The group all sat in a tense silence, their breathing slow. They’d turned off all the lights except a single disk that sat in the centre of the stone table. Caleb glanced to the others, and his eyes fixed on Ryan, who carefully held his hands together in prayer. Finally the boy opened his eyes, looked down at the table and rolled the dice.

It rolled across the table before landing on the symbol for 12, it’s highest possible number.

“Booyah!” Ryan cried pumping his fist

Everyone groaned, dropping their coins onto the table as Ryan pushed his piece forward, singing to himself as he won, again.

“Anyone want to go for another round?” he said gleefully as he leaned back in his chair, smug smile clear even in the lowlight.

“No” Sierra said curtly.

[I think we should. I got unlucky at the start and nearly won. If Ryan had had a bad turn I would’ve got it this time, I can feel it]

“That’s all well and good for you Kana” Caleb laughed. “But I don’t think I want to come last again”

[It’ll be different. You’re getting better so you might beat S-]

Suddenly a hard knock came from the door and all their heads turned. They all frowned then another hard knock came, this one clearly panicked.

“Shit” Sierra mumbled. They all stared at the door, waiting for a moment before looking to each other. Then Sierra stood and made her way over to the door, opening it slowly.

[I am sorry deities, but we’re under attack again]

“What?” Ryan said confused. They all looked to each other again, confused. None of them had received a message.

[If you wish you can join us in the fight]

“What. If we wish? We don’t have to?” Sierra said confused.

“Oh” Caleb said. “Sorry guys, I got caught up with the game but Lady Avanessa said we didn’t have to fight anymore”

[Really?] Kana said turning to him.

“Yeah” he nodded. They all looked at each other for a moment, a thousand different words shared with just their eyes. Then Sierra turned back to the soldier.

“H-how bad is it?” Sierra she asked. He shrugged.

Well that's real helpful.

“If it’s here because of us then do we go?" Ryan said. "I mean isn’t it kind of our responsibility?”

[But we didn’t get a message?]

“Maybe the message thing’s broken?” Caleb said.

[Tutorial Alert: Your location – The Southern Endagon Caves – is currently under attack]

[Tutorial Alert: 3 new members of the tutorial have entered your location]

Caleb stumbled, taken aback by the suddenness of the screens. Then he read over the words frowning.

“I guess it’s not broken then” he said.

[What happened?] the solider asked.

[We got a message] Hana said. [There are more people like us here, I think]

“Do you think they brought the danger?” Ryan asked.

“Maybe” Sierra said. “Shit. Do we go?”

“I don’t fucking know” Ryan cursed.

“Then we decide individually” Caleb said. “We don’t have to go, so if you want to stay you can s-”

[No. We stick together] Kana said.

“Bu-”

[We stick together. Always] Kana repeated firmly.

The sound of distant shouts came again and Caleb grew tenser.

[Can you please make a decision?] the soldier said, his expression more desperate now.

“Just give us a sec” Ryan said. The sounds of panic got even louder, and with them the tension grew.

“Uh… uh… we vote” Caleb said. “Who wants to fight?”

Caleb and Sierra raised their hands. There was a beat of silence and then Ryan cursed under his breath and raised his hand too.

“S-sorry Kana” he mumbled.

[It’s ok. Let’s go]

Without another word the group started forward, Ryan grabbing the sleeves off the table as he shared them around. They rushed through the halls the soldier leading them along the path then up more stairs. As they ran, Caleb frowned to himself.

Why do I want to fight? I mean I’m scared shitless, why did I put my hand up?

He glanced to the back of Sierra’s head, and then to Ryan.

Sierra had made it clear why she’d wanted to fight, because she felt responsible for all this. Ryan had lifted his hand because… maybe deep down he agreed with Sierra? But him? He’d wanted to fight because… there wasn’t a good reason.

It just felt right in some way. Maybe he wanted to fight in part because he felt bad for Lady Avanessa.

Maybe it was because she’d used so reverse psychology on him and he felt bad not fighting now that he had the choice. Or maybe it was because he remembered the bodies. The smell of iron. The hopeless expressions the soldiers had shared, before they’d looked to them. Maybe the others did too.

He shook his head and played with the magical weight of the sword and the shield.

Their presence had grown more in his mind, the shapes more defined. And he felt the power of the runes too. His breathing was still easier, his movements more controlled more fluid. He hadn’t run out of breath from just the short jog down the halls. He clenched his fist tightly. He hadn’t felt this good in a long time.

