Devon spent a moment to pay his respects to the cursed king. Truly, he felt as though the king's final message had helped determine his path should he survive the tutorial, which he intended to.

That reminded him, the lockdown on the teleportation function should be lifting soon. Then again, he doubted it would take him very long to descend the mountain on his own with his vastly improved stats.

Has it really only been 9 days?

The idea almost boggled the mind. In just 9 days he had experienced so much, and changed more than he likely realized. He could shatter world records with ease and duel monsters without a thought. He had stared death in the face and slaughtered innocents by the hundreds.

That thought hit a nerve inside him that he thought he'd become numb to. But then again, if he didn't feel lonely even in a situation like this, was he even still human anymore?

I need to go back. I don't want to be alone out here anymore.

He had danced along the line for long enough. He needed a break, at least for the moment.

Devon brought up the map function and quickly located one of the exits he'd found while exploring. It took half an hour to navigate back to it, but after that he was out in the sun and the fresh air again. The suns stood high in the sky, a sign that he had indeed been down below the earth for around a full day. If his count was right then this was the tenth day since they'd been taken, though he doubted anyone within the tutorial still used such an outdated expression.

We'd only given it such an unremarkable name because there was no other information on what we should call the phenomenon. Of course, now we know what those events really were, the beginning of initiation. Now then, before I head back, Activate skill; The Mask.

Skill activation Confirmed. Select visual parameters.

What followed was an exhaustive list of ways he could change his appearance. He decided to go for an appearance similar to that of a character in a show he liked. The parameters included options to make himself appear as a woman or even a different species, but none of those options helped him right now.

Visual parameters Confirmed. Select display name.

He threw in the name Erik Wyld at random. It didn't matter what his display name was, so long as it was anything other than Devon.

As he descended he finally took the time to open something he'd been denied for a very long time.

Initiate reward unpacking; discovery bonus.

According to the cursed king's notes, the discovery bonus was treated like some sort of goodie box that needed to be opened.

Discovery Bonus tally at 17. Distributing rewards.

New Title obtained: [Discoverer]

Map Token x16 obtained.

[Discoverer]

You are one who looks for things as of yet unseen.

All stats +3.

Map Tokens?

He looked in his map function and saw a new option that counted the amount of tokens he had. Then he had to scroll through the extensive list of the king's commands to finally find the one for using the things.

When he activated the map token he saw the previously unexplored region of the mountain suddenly mapped out around him in perhaps a half-mile radius. That extended down below as well, so he was able to see all the ruins over which he walked.

This has the potential to be an incredibly powerful tool for gathering information if used right.

He took a quick look at the new title, but it wasn't anything too impressive, just a +3 all stat increase.

His descent took four hours, which was longer than he anticipated but there was nothing he could do about that. He was taking a different route than he had before. According to Eve and Trey there was still basically nobody up in the mountains, which meant he needed to start acting even before he reached the bottom. If he happened upon a stray overseer then they were going to get suspicious of a random human lurking about in a strange place, no matter what his display name was.

So he was choosing a rather bold option. As he reached the foot of the mountain he proceeded directly into an area that he felt they'd never expect. After all, you don't usually expect the person you're hunting to waltz right up to your base and just casually pass on by, do you?

He stepped foot into the central clearing, breathing a sigh of relief that nothing out of the ordinary seemed afoot here. The biggest change that had taken place was that there were even fewer overseers hanging around in their camp than before, and it seemed like the ones that were there were only there to rest. Devon smiled when none of them paid him any notice whatsoever.

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He passed right on by and continued straight out towards the plains.

It was immediately noticeable how much things had changed out in the plains. A walled structure rose out of the prairie grass, and Devon was surprised that there seemed to be guards roaming the wooden walls.

Devon wandered around the outside of the wall until he found a gate and made his way inside. Immediately someone walked up to him.

"Excuse me sir, but I don't think I've seen you before. Is this the first time you've entered Plainstown?" It was a woman who must have been in her late sixties, with a large amount of wrinkles adorning her face. She smiled at him, giving off a kind grandmotherly feeling.

[Susan - Level 5]

"I guess. Nice name for the place," Devon said back with a smirk.

"Yes well, there didn't seem any point in giving the place a proper title when we'll be able to leave this godforsaken place just as soon as the tutorial ends. Would you mind me asking if you've come from the forest or the wilds?"

"How do you mean?"

