"While fighting may seem like nothing out of the ordinary today, with even most non-combatants having some fighting experience, that is not the case for those who were born before the system. Testimonies from those who survived the tutorial have shown that while most of humanity was able to adapt at least enough to survive, some simply broke, and in some cases they did so with dire consequences for those that they were in the tutorial with."

-Charles Sarit, skilled psychic mage and renowned therapist

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"Am I okay? AM I OKAY! I ALMOST DIED! WE ALL ALMOST DIED! AND YOU ARE ACTING LIKE NOTHING HAPPENED! YOU CAN BARELY STAND BUT YOU ARE STILL MAKING PLANS TO FIGHT MORE!"(Jackson)

With his voice raising with every word until he was screaming louder than I thought he possibly could, yelled at me, before stopping and taking in a few ragged breathes before continuing in a much quieter voice, hoarse from the yelling he had just done but still charged with just as much emotion.

"This isn't a game, one wrong step and we all die. We have been lucky until now but without that whatever you did at the end, we would all have died. Or at least, me and Leo would've."(Jackson)

After saying his piece, Jackson held my gaze with watery eyes, daring me to refute him. Since any half-assed answer would only worsen the situation, I only spoke after taking a deep breath and gathering my thoughts, keeping my voice level and keeping eye contact.

"You're right, this isn't a game. And as much as I, or anyone else for that matter, pretend, this isn't some book where we are the main characters, coming out of every situation, no matter how dangerous, with superficial injuries and cool loot. But, what choice do we have? We have one month in the tutorial, and this is the safest that its going to get. Sure, when the tutorial ends we'll be in a much larger group in a place the system thinks is safe enough, hell it probably wouldn't be that hard to never fight again, just hiding in whatever settlement everyone ends up making, hell you might even be able to live a comfortable life not too different from before the system, pick up a crafting class and never leave protected areas for the rest of your life."

I took a pause and another breath at this point, seeing the spark of hope in Jackson's eyes, and even seeing Leo and Jason shift around a bit.

"BUT! Ask yourself this, is that the life you really want? Sure before The System being weak was nothing special, and it didn't have very many downsides for a vast majority of people, and even the strong were just bigger cogs in the same machine. But we aren't before The System anymore, now the strong exploiting the weak isn't just limited to skimming some profits off the top, or denying someone's vacation because you don't like them, it's a monster coming and destroying everything and everyone you know, or someone who thinks that they can be king of this new world and needs some skulls for his throne. Sure I could be wrong, maybe The System will cause humans to put aside their differences and all work together, making the perfect society and safe haven. But I doubt it, and I am not willing to bet my life, my families life, or my friends life on it. If you don't want to fight, that's fine, we won't force you, we will escort you back to he center where food is plentiful and the monsters are scarce and weak, and we won't think less of you for it. Just ask yourself this, would you rather take the risk now, and, yes, you might die, and have the strength for whatever happens after the tutorial, even if it is just sitting in a city doing non-combat jobs, or do you want to risk not having that strength in the first place? I know my answer and it sure as hell isn't relying on the kindness of humanity, especially not one thrust into a world where the best way to power is through violence."

After saying everything that I could, I eyed Jackson and the other two, who were silently listening to the whole exchange, making it clear that my words were to all of them, and that we would all need to think about where we stand.

"I... I need to think about this."(Jackson)

"Of course, we ALL need to think about what we want to do once the tutorial ends, and we have been going too fast with too little of a plan up until now, so we will walk back to the starting zone, or as close as we can get, and take a day or two to figure things out. As pressed for time as we are, it is still better to wait and have a solid plan than rush forward to die without one."(Mason)

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After saying so, I gave everyone a look to notify them that this was not a question before having Jason point me towards the safe zone, where everyone quickly fell into step behind me, slow and wobbly as my gait was with my still sore and weak body. The march was filled with a somber silence as everyone, including myself, thought about what I said, and whether or not it was worth it to risk our lives and get as strong as possible or to slow down and gather EXP safely at the cost of strength, and even beyond that what we would do with our lives after the tutorial. And while my and Leo's injuries slowed our pace somewhat, the fact that we were not looking for anything and just going in a straight line meant that we found a clearing similar to the one we spawned in by sunset. Deciding that we were close enough, I went about starting a fire, to be joined by Leo gathering sticks while Jackson and Jason gathered fruits and berries, none of us trusting mushrooms even in the 'safe' area. As it was late by the time we found the clearing, night had already fallen by the time our makeshift camp was set up. So we didn't scout the surroundings beyond a cursory glance before eating some of the berries that we had gathered previously to fill our stomaches and settled down near the fire as none of us were in the mood to sleep.

