It took two hours and asking directions from hunters Devon encountered in the forest to find the forest settlement. He found it quite interesting that it was about at an equal stage of development to Plainstown.

He made his way through the settlement after receiving directions from the people at the gate, and it didn't take him long to find Eve. She was starting a fight with a vendor over something.

Her appearance was like that of a wild animal. It had been unkempt since the first night they'd met, but Eve had truly elevated the style. Her frayed hair was tied in a ponytail behind her head and she was dressed in what seemed almost like caveman clothing. It was scant enough that it only covered her chest and crotch area, with some accessories on the wrists and ankles.

Devon walked up to her and tapped her on the shoulder, then had to pacify her when she rounded on him.

"Woah! Can we not be starting fights when the old man is missing?" Devon asked, exasperated.

"You…oh, it's you." Eve's fire seemed to die, but it was replaced with a look of distaste, "Wearing whatever face we feel like these days, huh?"

"You think I have much of a choice with the overseers everywhere? Also, what's with that reaction when I'm here to help?"

"Am I supposed to believe you're here to help out of the kindness of your heart? I already know what's going to come after this. 'Hey, I helped you so now I need you to help me. Come be my willing little puppet so I can pretend I did everything later down the line.'"

"That's a rather robust impression of me when we've only met twice."

"Yeah well, I know your type, okay? Your kind always seems to think they're better than everybody else. Don't pretend you'd be here if you didn't want something out of it. "

"Fine, I won't. But let me make this clear; I don't give a shit about claiming I'm better than anybody, at any point. My goal first and foremost is survival. And yeah, the longer you take to get back on track the more pissed off I'm gonna get. So let's do this already, yeah?"

"Sure, whatever."

"You said you need help, but you don't exactly seem to be seeking it from anyone else. So what's up?"

"It's… complicated. Phil was last seen out in the woods, but the person who saw him said he vanished out of thin air."

"What the heck does that mean?"

"Hell if I know. Maybe it'd be better if you talked to her yourself. Come on."

Eve led the way through the settlement until they reached a large area with a pavilion in it. There was someone who looked to be standing guard, but they didn't bother even getting up from their seat when they saw that the one approaching was Eve. Clearly the woman already had a reputation around here, one that made people want to stay out of her way.

Eve led that way inside, where they found a woman in her mid-twenties looking off into blank space.

[Nix - Level 30]

She had well-kept long blonde hair and a sharp gaze. Her outfit bore the marks of a hunter, but retained some of the elegance that might be afforded to a nice suit. Without a doubt, she was a person of power within this camp.

Nix's eyes were torn away from whatever system notification she was looking at as they entered, "Hello again, Eve. I see you've brought a friend this time." Her gaze sharpened as she looked Devon over, "Is this the one you said went up to the mountains?"

"Yep. I'd like you to tell him what you told me, if that's fine."

Nix sighed, "Couldn't you just have told him yourself? Well whatever, you're already here I guess. I'll start at the beginning, just so he knows the whole story.

"Phil was with us since day one. He runs a damn good food stand and was one of the most dominant voices against the assholes who tried to put everyone else down around them. He was determined to collect some of that shit he was brewing up, you know that stuff that's sorta like alcohol? Said the gatherers didn't know what they were looking for. So I took him around, used the time to do some hunting and such.

"Then we get to this big tree and Phil says there's something weird there. Like a terminal, except green, he said. Now, I don't have any idea what he was talking about, 'cause I didn't see anything like that. Then Phil reached his hand out and poofed out of existence."

"It was like a terminal, he said? Like a crack in space that a green light poured through?"

"Yep. You happen to know anything like that?"

"Saw something similar up in the mountains. Can't promise I'll be able to see it like he did, especially if you were standing right next to him yet saw nothing."

"Mind if I ask what exactly the similar thing you found was?"

"...A memory."

Nix gazed at him trying to read his expression until she responded, "I see. Well, here's another question for you. Were there any monsters up there that stood out in particular? Maybe one that had a name before you even discovered it?"

Devon opened his eyes in shock, "Yeah, there was. How'd you know?"

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

"That's the third then. Was it called the lord of the mountain or something similar?" When Devon nodded she continued, "Figured as much. We just yesterday had a party discover the den of a monster known as the lord of the forest, and even before that Eve discovered a lord of the plains."

"What levels are they?"

"Sixty, way beyond anything we're capable of bringing down right now."

"The lord of the mountain was the same. I was incredibly lucky to get away from it when I met it face to face."

"The fact you survived such an encounter is indeed a miracle. But still, I find the existence of these monsters to be a bit too much of a coincidence."

"Is it really so strange that there'd be an apex predator in each of the different regions?"

"No, but that's only if you consider the real nature of the phrase apex predator. An apex predator is usually a species of animal that dominates the food chain, not a singular existence. Besides which, the lords of the forest and plains were both extremely similar to a nearby species, but it was like the lords were pushed beyond the limits of those species into something entirely new."

