What did it mean by ‘await teleportation’? I couldn’t leave, my family was here.
“Stop! Cease! Cancel!?”
“…”
“Please?”
My confused protests died on my lips as everything went black and the air around me seemed to shift.
[Teleportation complete.]
[Tutorial commenced. Good luck, user Belladonna!]
No longer was I standing in my family’s carriage. I was in a field, emerald green grass brushing against my leg as it bent and swayed in a gentle breeze that originated from somewhere behind me. I was in the exact same pose as I had been in before the teleportation, my hand held awkwardly in the air, now curled around nothing where it had been wrapped around the handle of the door. I let it drop down by my side. The sun was just cresting over the horizon… or was it sinking? Either way, it had been a little before noon before I had been teleported. I guessed—hoped, really—that this place was not in the same time, nor place, as where I left.
Just as I was wondering what I was supposed to do here, another notification appeared before me, though this one was a little larger than the previous ones and filled with text.
[You will learn.]
“Ominous…” I said beneath my breath.
[Tutorial Objectives:]
[□ Manipulate System Windows]
[□ Open Status Screen]
[□ Assign Stat Point]
[□ General Skill Selection]
[□ Combat Appraisal]
[Tutorial Rewards:]
[1 × Mystery Box (Common)]
[5 × Experience]
[10 × Spire Coin]
[Bonus Objectives:]
[□ Complete Tutorial within 15 minutes]
[□ Complete Tutorial unharmed]
[Bonus Rewards:]
[1 × Mystery Box (Uncommon)]
[No time will have passed outside the Tutorial Area]
“No time will have passed? ...”
I took in the text slowly, almost disbelievingly. What it promised seemed beyond the realms of possibility. This… was what the Spire System was capable of? While a few points admittedly excited me—namely the stat points, general skills and perhaps the Mystery Boxes, that was overshadowed by two things. Firstly, if I was understanding the bonus objectives correctly, I could be harmed in this Tutorial, most likely during the Combat Appraisal task. Secondly, I only had fifteen minutes to complete every task if I wanted to return to my family in time to do anything.
That realization, that the Spire System had at least a limited amount of control over time within this Tutorial area, sent a shiver down my spine. What was I compared to that?
I shuffled nervously, adrenaline from the situation in the carriage eventually deciding that things weren’t immediately life threatening. I didn’t have time to waste, though. I needed to figure out these objectives. How much time had already passed… was there a timer anywhere?
As if on cue, another window appeared.
[Time Remaining: 14:35]
Simultaneously, one of the objectives seemed to check itself off as complete.
[■ Manipulate System Windows]
My eyes widened slightly at that, and I thought through what I had done. Then it clicked. Thought. Everything about the Spire System was controlled by thoughts and intent—It was more than just interacting with the blank spaces provided in the notifications, it was like I could call and dismiss the windows themselves.
To test this theory, I looked at the main tutorial window, the one that listed all the objectives, and imagined it shrinking, moving it to the peripheral of my vision so it was constantly off to the side—out of the way, but somewhere I could still look over it with a glance. The window obeyed, growing smaller and moving exactly as I imagined it.
I smiled a little at this, despite the tense situation. It worked. It… obeyed me. It felt natural, like a part of me. I moved the timer to fit and float just above the first window. One objective down, five to go—well, assuming you didn’t count the bonus objectives. I chose not to, because they were more like imposed conditions than achievable steps.
I exhaled slowly, refocusing on the next objective—the Status Screen. I now knew how to open it, but what would it tell me? I was both excited and apprehensive about the answer to that question, though I really didn’t have time to hesitate. Thinking about time, I impulsively glanced at the window containing the timer.
[Time Remaining: 14:05]
“Right… focus, Fay.” I muttered to myself.
I willed the Status Screen to open, and was met with another window filled with white text. I read it carefully. Everything that the Spire System believed mattered about me, condensed into a lump of text and numbers.
[Status Screen]
[Spire User: Belladonna]
[Name: Fable en Ryvaesen]
[Race: Human]
[Gender: Female]
[Age: 17]
[Level: 1]
[Experience: 0/5]
[Class: None (Requirement: Level 10)]
[General Skills: (Available Slots: 2)]
[Stats: (Available Points: 3)]
[Strength: 8]
[Grace: 11]
[Endurance: 9]
[Resolve: 10]
[Acuity: 10]
[Intellect: 12]
[Presence: 10]
It was far from everything about me, but it was still a lot. My eyes and mind did their best to parse the meaning of the words and accompanying numbers. Belladonna was the display name I selected for myself. Fable was the name my parents gave me for my Nameday. It wasn’t a rare name, but it was at least uncommon. The listed race gave me pause—Were there other Spire Users aside from Humanity? Did animals get access to the System as well? Did the monsters or magical beasts count?
Questions for another time—I moved on. Gender and age were things I already knew about myself, but it was strange that the System knew. How did the System know? Why was it relevant enough to put in the Status Screen? I had the sinking feeling I was going to come away from this Tutorial with a lot more questions than answers.