"Well, I simply wish to know if you've left the community in the forest or if you've done nothing but explore the wilderness. Not that you have to answer, it just helps me know how best to introduce the place, you know?"

"I've been up on the mountain since essentially the first day."

"Oh wow, I didn't think anyone had the guts to go up there. Okay then, you should know that we have rudimentary crafting and mercantile stations over there, and everyone usually sleeps over on that side of the wall. Do know that if you intend to stay we'll need you to contribute in some way. Whether that be hunting or crafting is up to you. The terminal is somewhere around the center. I'm starting to lose track of where, honestly. They keep expanding the wall every day."

"Good to know, thanks."

"Oi, granny!" A boisterous voice broke into their conversation, "Is he another newbie?"

Devon turned to look at the newcomer and saw a shirtless young man walking over to them. By Devon's best guess he couldn't be any more than 19. Devon examined him as he approached.

[Vanir - Level 29]

"Oh, don't you go picking fights again, Vanir!" The elderly woman tried to scold the youth before he got too close.

"Oh relax. I'm just here to welcome the newcomers, same as you," Vanir said back. He turned to Devon before continuing, "So, you from the forest or the wilds? Ah, never mind. It doesn't really matter, let's fight!"

"Uh, what?" Devon asked back, dumbfounded.

The youth raised a fist, "Tonight! In…" He looked to the sky, "Three or so hours we do a big bonfire, and around it we fight! You should fight me, my goal is to test the strength of everyone above level 25!"

Devon couldn't help but laugh, which made the youth's gleeful face sour. "You got a problem or something, man?" Vanir asked.

"Yeah, my problem is you need to work on your introductions," Devon said, still laughing. When the boy had come up to him demanding to fight Devon had assumed he was trying to stir up trouble or establish himself as a dominant figure. Turned out all he wanted was someone new to join in on a group event.

Susan slapped Vanir across the back of the head, "Yes, I concur. You're going to start scaring people away at the gate if you keep demanding they fight you!"

"Oh, come on granny! You don't gotta ruin the best thing going for me," Vanir said, sulking.

The youth turned around to begin walking back into the camps, a grumpy look on his face when Devon called out, "Oi, I never said no."

Vanir stopped and turned around, and his grumpy look dissipated like smoke, replaced by a big smile, "All right! You better not back out!" He then ran off somewhere into the camp.

"Oh, you really don't have to do that," Susan said.

"It's fine. By the way, do you know where Trey is?"

"Oh, so you're a friend of Trey's? I'm sorry but he isn't here at the moment. He's out hunting, like he is every day. I keep trying to tell him to take it easy but that boy's got even more of a fire set under him than Vanir. He's got a sense of responsibility that nobody else in this camp seems to, and I shudder to think how much worse off we'd be without him."

"I see, that's good to know, thanks," Devon said before heading off into the settlement.

He went over to the area the kind woman had pointed out with all the crafters, and his eyes opened wide with how many there seemed to be. There were at least a hundred of them, all bent over their various workstations.

Some pounded out metal they'd gotten from who knows where, and others weaved fabrics out of what seemed to be animal hairs. Others were curing and tanning hides, and there were yet more that seemed to be operating butcheries that prepared the carcasses of animals in an open-air environment.

He stopped by one of the crafters who seemed to be making protective garb out of a combination of leather and cloth. Devon thought that the finished products looked both aesthetically appealing and effective.

"Excuse me, sir. How much for a set of clothing and an hour of your time?"

"Depends how that time is going to be used," the man responded, eyeing him warily.

"I was wondering if you could give me a few details on how your profession works. I'm not entirely sure how my own relates to others, so I thought I'd ask someone who seems to be pretty proficient in their craft."

"Huh. You didn't strike me as the type to want to try your hand at creating. You look much more like the hunters, living on the fringe and stuff like that."

Devon shrugged, "No reason I can't have multiple skill sets, is there?"

"Well, the system seems to disagree. See that chap over there? He started out as a weaver but decided it wasn't for him, and when he transitioned to blacksmithing the system ditched his weaver profession. So you can only have one profession at a time, it seems."

"Interesting. Even still, I'd like to know what you can share."

The man shrugged, "Alright then, I'll show you what I know for… how say 50 talons an hour? Give you time to look over what I've got prepared or maybe decide if you want something special made."

"You take custom orders?"

"For the right price."

"Alright then. You've got a deal."