It was time for my Tutorial System…almost. 16 hours to go, to be more specific. But first, I had to go to a lesson on System stuff. I heard big cities do these every three months or so, but here in the middle of nowhere it was more of a one-on-one meeting. Corby had his a week ago and still hadn’t come down from all the excitement of unlocking.

I entered the temple and saw the head of the temple, Deacon Expo, praying in the center. Around her were statues to the twelve gods.

There’s Pally, Cad…something, and…huh, I don’t know a lot of the gods. Hope they aren’t mad about that. Eh, they probably have bigger things to worry about.

Deacon Expo came over to me. “Welcome, child. I was told you were going to unlock your System soon.”

“Yes, ma’am. In 16 hours. So that would be…” I started counting on my hands and toes. “Tomorrow at 5!”

“Alright, why don’t you tell me what you know about the System, and I’ll do my best to fill in the gaps.”

I repeated all the stuff Allie had drilled into me. I loved my memories of her, but that didn’t make them stop hurting.

“Hmm, you’ve got most of the stats done, I guess, even if it’s a little specific to fighting. Intelligence also makes you smarter, helping you memorize things and perform calculations. But, you seem like a young woman who is more guided by…intuition, let’s say, so don’t worry too much about it. The System is powerful, but unless you plan on investing all your free points into Intelligence, it probably won’t be worth your effort in terms of thinking.”

I had the strange feeling I had just been insulted, but I had bigger concerns. “Free points? What are those?””

“Well, you get stats every level for your species, and later for your classes. Most of the stat distribution is already decided for you, but you gain some free points every species level. It’s the gods’ way of helping someone to mold themselves into what they want to be, regardless of species. You can also gain stats by pushing yourself to new limits—lifting heavy things can help increase strength, solving difficult puzzles can help increase your intelligence. Things like that.”

I didn’t even need to think about what I’d be dumping my points into.

I need more Willpower, so I’m never powerless like that again. Never.

“Neat! I’ll dump them all in Willpower.”

“Err, child, let’s not be too hasty. Most spread their stats out to give themselves a healthy balance. Also, you’re in a safe place, but you really shouldn’t shout out your stat decisions.” Deacon Expo sighed. “Now, what do you know about skills?”

“I know you can meet requirements before you unlock and that’s it.”

“Alright. While you’re in the Tutorial, you only have access to two kinds of skills: Species and General. Species skills are things you don’t choose. Everyone in a species starts with the same skills, but over time they can upgrade into things more unique to you.”

I thought about all the cool rabbitfolk stuff Allium had shown me and got excited.

“General skills are skills you choose. You have 5 slots. You can choose to change them at any time, but you can’t regain the experience if you decide to change back. After the Tutorial, some of your Class skills may eventually merge with your General skills, or you may be given the choice of moving them into a class skill slot.

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“Also, you should take some time to yourself to get a feel for things. You’ll practically have a new body after you unlock, and you want a handle on that before you do anything near pre-unlocked kids.”

I nodded sternly at that one.

Big sister rule one: Make sure nothing harms the lil’ ones.

“Now, what god do you and your family pray to?”

“Uhhhhhhhhhh…”

“…you do pray to a god, don’t you?” She asked pointedly.

“…”

“Do you at least know who the gods are, yes?”

“I know about Pally! And Cad, the healing dude?” I started sweating.

“Oh, child.” Deacon Expo cradled her face with her hands for a moment. “Let’s start with the basics. The ones we teach to toddlers.”

Ooh, I should probably tell Bellum and Milly about this then. Definitely good Big Sis points there.

“The gods are generally divided into 3 groups: the light gods, the gray gods, and the dark gods. The Light gods are generally considered responsible for guiding civilization and are particularly revered in human territories. Dark gods are those who reign over negative energies like undeath.”

I scowled at that.

“The light gods and the dark gods are locked in an eternal struggle against one another. The Gray gods are much more fickle. You can never know what they’ll decide to care about at any given time.”

Cadeum, the god of healing; Jovia, the goddess of mirth; Pallea, the goddess of children; and Harvae, the god of agriculture, are considered the Light Gods.

Hmm. I still think Pally sounds better. Nothing wrong with giving a goddess a nickname, right?

I felt a shiver again. Weird.

“Then we have the Gray Gods: Dodo, the god of Death; Cradon, the goddess of truth and trade; Amorica, the goddess of love and lust; Protius, the god of Knowledge; and Torrentus, the god of the water.”

So. Many. Names. But that truth one sounded nice. Crayon? Think it was Crayon.

I felt another tingle.

“And then there’s the dark gods: Malekor, the god of malice; Nestor, the god of the undead; and Po, the god of anarchy—or goddess, depending on their mood.”

“If the dark gods are so unpopular, why are they represented in the temple?” I asked.

“There were records of towns creating temples excluding various gods. Those towns tended to get smote. Gods seem to take this kind of thing personally. It’s one thing to have a temple devoted to one god. But excluding just a few? That’s just asking for divine retribution.”

“So um, why do I need to know about the gods now?”

“Because the System gives you more access to the gods. Your prayers are more easily heard and they can do more to influence your life, positively or negatively. So it’s best to be aware and courteous before they decide they want to mess with you. Most people choose one god to pray to, but that doesn’t mean you can’t pray to any others.”

“Ok.”

It’s entirely possible the Deacon told me more, but I had simply zoned out. I couldn’t think about a boring lesson on what god likes which fruit, not with my System so close to unlocking.

When my focus returned, I was outside, so hopefully I didn’t miss anything important.

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I spent the rest of the day doing chores and playing with Bellum and Milly, which mostly consisted of them climbing on me and me chasing them.

They’re totally gonna get climbing skills when they unlock.

I went to sleep in-between them.

When I woke up, I finally saw it.

[Welcome to the Tutorial System]