They rushed up another set of stairs and emerged into the middle of the village again. It was night above them, the stars as bright as ever, and the air cool.

If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.

The group continued through the village to the outskirts of town where they spotted the commotion. All the soldiers that had lived from the orc fight, which looked like approximately less than half the number that’d fought the goblins stood out in the sand, fighting their way through a horde of zombies.

Lady Avanessa fought at the front, flying around as her golden sword glowed in the dark along with her skin, cutting the heads off the monsters left and right. But this time the golden magic walls weren’t up and it was a chaotic free for fall.

“Zombies? Fucking zombies? Seriously?!” Ryan said.

“It’s better than the orc” Sierra said, summoning his sword. The group hopped over the fence and rushed to the battle.

[Stay together] Kana said.

“Yeah. We’ll fight them like we fought the goblins” Ryan added.

Cale glanced to Kana, and she nodded to him.

[I’ll protect you guys from the front]

“You sure?” Sierra asked.

She nodded, stepping forward with her shield in her good arm as the others took formation around her. A few of the soldiers glanced back to see them and cheered, the fighting shifting as they gained a new vigour. They continued to push forward through a gap in the crowd, and came to a stop as they neared the threat.

The first zombie turned to them and stumbled forward, before lunging at Kana. It bit into the edge of her shield and reached to claw for her. Caleb swung wildly, his own movements faster than expected, and his sword cleaved through its head, the zombie practically mush.

It dropped to the floor dead as another shambled toward them.

“They’re weak” Caleb said to the others. “Flesh like butter”

“Got it!” Ryan replied.

Together they forged ahead, and began cutting through the zombies left and right, Kana acting as their shield. Caleb’s swings, although wild and untrained felt clean, powerful, and with every new swing the weight of the sword grew in his mind, and in his hand.

It cut through the zombies easier until there were no zombies left to cut through. The group came to a stop all breathing heavily as they turned and looked around, the other soldiers finishing the last of the zombies off.

The battle had been quick, practically nothing compared to the other two.

Caleb looked down at the bodies of the zombies across the sand, and then to the soldiers, only a few having fallen. A grim sort of satisfaction settled in him and he let his sword and shield fade into sparks as he covered his nose to escape the rotting smell.

The others all looked around too, then without a word they started back toward the village.

A few of the soldiers watched the group, acknowledging them with raised fists and cheers. But nobody rushed them to celebrate.

There was still an aura of triumph, but it was muted by the even further loss of life. Caleb frowned as he looked at the bodies. It hadn’t completely made sense to him yet, but he was starting to piece things together from everything he’d observed.

[Deities!] A voice cried out behind them. The four turned as a soldier rushed over to them, a smile on her face. [We have more of your friends. Come. See]

“Friends?” Ryan said confused.

[Yes. More deities. They wore your people’s clothes] the soldier said.

[The others from the message] Kana muttered.

“I want to see this. Come on, let’s go” Sierra said, nodding. The group followed the woman, making their way through the field of corpses back towards the wall, where Lady Avanessa and two other silk soldiers stood over a group of three.

Caleb’s eyes widened slightly as he grew closer. They were three more teens, dressed in familiar styles of clothing, though they were mostly caked in sand. They sat with their backs to the wall, gratefully sipping water from pouches the Lady had provided.

They all wore a slightly different style of sunshield bracelets but had no weapons. There was one girl, Latino with long dark hair, and two boys who looked like twins, both pale white with brown hair.

Avanessa turned to look at the approaching four as they neared and the trio on the floor stopped drinking their water, eyes widening as they saw the group.

[They came a long way. From our brothers and sisters in the far Northern Caves. You can see it in the make of their sunshields] she said to them. They all nodded, then looked to the trio.

[What’re your names?] Kana asked. The girl offered a smile in return then gestured to herself and the others.

[I’m Elena. This is Markus and Jakob]

“How did you get here? Did you bring the zombies with you?” Ryan asked. Elena’s face dropped slightly and she glanced to the weapons in the hands of the soldiers all around.

[We’re sorry about that. We saw the lights and thought we could get help. We didn’t mean to cause this]

“Wait, you were just walking through the desert?” Sierra asked, her tone concerned.

[Yes]

“How long were you out there? Are you guys ok?” Caleb asked.

[Only a few hours. The sun was starting to set when we got kicked out. Uh… I hurt my leg, and Markus gotten bitten on the arm, but we’re ok.]

[Why were you out in the desert?] Kana asked.

[Because my idiot brother didn’t want to fight] one of the twins spat.

