The world formed around Owen slowly, with him standing in the center of a field of grass. Owen guessed that the field was approximately 120 meters across or about the length of a football field, with deep green forests surrounding the field.
*Welcome to the tutorial's aptitude test. Your beginning stats will be determined based upon your performance, with each challenge focused on testing a specific stat. Select Yes when ready to begin the first test.*
Owen did a couple stretches expecting something along the lines of the presidential fitness test, but as soon as he had selected yes, his body locked into place preventing him from moving even an inch. Suddenly, he felt like he had been punched in the gut and hot flashes danced in lightning arcs across his body.
The pain continued and the he could feel the world fading around him. It had all happened in less than a second, and everything went back to normal before Owen had a chance to panic. "What the fuck was that... what the fuck was that!" Owen screamed.
His only answer was a pinging notification on his status screen, but he felt like his heart was beating a million miles per hour. He gave himself a couple minutes to calm down, before reading his status screen.
*According to the results from your test, you have gained 4 stat points in your vitality stat. Select yes when you are ready to begin the next test.*
Unlike other prompts the system had given him so far, the test didn't have the option to select no. "I hope this doesn't end up killing me," he grumbled, but for the first time he heard a response from the system.
*It is currently impossible to die inside of the tutorial stat testing stages, however there is no guarantee on later levels to the tutorial.*
Owen felt like a deer caught in the headlights, but quickly regained his composure before trying to ask the system more questions. However, the only answers it would give is what test was next, and whether or not there was a chance of death. Before he could psych himself out of it, he finally got up the courage to continue.
*Select yes when you are ready to begin the next test.*
This time Owen wasn't locked in place, but a thick fog began roiling in from the forests and spreading across the field of grassy plain in the small world they were in. Double checking the type of test this was, he saw it was the test of mana. Several minutes went by as Owen tried to figure out what the test was supposed to be about, but nothing changed. He must have timed out, because eventually a system message popped up.
*According to the results from your test, you have gained 2 stat points in your mana stat. Select yes when you are ready to begin the next test.*
That felt much better than the first test, he felt truly calm for the first time in what felt like a long time. He just soaked in the feeling for a little bit before beginning the next test. "Hey, system, what is the next test about?"
*The next test will be a test of strength.*
Limbering up, Owen moved through a series of stretches that were extremely familiar. When he was working on developing an app for his old job, someone had gotten hurt moving something they shouldn't having been trying to lift by themselves. For the next several months the company had specialists coming in and working with people on something called ergonomics.
Owen moved with casual ease through several minutes of stretching just as he would have before sitting at his desk for hours on end. It made both his mind and body feel like mush sitting in the fog of the mana test, but he forced himself to select yes when the prompt came up. The fog instantly disappeared and was replaced with a platform in the center of the field.
Owen cautiously moved up onto the platform. Nothing happened for a single moment, before the world came crashing down around him. Owen felt the weight pressing his body down gradually begin to build until he was forced to take a knee. He lasted several more seconds of the weight continuing to build, before collapsing onto all fours and then pushed the rest of the way to the ground.
The exact moment he hadn't been able to support the weight, the pressure released. Owen slowly moved into a sitting position and took a deep breath. This tutorial was awful, he couldn't even remember the last time he had felt this bad.
Everything hurt and he just wanted out of this stupid tutorial, screw the benefits. But as soon as the thoughts crossed his mind he had to laugh. He knew someone wouldn't even be able to pay him to actually leave. He just needed a quick nap, he just needed a quick nap before continuing. He tried to pull up his system screen, but there wasn't a message saying he was ready to continue.
Glancing back at the platform, it had changed slightly. The platform set upon the grass still looked almost the same, with small footholds to place his feet. There was a new platform though that was hovering above the first one, with metal bars attached to the underside.
A cool wave of refreshing energy made his body feel like it had right before starting the strength test. He basked in the energy until it left and then moved back to the platform.
Placing his feet in the footholds, he reached up and found that he could just barely perfectly reach the bars attached to the hovering platform. The instance his hands closed around the bars, the platform tried moving away from him, and his body began to get stretched out. A moment or realization hit as he realized both of these workouts were resistance training when working out.
He immediately applied as much strength as possible to try and move the platforms as close together as possible. Just like the first test, the pressure began to build and slowly but surely the platform began moving away again and eventually out of his grip. This time the refreshing energy flowed through his body immediately.
Owen ended up needing to do several other types of basic exercises after that, each time the energy washing through his body before the next exercise. Eventually he was rewarded with the status screen he was waiting for.
*According to the results from your test, you have gained 6 stat points in your strength stat. Select yes when you are ready to begin the next test.*
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
Owen was starting to get excited, the tests weren't always amazing and there was definitely a level of sadism built into the design, but he couldn't help the rush of dopamine that would flow through every time one of the zero on his status screen were replaced with number. This time there was no hesitation or build up to him selecting yes and beginning the next test.
Again the area was cleared out of objects. And then the world just sort of froze. It wasn't him that froze and he was able to walk around still, but everything else was frozen in time. He knew this was the test of perception, so he tried focusing in on all of his senses, but couldn't hear anything.
"Maybe this is specifically to test my sight, since everything is frozen." He thought. He moved back to the center of the field and took a deep breathe and scanned his surroundings as thoroughly as possible before he finally noticed that the ground was just grass in all but the tiniest area where he could see a small patch of pebbles. And with that thought the world unfroze and Owen pumped his fist in excitement.
A couple seconds passed and the world started to darken until it was eventually pitch black.