With a sigh, I continued. My level only one, but that was to be expected. I hadn’t… done anything. My current experience was zero out of five, and the rewards listed exactly five experience points. I guess passing the Tutorial was worth a guaranteed level. How thoughtful.
I shifted my weight to my other foot as I continued reading. I was trying not to be impatient. I wanting to finish everything before the imposed time limit, but I also wanted to make sure I understood—At least as much as was possible. The prospect of a class at level ten… My nails curled into my palms and I had to admit, it made my blood race. I was excited for it. The kinds of classes I had read about were about as varied as the people who wielded them, letting them perform feats of magical and martial prowess. Unfortunately, it seemed so far away from my current problems that I forced it from my mind and returned to the tasks at hand.
I checked the timer and the list of objectives.
[Remaining Time: 13:22]
[Tutorial Objectives:]
[■ Manipulate System Windows]
[■ Open Status Screen]
[□ Assign Stat Point]
[□ General Skill Selection]
[□ Combat Appraisal]
Three left. Assign a Stat Point, General Skill Selection, and Combat Appraisal. I was quite wary of what form that last one would take. I definitely didn’t feel like I could fight anything as I was currently, but at least I hadn’t been attacked yet. It seemed more likely that nothing would threaten me until I completed all the previous objectives. It made sense, it seemed like all the previous steps were preparing me to fight.
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“So… Assign a Stat Point.”
The problem with that was that I could only guess what the stats actually did. The names were mostly self explanatory, but it was still just that: a guess. If only there was a way too…
“Wait-”
I focused on the Strength stat, and imagined an explanation window opening.
[Strength: Physical Prowess and Power. How hard you hit, how high you jump.]
I almost laughed out loud at it being that simple. Almost. The situation was still quite tense, with the looming deadline and what was awaiting me when I returned. Still, I was a little thrilled that I was working this out myself—the Tutorial was telling what to do, but not how to do it. I thought about it a little more while opening the explanations for the rest of the stats.
[Grace: Dexterity and Flexibility. How coordinated you are, how easily you move.]
[Endurance: Constitution and Hardiness. How much stamina and health you have. How much damage your body can take.]
[Resolve: Courage and Force of Will. How much control you have over your thoughts in extreme conditions or resistance to outside mental influence.]
[Acuity: Perception and Intuition. How fast you can think and how sensitive your senses are.]
[Intellect: Memory and Reasoning. How well you remember events and how easily you understand new or abstract topics.]
[Presence: Charisma and Aura Control. How well you're able to align the thinking of others with your own using words and actions, and how much control you have of your Aura, if you have one.]
I finished reading through them, then frowned and read through them a second time. My Status Page had shown that my two highest stats were Intellect and Grace. Grace, I could at least partially understand. There was a certain poise trained into me as a noble, and a fleetness I had acquired from my regular expeditions into the forest. Intellect however? That felt wrong. I didn’t consider myself especially smart, and I felt like I could never remember anything important…
Though, thinking about it, that was mostly for important things that, while important, I wasn’t particularly interested in. On the other hand, I remembered most of the stories I read almost perfectly. So it was a selective memory? Or was it only things I actually paid attention to that I remembered? I guess that made sense. Still, the highest? It felt like my Status Screen was calling out my wasted potential.
Conversely, I could easily understand my two lowest stats. I had never been very strong, and while when I was younger, I was often quite sick. It was one of the reasons I read so often. A frail, weak little girl who dreamed of being a hero. How ironic. My condition had improved as I had grown older, especially thanks to my regular explorations. Evidently, though, it was not a strong suit. I wondered the significance of every other stat being ten. Was that the average score? Average for a human? A female? I had no way of knowing.
“So… what to actually increase?” I mused aloud, setting my chin in my hand as I looked over the explanations for each stat for a third time. Assuming I survived the Tutorial, I would get more skill points soon. With that in mind, I reasoned that the three I had were probably best spent focusing on what would help me immediately. Without a weapon or a plan, Endurance, Strength and Grace seemed like good choices for physical combat. The safest option was most likely Endurance, to make sure I survived the ordeal—but that was basically conceding that I was going to get hit. That was an outcome I was trying to avoid, so Endurance was out. Instead, I decided to put two points in Grace and the third in Resolve. My reasoning was that I wanted to be able to avoid being hit, and I didn’t want to be afraid of whatever I would have to face. That seemed like it would lead to mistakes.
The actual act of assigning the points was easy enough. I looked at the Available Points, where it stated the total, and imagined moving one of them into one of my Stats, which worked. I also tested if I could move them from my Stats back to my Available Points, but there was a strange sensation, like trying to push water uphill. It didn’t want to move that way, and I could feel a dull mental pain, slowly increasing the longer I tried, so I gave up. I looked over my stats, nodding to myself.
[Stats: (Available Points: 0)]
[Strength: 8]
[Grace: 13]
[Endurance: 9]
[Resolve: 11]
[Acuity: 10]
[Intellect: 12]
[Presence: 10]
It would have to do. Next, the objectives, and more importantly, the time.