Except for the occasional popping, the fire was quiet, with all of us lost in our own thoughts. Personally, I had read webnovels for probably hundreds of hours in my life, and this situation was something I'd dreamt about constantly, but now that it happened I didn't know what to do. I didn't have some super OP power's or a harem of beautiful women, I couldn't fight things tens of levels higher than me with ease, nor was I so talented that I got a new skill every time I attacked. As I was thinking, my eyes drifted upwards to the night's sky. As I observed the stars, brighter than they could've ever been on earth even far away from any cities due to the various types pollution we had pumped into the earth, I marveled at the beauty of those twinkling gemstones in the sky. Then, I focused inwards, not just on the lightning that was a constant, reassuring, companion, but also on the other force that I felt inside me, the mana and by proxy magic, which I felt faintly throughout my whole body, imbued into every cell giving me access to supernatural abilities that I had dreamed of since I was old enough to read about fantastic adventures and magical kingdoms full of wonder and joy. Feeling the mana swirl within my body, still not completely refilled from the deer fight, and the lightning crackle in what I instinctively knew to be to be a friendly way, I knew that whatever I did after the tutorial would have to involve the new mystical forces that our planet, and by extension my body, now held.

Looking once more at stars that I had thought about so little previously that I honestly couldn't tell if the stars were the same as those on earth or not, I wondered what else could be out there. Surely if something as mundane as the night's sky could look so beautiful, then a world full of magic and wonder must have things that I couldn't even imagine. Once that thought entered my mind, it wouldn't leave, and even as I tried to think of other things to do with my life, the moment I laid down to sleep and caught another glimpse of the sky I knew what I wanted to do. I wanted to see all that this world had to offer, and to do so I would need to be able to survive anything it throws at me. With my resolve made, I quickly drifted of into a comfortable sleep, dreaming of sights that I may one day see and experiences I may have.

The next morning was quiet, and with the aches of my body reduced to a much more bearable soreness that I was able to more or less ignore to move freely. It seemed that I was the last to rise as the rest of the group was already up, sitting by the remnants of the last nights fire. Despite the silence being the same as the night before, the overall feeling that everyone gave off was one of quiet resolve rather than deep thought, as it seemed that we had all come to at least an initial decision of what to do. Starting the fire once more, our third day in this new world began with all of us sitting down and talking about our plans. Jackson was the first to start talking, his still slightly hoarse voice causing everyone to look towards him as he spoke while staring into the flames with a steady and even tone.

"I'll start. I don't want to fight. I am scared and I just don't know if I can adapt to a life of fighting, But, I can handle it for at least this month, and I would rather regret trying so hard during the tutorial than not trying enough."(Jackson)

As he made his declaration, I saw a resolve in his eyes and knew that whatever may come, he wouldn't back down no matter how much he may want to. Clapping his knees, Leo was the next to speak, and while he didn't have the same look in his eyes as Jackson, I never thought of him backing down to begin with, as he had always been the most driven and determined out of all of us.

"I'll go next, I don't know exactly what I want, but I do know that I'll need to be strong to get it, so I want to start early."(Leo)

With a flick of his wrist that sent a card flying over his head and into his other hand, Jason was the next to speak, with his trademark mischievous grin and his eyes a bit brighter than usual, still not quite as carefree as we were used to but far better than previously.

"What I want is simple. I want Magic, even an objectively nonmagical class like mine lets me do things that were impossible for me last week, and I only have one skill. I want to see what magic can do and I want to become the greatest magician there is!"

Finishing his statement with a flourish, I noticed that everyone's eyes had turned to me.

"Best for last eh, I want to explore, I want to travel around the world and see what it has to offer, I want to see magic in nature and I want to see what this new world is made of."(Mason)

Once I was done talking, I noticed the minor confusion on everyone's face, which wasn't surprising considering how much I hated travel before The System, even trying to get out of family trips, but my conviction must have shown, because they ended up nodding along.

"Well, now that the touchy-feely stuff is done with, what now?"(Jason)

"Now we do some actual training with our abilities for a few days before exploring more."(Mason)

"Well, I do love a good training montage, though I hope we don't get too sweaty, 'cause this is my only set of clothes."(Jason)