra's face. Peggy also didn't look very impressed as Owen finished.
"You realize there is no way it could be your fault right?" Myra asked. Owen looked at her and shook his head. "I could've gone with them, I had known Jared couldn't fight." Peggy slapped him hard. Startled he felt himself start to get angry but the look on her face gave him pause.
"Owen, it's not your fault, not only were none of those people your friends, but they had actively made your life worse. I'm not saying you shouldn't feel sad they are dead, but you certainly shouldn't feel bad about it, they aren't your responsibility. If anything they should've been fine, you were able to get to this point with your own strength and working hard. They had the three of them together to plan how to take down monsters and reach this point."
Owen went to argue, but Myra but in this time. "Perv, listen to us, they were never your responsibility, it is okay to feel sad or angry that they died, but you need to confront the fact that these people all did their best to take advantage of you and it was only because you couldn't stand up for yourself that they were able to make it seem like they were your friends in the process. That guy over there, it's okay to feel bad for him, but don't let him convince you for even a second longer that this is in any way your fault."
Owen wasn't sure what to say, he hadn't known either of them for very long, but they were being so nice to him. This is what friendship is supposed to be like isn't it? he thought, but just smiled at both of them and wiped some of the tears from his eyes. "Okay, I trust you guys," he got up and started walking back towards Jared. "Let me hear you say it," Peggy said before he took more than a couple steps. He looked back at her only slightly confused, thankfully Myra mouthed the words to him off to the side and he smiled back at Peggy.
"It's not my fault." She gave him a big thumbs up, before she and Myra gave Jared and Owen a bit more privacy.
"Jared, I'm going to help you bury the bodies if you'd like, but if you come with us afterwards, you'll need to listen to me." Jared looked up with a face of under bewilderment. "What the hell are you talking about, you're the cause of this, there is no way I am going to let you lead after that." Steeling his will, he started Jared in the eyes and said coldly. "Then you don't come with, easy as that, but I'd still be more than happy to help with burying them, it's the least I can do."
Jared's nostrils flared, "The least you could do? The least you could do!? You already did the least possible. We've been non stop fighting since we got here and you're just hanging out with these whores. We were friends Owen and you abandoned us." Jared was throwing wild punches Owen's way, but the penalty caused by Jared's skill made it easy to dodge.
Owen was fighting back tears he tried to remind himself that it wasn't his fault and he grabbed Jared's next punches and held him in place. Jared struggled in place, still screaming accusations and obscenities at both Owen and his new friends.
"I'm sorry Jared, if you don't want help, we will go then." He gave a firm push and sent Jared sprawling into the ground. Owen then turned and walked away. "So you're abandoning me again, is that all you know how to do?" Jared screamed after them. He did is best to ignore the shouting from behind him as he began trudging back up the summit Peggy and Myra following close behind. They gave him some space when they had made it back to the top.
Owen's mind was in turmoil, but he kept repeating Peggy and Myra's words over and over in his head. He hated to admit it, but he was worried about Jared, they had left him on the summit. He had enough time to make it to the top, but Jared's last words had stuck with him despite his best efforts not to hear them. He had abandoned Jared twice now, maybe it was the only thing he could do.
The rest of the time on the countdown went by quickly, but to his surprise, Jared eventually came to the top. He was traveling with a different group now and when they reached the peak, he pointed at Owen and the group he was with all scowled.
In the end approximately 30 people made it to the top in the last minutes of the second round, Owen was disappointed his dad wasn't in the group of people who made it to the top, but all the same he just hoped he was in a different tutorial to begin with. When there were waiting for the last few minutes to tick by, Peggy and Myra came over and sat beside Owen. He looked up at them and gave his best smile. He knew it looked forced, but just pretended it didn't.
"Owen, I assume we will find out in the next couple minutes if there will be another round or not, but either way here," Peggy passed Owen a small piece of paper, before he had a chance to wonder where she got it, he saw phone numbers from both of them. "This isn't cause we are interested," Myra said flatly. "And I promise if you even dare to send either of us dick pics, I will cut it off." Owen stared at Myra in horror. "I'd never do that!"
Myra just gave him a grin and clapped him hard on the back. "I know, you've proven to be at least somewhat a gentlemen." Peggy gave Owen a hug, which felt like it would snap his spine in two, "Saying goodbye for now might be too early, since we don't know what's going to happen in a minute, but take care of yourself. Get angry at people, let them know when they've gone too far, and if they are good people they'll respect it. Anyone else, you don't need them!" Owen smiled warmly at both of them.
"I really appreciate it you guys, it's been such a short time, but you feel like the first actual friends I've had since high school." Myra looked at him blankly. "We are though, unless you forgot to mention someone else, so far it sounds like most of the people in your life have been dicks from work." Peggy slapped her arm, but everyone was smiling now.
"I suppose we will either see each other again in like a minute, or definitely after this is all done."
*Congratulations, 31 people have passed the second round of the tutorial You have all gained 3 out of 10 possible unallocated stat point(s) 00:00:30 seconds until the third and final round of the tutorial will commence.*
Owen pulled both of them into one last big hug as the last few seconds ticked down. *Welcome to the third and final round of the tutorial.* He felt slightly sad as the feeling of the hug had disappeared as soon as the message prompt appeared. He looked around and realized he was back in the void like area from before. This time he was a little more confident and battle ready even if not by a lot. A system screen appeared in front of him instantly.
*In the last round of the tutorial, you will have time to select a sponsor, based upon your performance in the second round. You will then spend a week in your sponsor's realm, if there is no sponsor, you will go through a training for one week to hopefully earn a sponsor at the end. If no sponsor is gained at any point during the third round, you will have failed the third round and be disqualified. All rewards will be forfeit. *