Thinking of the datalog in the terminal reminded Devon of something else, "Trey, what happened to all your money?"

Trey gestures at the campfire and tents surrounding them, "Spent it on this stuff. Figured we wouldn't be able to go back out and fight if we weren't well rested. I also got the inventory function. Oh, that reminds me, here," Trey summoned his tile and took Devon's spear out of the subspace void used for storage before handing it back.

"Agh, dammit. Eve, mind loaning me some talons?"

"Damn, don't you think it's a bit early to start asking for money? We just met like half an hour ago, at most."

"Fine then, think of this as buying a service. I'll return later tonight with info that'll be worth the talons you pitch in."

"The heck are you talking about? I told you, it's too dark to go hunting so there's no point buying a better weapon, and I'm not buying you the inventory or map feature. You can get those on your own."

"Yes, I agree with everything you've said. Still, I need 50 talons. I'm going to buy the omniversal language function."

"What? Why would you want that? If you wanna go talk to someone who speaks a different language go buy it yourself."

"I'm not gonna use it to talk to other humans. I told you, I'm going to get info that'll be worth your money. I don't trust the overseer's intentions."

Realization dawned on her face, "Even if you can communicate with them, if they're really as shady as they seem, why would they bother talking to you?"

"Will you just trust me and give the talons over already?"

Eve thought about it for a moment before sighing and accepting.

Oh please, you're number one on the talon ladder. It's not like you're strapped for cash.

Then he realized that the reason she was so reluctant might be because of the ladder itself. She currently held the number one spot on both lists, and Devon was willing to bet she felt a fair amount of pride in that.

She materialized her tile and held it out, "Here, tap your tile against mine to accept the transfer." Devon did as she said and got a prompt.

[Trade offer from Eve]

Gift of 50 Talons.

Accept?

Devon accepted the mental prompt, then checked his status to make sure he had enough. He had gotten up to 58 from the crocomander and the mawbird, so he had 108 now. He wouldn't be left with much after spending 100 on a function, but he had a gut feeling the omniversal language interface would prove itself useful enough to cover the cost.

Thinking back to the last encounter he suddenly remembered something else, "Do either of you know what a discovery bonus is supposed to be?"

"Yeah, it's something the system gives you when you discover a creature nobody's ever seen before. It also lets you name the creature whatever you want. I was the one who named the mawbirds, by the way," Eve said.

"What kind of bonus?"

"I think the actual rewards probably vary, I've gotten three of them already. I got a unique title with the first one, and the other two gave me something called map tokens."

Devon would have asked how she claimed the rewards from the bonus, but he knew whatever answer she gave would be wholly useless in helping him figure out how to open his own. He tried several commands to claim the things on his way over to the terminal, but as expected none of them worked.

This damn system and its petty revenge.

He accessed the terminal and went through its menus until he found the language module and purchased it. If it worked like the other basic functions of the system, even Devon should be able to access it.

Omniversal Language Integration.

[Omniversal Language Integration]

Do you wish to enable this function? Its usage allows the use of communication and understanding of any language registered to the system's megastructure. Can be disabled at will.

How fascinating.

The features themselves were pretty basic and self-explanatory, but Devon found potentially unintended nuance within the specifics of the function. Nuances that would be immensely helpful in his current endeavor.

He walked back to the campfire and asked for directions back to the overseer's camp before he said, "Alright, I'm off."

"See ya."

"Good luck, Devon."

Devon made his way back to the central clearing feeling the constant chill of tension. Not only was he about to start a solo espionage mission against a much stronger faction, but he was alone for the first time out in the wilderness. If a mawbird attacked him at this stage…

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

He shook those thoughts from his mind and focused. Looking down at himself in the moonlight, he noticed he was still mud covered from rolling to avoid the mawbird. That, combined with the disheveled look he'd acquired from Trey dragging him back to the terminal, gave him the look of someone who'd been through hell. He could use that.

He breathed a sigh of relief upon entering the clearing. The way had been clear, even with Devon's apparent tendency to attract every monstrosity around. Perhaps the hunts of the initiates had left the area immediately surrounding the overseer's camp devoid of monsters, or maybe the overseers had deemed the monsters eyesores and forcibly removed them. Devon doubted it would have been very difficult for them.

He slowly approached the camp of the aliens, looking over the group of overseers. For the most part, they seemed to be operating much like the initiates so far. They'd begun logging the outermost edges of the forest and using the timber to begin construction of what Devon assumed would become housing.

Devon also couldn't help noticing that there were notably fewer of them than there had been during the start of the tutorial. The ones that were here were sitting around a campfire of their own, drinking some strange liquid and talking among themselves.

He had several thoughts on how to go about this, but the simplest was maybe the easiest to work with.