An image of the lord of the mountain flashed in Devon's mind. He'd dismissed it at the time, but now that he thought of it, it was strange that the lord was the only raptor that seemed to super-evolve into the massive beast it was.

"By the look on your face, I'm assuming the lord of the mountain was much the same. While it isn't entirely unreasonable to assume that these creatures simply dominated everything around them to attain an enormous amount of power, that is after all the nature of the reality we now live in, I have a different theory. I think the system specifically put them there."

"You think the system physically manifested them into existence?"

"Either that, or it created a set of events that led to their ascension as lords. I've already seen how the system sometimes lines events up in ways that are preferable to it."

Is that what happened on the mountain when I was fighting the ape leader? I thought it seemed extraordinarily unlucky that the lord happened to show up just then, but what if it wasn't a coincidence at all? Maybe the system is just messing with me yet again, getting in my way at every possible moment.

"But why would it do that?"

"For the tutorial of course."

Oh. "I see. So you think the system wanted to create challenges that exist solely to test the limits of what we're capable of?"

"Exactly. I'm assuming you've read the datalogs in the shop on the subject by now. I think that since the tutorial procedure exists to promote the growth of initiates it makes sense that the system would want to populate the tutorial with challenges that would push initiates higher than they would ordinarily be able to in the wider world."

"That's all well and good, but I'm not sure how well fighting those things is really going to go."

"Perhaps. We'll just have to see, won't we?"

"There was something I wanted to ask you as well."

"Go on then."

"Trey, the leader of Plainstown says you haven't been very responsive to inquiries of cooperation. I was just wondering why."

"Because I don't think our ideologies mix very well."

"I'm sorry, what?"

"You came from Plainstown, right? What was the prevailing sentiment there? Did people seem like they hunted and worked because they felt like it was something they genuinely wanted to strive in, or did it just seem like they were passing the time until the system lets them go home?"

The question caught Devon off guard, and he had to think back to all the people he'd seen in Plainstown. Sure, there had been a few like Vanir and the craftsman he had talked to that seemed like they didn't mind their situation so much, but many of them were more of the mind of Susan, and did seem like they were just trying to scrape by until the system let them go. If it wasn't for Trey's leadership a lot of them may simply have broken down and refused to fight until the end of the tutorial.

"I can tell that you know what I'm talking about. See, the majority of Plainstown is composed of people who would rather see the tutorial as some kind of living nightmare, but they've managed to hold it together because the system gives them the power to carry on. But the people of Arkania, this town, see it differently. The system isn't just a means to survive until the end of the month, it gives one the power to decide their own destiny.

"When I came to these people they were ruled by fear by men who were emblematic of the old world, who used tools and the illusion of power to dominate and oppress. I showed these people that this world gives us the means to break that cycle and claim real power, to define our own lives, instead of letting others define it for us."

"I see, so it's your intent to create a group that will persist in the Infinite Realms past the end of the tutorial then."

"It is. And I don't want the unity of these people to fall apart by willingly letting in people who are ruled by fear. Of course, I won't stop anyone from coming and going where they please, but it is my firm belief that our two developing communities should remain separate. Most of the people who felt like they would belong better in Plainstown have already left for it, and I did not offer a single word in protest. To impede upon their right of choice would violate my own ideals, after all."

How ironic that such an ideal ideology would cause issues.

The ideology Nix, and thereby the ideology of all of Arkania, promoted the seeking of personal strength above all else. If this ideology could be spread to all the people of Plainstown then they would have an excellent chance of actually developing a true fighting force against the overseers. However…

That just isn't going to happen. There's simply no way for me to change people's nature. I can no more sway the hearts of the people of Plainstown than I can defeat the overseers by myself. These two groups are indeed like oil and water, and I don't think it would be a good idea to try and bring them together.

"I understand," Devon said, "Thank you for explaining it to me, else I might have assumed you were simply making a bid for power."

"And if I had been?"

"Then I would have been forced to remove you," Devon said, leveling his gaze at her.

"...If anyone else three levels below me had walked in here and made that same statement I would have thought they were stupid or bluffing. But your eyes are not those of an ordinary man, of that I am now certain. Now I am doubly glad I opted to be direct, because you are not someone I would want as an enemy."

Devon shrugged and put a hand over his eyes. Had his gaze really changed that much? He supposed it shouldn't surprise him after his experiences in the memory dungeon.

"There's a man here, a crafter that is a true prodigy. His works are extraordinary, as he can imbue them with stat affinities. He currently only makes weapons for the people I introduce to him, Eve was one such person. If you like, I could introduce you to him."

She wants to offer me something Trey can't, wants to make me indebted to her, or appeal to my desire to grow stronger so I'll stay here. Too bad she chose the wrong thing to offer.

"Thanks, but I'm good. I found a weapon for myself, one I don't think your craftsman will be able to beat. We should go before it gets too late in the day. We don't really have time to waste."

Nix gave a smile to mask her disappointment, "Yes, of course. Good luck on your endeavor. It would be excellent if Phil was returned to us."