[Fuck you] the other one spat back. They both looked away from each other, clenching their jaws.

[Uh, we fought these dogs, then there was a big insect thing and Jacob… well-]

[Don’t sugarcoat it. He chickened out, ran and hid. It got us kicked out. Fucking idiot] the brother mumbled.

[Markus stop!] the girl said.

[Stop?! It’s his fault we were out there! It’s his fault Anne is dead!]

[It’s not my fault!] Jakob shouted. [I told her to fucking run and she died waiting for you!]

[Fuck you!] Markus roared leaping at his brother. They crashed into the wall and exchanged blows with each other as everyone else cried out. The soldiers rushed forward and tried to pull them apart, but were knocked back as the boys rolled over with one another, pulling and punching as they did.

Sierra rushed forward and Ryan followed, the two pulling them apart as Elena got between the brothers, pushing them both back as well.

[Stop! Stop it now!]

The boys both quieted down as Markus ripped himself away from Sierra and Jakob fell to the floor in tears. Everyone went silent for a moment as Jakob's sobs echoed across the battlefield.

[Sorry] Elena said crestfallen. [Is there somewhere we could… go? Wash?]

[Yes] Lady Avanessa said. [Ekihnzt, take them all to the washrooms. When your finished we’ll all meet in the chamber of texts with the Seer Nessaiea]

-

Caleb ruffled his still damp hair before letting out a heavy breath.

The reverend he followed was a different one than before, one he didn’t recognise, but they were as polite as the previous one had been. He yawned, then tugged at his new silk overalls, these ones a mixture of black and gold.

Since he’d only ever seen Avanessa wearing gold he was pretty sure they were meant for royalty or whatever she was, but he wasn’t going to complain. They were far more comfortable than anything he’d worn up until this point.

His mind wandered, thinking back to how long the past two days had been for him. A cancer diagnosis then immediately afterwards this nonsensical mess.

Magic, monsters, and blood. So much damn blood. He’d seen enough blood to last him lifetimes in the past twenty hours alone.

But what was weirdest was how quickly he’d grown used to it. Sure he’d been around violence a lot in his relatively short life and they did say children adapted to things faster, but this?

It was almost alien.

All it had taken was constant fear and anxiety, a gory massacre from an orc, a broken leg, and some weird ritual that’d made his mind clear. Or maybe it’d just been the ritual, he still didn’t know exactly what they’d done to him. His body felt better and his mind clearer in a sense, but that didn’t mean it was a good thing.

He didn’t like it. The lack of concern or feeling despite hating it so much at first. He hadn’t even been that out of it after killing all the zombies. It felt like it had just flown by.

Kana’s decision to not actively fight made more sense to him now. He yawned and caught a glimpse of his face in one of the polished metal doors.

He frowned slightly and rubbed at his cheek, feeling the slight difference of texture between his skin and the rune. Caleb sighed.

He’d been worried about them coming off during his bucket shower, but now he was worried about them never coming off. If he lived long enough he could probably find a magic tattoo remover somewhere.

He paused for a moment, furrowing his brow.

“Tutorial check” he whispered.

[Tutorial objective: Survive]

[Time left: 1 hrs 47 mins 56 secs]

There wasn’t long left. The gruelling thirty-eight hours of the tutorial was almost over. Then they had the three months of the first phase. His face fell slightly and he looked down at the ground.

If it’s any harder than this, I’m going to die painfully aren’t I?

Sure, his cancer had been slowed from spreading, but it hadn’t been stopped.

If the environment was worse than this, if there wasn’t any safe space for him to find and die quietly, then he’d be forced to fight alongside the others as his condition steadily got worse and worse. Eventually he would grow so weak he’d make a fatal mistake and die, or worse get the others killed.

Unless I cure it with magic. I mean, Lady Avanessa said there’s a possibility with better magic. With a record, I might even be able to do it on my own.

He looked at the runes on the back of his hand, squinting slightly before a small smile formed on his lips. Even if it was small, there was a chance he might not die in three months. He might actually make it home. This whole thing was horrible, but magic, that was a blessing in disguise.

[Mr deity, we’re here] the reverend in front of him said. He nodded politely before looking to the two soldiers at the doors.

They opened them and the sound of chatter slowly died as he stepped inside. He took a second to adjust to the change in light, then looked around the room. He was the last one there, with all the others, even the new trio sat around the table. Nessaiea and Avanessa sat at the head of the table.

[Caleb] Nessaiea said. [So nice of you to finally join us.]