His goal was to eavesdrop on their conversation to learn more about them, as he highly doubted they'd be friendly enough to have a pleasant chat. His first idea had been to try and sneak around to listen in, but the closest cover to the outer boundary of the camp was several meters away, and Devon didn't trust his hearing that well.

So he went with a strategy he hoped would be entirely unexpected.

He walked straight up to the boundary and stared at the overseer's campfire with a forlorn expression. After a few seconds of standing like that he fell to his knees, looking bone tired.

Some of the overseers cast sidelong glances at him, but none of them did anything for about a solid minute. They just kept talking in their strange alien language. Then it seemed as though they finally tired of his presence, as one was elbowed by a companion into getting up and walking over to Devon. He decided on a whim to try examining the overseer.

[Overseer Val Kazar - Level 63]

A bead of sweat went down Devon's back. He'd known they were stronger than the humans, but level 63 was a far more significant leap than he'd assumed.

"Leave, human. This is not a place for your kind. Your duty is to grow and survive." What was just moments ago a rasping cacophony of hisses to its companions was now a slightly raspy english voice, at least to Devon's ears.

So that's how it works. Indeed, they're using it the same way I intend to.

"I can't… I can't go back out there… I'll die if I go back out there…"

The reptilian face sneered at him. Devon assumed it had examined him and found that he was still only a pitful level 3, a far cry from the emerging elites of the group. Devon did think he needed to work on his level to keep up, but for now, he found it to be a godsend. After all, who would assume a pitiful level 3 would spend their talons on a seemingly useless language function, if they could even afford it?

"Pathetic human, there is no place that is truly safe in the Infinite Realms." The lizardman spat, and Devon endured the humiliation of the spit hitting his chest. "Stay here if you will, but know that we will watch and laugh when the next monster comes along and tears you to shreds."

With that, the detestable overseer turned back around and walked back to the campfire. After a minute they resumed talking over their drinks, once again in a language Devon couldn't even hope to comprehend.

I was right, they truly don't give a shit whether we live or die. Let's see if I can find out why.

Do you wish to enable [Omniversal Language Integration]?

Yes.

Suddenly the nonsensical hisses became the same sort of raspy english he'd heard from the overseer that had lowered itself to speak to him. And just like that, the hardest hurdle was past.

Devon sat there for several more minutes before he eventually just curled up into a ball on the cold grass, pretending to be as pathetic as possible so the overseers would forget about him. And all the while he listened. He sat there, curled in a ball for two hours or more. At some point he'd lost precise track of time.

What he learned from the uncomfortable situation was worth its weight in gold.

First, the overseers wanted something out of the tutorial, but Devon couldn't figure out what. They spoke of using this opportunity to travel to new places and take hold of new possibilities, or advance in position within their clan through the endeavor.

Devon had expected something like this. In a place where survival of the fittest seemed to trump all, there was no way someone would be expected to put work in for nothing. So the overseers viewed the tutorial as nothing more than a job to finish, they didn't consider for a moment the lives that were likely being wasted in the wild even as they spoke. The idea filled Devon with a rage he hadn't felt in a long time.

We are not merely animals to the slaughter.

Second, there were worlds beyond this one in the Infinite Realms. A near infinite amount, if the name was to be believed. The overseers certainly spoke as if there were countless unknown places in the universe, all teeming with life and opportunity. The overseers themselves had come from a different planet and were unfamiliar with the environment of the tutorial.

This info was particularly interesting because it meant that the overseers were just as unfamiliar with the environment as the initiates, so they would likely be learning about the world they found themselves on in tandem, even if they never deigned to work with a species lower than themselves.

Apparently the terminals acted as gateways, portals to other worlds. This feature was currently locked for both the initiates and the overseers alike, but it would open up again as soon as the tutorial phase ended.

The third interesting bit was even more important. The reason there were fewer of them here now was because the others had been sent off to do some task, but the task itself was never mentioned. Only that the ones sitting around the fire were glad they didn't have to take shifts.

So there's a hierarchy at play here. This small group is most likely the leaders of the overseers, while the ones out working are on a lower rung. I wonder if they're based on some sort of class structure or if dominance is based on power.

Devon noticed the moon had progressed more than halfway through the night sky, and wondered if he should call it there and make his way back to Eve and Trey. Then he heard something that glued him to the spot.

"It feels like such a waste of time to have to simply watch and wait as these bags of easy experience piddle about."

"Now now, friend. Imagine if they were all as pitiful as that one over there? A level 3 with nothing to its name. There'd be no point in the hunt, now would there? Not only is it worth less than the beasts at the wayside, it doesn't even have anything of value on it."

"Yeah, who'd have thought we'd get stuck with a group of initiates with such low starting abilities they'd rely on cursed weaponry? Our luck is truly the worst."