[Remaining Time: 11:13]
[Tutorial Objectives:]
[■ Manipulate System Windows]
[■ Open Status Screen]
[■ Assign Stat Point]
[□ General Skill Selection]
[□ Combat Appraisal]
Just one more step before I believed I had to fight. At least I seemed to be doing alright on time. Okay. General Skills. I had two available slots, and if I could, I planned to use both of them. Everything that could help me right now, even though I only had to pick one for the objective. I really didn’t think I was in a position to be stingy with what I had available. First, though, I had to figure out what I had available.
I looked at the part that said Available Slots, and tried to imagine a window opening up that showed my options. That seemed to work well enough. I didn’t know if there was another way, or if I was overcomplicating things, but if it worked, it worked. A list of General Skills popped up in a window, bereft of any explanation. I figured I could focus on any that interested me to learn what it did, but for now, I just looked through them.
[General Skills Available: 7]
[History]
[Silver Tongue]
[Navigation]
[Noble Elegance]
[Storytelling]
[Danger Sense]
[Herbalism]
I could feel my eyebrows rise a little. Seven? That was… more than I expected. I looked down the list carefully, mentally discarding the ones that didn’t seem like they could help in a fight. [Silver Tongue] was a difficult case in that regard, but I didn’t think that a tutorial for appraising my ability in combat would let me talk my way out of it. I also thought that the bandits that awaited me when I returned were beyond the point of words.. That narrowed the list down to [Noble Elegance], [Danger Sense], and … [Herbalism]. I pulled up an in depth explanation of each of them.
[Noble Elegance]
[Prerequisite: 10 Grace, Noble Upbringing]
[As a noble, you have been taught how to walk, how to dance and how to move, even in cumbersome clothing. You have relatively good control of your body. This skill will enhance that ability to another level.]
[Danger Sense]
[Prerequisite: 10 Acuity, Regular Exposure to Danger]
[You’ve been exposed to danger throughout your life, both literal, in the forests you’ve explored since you were young, and political, having to guard yourself around other nobility. This skill will help you sense when something is amiss, and you should be wary.]
[Herbalism]
[Prerequisite: 10 Intellect, Knowledge of Herbs]
[You have come across a multitude of flora in the books you have read and the paths you have tread. You can generally tell when something is poisonous or not. This skill will help you use that knowledge to create medicines and poisons from those plants.]
“...”
The choice was harder than I expected it to be. I looked up from the window, at the field of grass I was standing in, endless and uniform in every direction. I didn’t think [Herbalism] would be helpful here, but I’d be lying if I said it didn’t appeal to me. [Noble Elegance] seemed to be a skill capable of many things, but not specialised for anything. It would likely serve as a decent stealth ability, would help me move faster, and was probably the best option I had for defending myself in the fight I was fast approaching. I had watched some of my brother’s combat lessons, and footwork was always something the instructor had yelled at Derek for. I didn’t think it would be all that helpful without the knowledge of how to fight, but it was something.
[Danger Sense] was definitely a good ability. A sixth-sense for when something wasn’t right—and again, it was probably the safer thing to pick up, but if I really thought about it, I knew I was going to have to fight something. And I knew I was going to return into a dangerous situation once this Tutorial was over. It didn’t seem like this skill could help me for either of those two fights. On the contrary, knowledge on how to make salves would be invaluable if the bandits managed to injure my father or brother. [Herbalism] could give me that.
After going over my reasoning a second time, I reluctantly selected [Noble Elegance], and [Herbalism] as my two general skills.
As soon as I did, several things happened at once. My [Status Screen] updated to show my new general skills.
[General Skills: (Available Slots: 0)]
[Noble Elegance - Lv. 1]
[Herbalism - Lv. 1]
Additionally, the Objectives list updated to mark the completion of another task.
[Tutorial Objectives:]
[■ Manipulate System Windows]
[■ Open Status Screen]
[■ Assign Stat Point]
[■ General Skill Selection]
[□ Combat Appraisal]
But I was barely able to acknowledge those two things due to the final occurrence—A flash of iridescent light a dozen feet away from me, bright enough that I needed to shield my eyes with my forearm. Only when the light faded again was I able to lower my arm to look at where the light had originated. There, undoubtedly, was my opponent for the final objective.
Glaring at me with abyss-filled eyes, was a goblin. The short stature, black sclera, wrinkly green skin and numerous sharp teeth perfectly matched the descriptions I’d read in books. It was wielding some kind of rusted short-sword and wearing… much less than I’d have liked. Its hideous body was covered in scraps of animal furs, loosely tied together and which did absolutely nothing for modesty.
“You are ugly as sin.” I said truthfully to the sneering creature, a comment that did not seem to endear me to it at all. Unfortunate. It promptly lunged forward, rapidly closing the distance between us. I glanced at the clock for what was likely last time I’d get the chance to do so.
[Time Remaining: 9:02]
I had absolutely no idea how I was going to do this.