Owen made sure to take a couple breaths, trying to make sure he stayed calm and figured this was probably one to test his hearing. Suddenly, he heard what sounded like someone rushing at him. The terror that he felt was unlike anything else, but he pushed his hearing to the limit trying to pick anything else up about it.
The running sound continued to sound like it was happening directly in front of him, but he realized it sounded somewhat similar to cloth rubbing together. As the thought crossed his mind, the world began to brighten again and Owen breathed a sigh of relief. He was liking these later tests, not as much pain, but more a stress on his mind.
He prepared for the next test which ended up being easier than he thought i would be. His nose had been filled with an overwhelming acrid stench and after ridding himself of any food he had eaten, he had been able to move around and find the source quite quickly. The test that came after was a little more challenging, he had ended up needing to find the defects in several flat surfaces. It made him extremely curious for the taste test.
A platter of food appeared before him, A classic dish of french fries, burger and glass of soda. shrugging he began to eat. Everything had tasted absolutely magnificent, until he put the last bit of food in his mouth and while it tasted great something was off. This was probably the test, he thought. He needed to figure out what was off about the taste.
He continued to chew the same bite of food and the taste knocked a memory loose. He remembered being a kid and going with his dad to a water park where they ate burger and swam for most of the day. He couldn't help but chuckle a little remembering how he had thought he was going to die, cause he kept drinking the water. "The weird taste or defect in this one is bleach, or I guess it could be chlorine." he said confidently.
The food disappeared and he was a little disappointed as he was no longer full, but gave himself a pat on the back for a good job anyways.
The next tests were a little weirder than the others, he had to navigate through the field and find a comfortable temperature. There were random cold or hot spots some even mixed right next to each other. This was almost as annoying as the sense of smell one had been, because every time he switched from very cold to very hot he felt a wave a nausea wash through him.
The last one it seemed was the weirdest. The system spoke out loud for the first time in the middle of the test instead of at the end.
*As accurately as possible, estimate how long you have been taking the test of perception.*
"Fuck." Owen did his best to try and imagine just how long each of the different tests had taken him. "27 minutes and 43 seconds since when you asked the question?" Owen wasn't confident in his answer, but he knew it couldn't have been much longer than 20 minutes.
He waited patiently for the answer, but instead his status screen popped up.
*According to the results from your test, you have gained 9 stat points in your Perception stat. Select yes when you are ready to begin the next test.*
He felt a little peeved that they hadn't told him how accurate he had been, but still felt proud that his highest score so far was in his perception. Selecting yes, he saw an obstacle course appear in the center of the plain. This test ended up being the most straight forward as all it required was for him to rush through it as fast as possible. As soon as he came out the other side the course disappeared and his status screen popped up.
*According to the results from your test, you have gained 3 stat points in your Agility stat. Select yes when you are ready to begin the next test.*
"What? Isn't there normally more to test each of the stats? I had to do like thirty different exercises for my strength stat." The system surprisingly responded.
*You did not score high enough on the first trial in the agility test, so further test were determined to not be needed.*
"And here I thought I had done well." He really had thought he had done well, but it's not like he had anyone to complain to, but it did make him wonder, was it possible to do poorly enough to have not needed to do all of those exercises he had done for strength in exchange for a lower strength stat.
It was an interesting idea, but even if it was the case, he wasn't going to try and take advantage of it. He wanted to do his best and try and end up with the highest beginning stats possible. "What is the next test about?"
*The next test is a test of resilience.*
Owen blanched. "Fuck, there is no way this isn't going to be painful as hell." Gathering up his courage he selected yes. He clenched up his body in preparation for pain, but nothing happened. Opening his eyes he glanced around and saw his status screen had popped up.
*Since this is a brand new body to the system, the body's resilience is the same as its vitality. According to the results from your test, you have gained 4 stat points in your Resilience stat. Select yes when you are ready to begin the next test.*
"Uhh I guess that's a win." Owen thought back to the first test and remembered all of the pain he had experienced then and shivered. But he did remember feeling like he had died at the very end of it before everything was fine. Maybe the pain was too see how much he could put up with.
He didn't know, but was more than thankful he didn't need to do it again. The next test was by far the most interesting and also very normal. It was essentially several fine motor skills tests that he was already used to, but he didn't mind having the advantage. Confident he had passed with flying colors, he waited for the status screen as was thrilled to see the message pop up.
*According to the results from your test, you have gained 9 stat points in your Dexterity stat. Select yes when you are ready to begin the next test.*
When he selected yes, he had expected to see something form in the middle of the field again, but instead the whole world shifted and he was suddenly standing in what looked like space. Looking around, he saw what looked like gridlines and realized he was back where they had the character creator. The system's voice then echoed through the void.
*According to the results from your test, you have gained 5 stat points in your luck stat. Select yes when you are ready to begin the next test.*
Owen was confused, but after thinking about it, luck didn't really seem like anything that could be tested easily. Unless they wanted him to guess coin flips hundreds of times. Owen pulled up his stats and felt a little proud. Nothing seemed too low and he had a decently high perception and dexterity.
The system's voice then echoed through his head.
*You have successfully passed the tests and now have a baseline of power at your disposal. Before we go further into the tutorial, you will need to know a few key details as well as how your stats will affect your performance in the next round.*
Owen couldn't deny that he was intrigued, he was pretty sure he knew what the stats would relate to based on the videogames and books with similar scenarios he had played and read. "Alright, I'm ready, let's get this done!"