The shouting match had started mere minutes after Selena's first words. Leon was tuning it out, having already decided what was to be done. More humouring Mike's party by pretending to care about this petty squabble. The real issue here was Selena and Mike. Both were far beneath his level of strength, yet he was sure neither would hesitate to kill him if an opportunity arose. The threat he represented just through his superior level was too large to be ignored.

He supposed that was the sort of person the System wanted. The type who were ruthless, hungry and unabashed in chasing power. The middle road began to reveal itself- a compromise where everyone walked mostly unharmed and Leon walked away with a win over the pricks who sought to dictate his actions.

The hierarchy would be established here and now. Leon at the top and everyone else beneath him. No carrots- only sticks and the threat of barbed sticks. Both parties had intruded on his property. There would be a price to pay for that, extracted from them in equal measure.

Mike and Selena had quieted down, a reminder from one of the rogues that shouting would draw dinos to their location, the threat of a fight keeping their voices subdued. Leon tuned back into the conversation as it reached its conclusion.

"I left because you were leading us into a death trap! We could have tracked Leon down, gotten information about Dungeon Two- but no! Mike, the glorious leader, had to charge ahead! Had to prove he was up to the task of survival! Forgive me, for caring more about my own life than yours or anyone else's on this godforsaken island!"

Mike scoffed at that, disdain clear in his eyes as he responded.

"It was a miracle we made it through the woods unharmed. It was a miracle Leon gave us information without asking for anything in return. Do you really want to base your argument on two miracles? We should have relied on what exactly to see us through? Luck? No, we had no choice, without power we all would have died and the dungeon was the only shortcut we had to that power."

Selena's response came with barely tamped-down fury.

"You're deliberately misin-fucking-terpreting my words Mike. I'm done with this bullshit. If you're going to kill me for looking out for myself then get on with it. You can't reason with an idiot!"

The two had maintained a distance between each other, both wary of Leon, who stood between them, a line not to be crossed.

Leon chose that moment to interject.

"All right. I'm tired- been a long day for me. Since Mike hasn't killed Selena and she hasn't tried to run off I'm ending this here. I've got more important things to worry about than this. Mike, I'll allow you to kill her. In exchange for the life of one of yours. Go ahead take your time to pick."

The silence that followed was deafening.

Selena was doing her best to soften Leon up, giving him her best puppy dog eyes. The effect was poor thanks to her tattered clothes. Leon did feel a small amount of pity- not for her sake, but for himself and what he was going to be forced to do to her.

Mike had the wherewithal to not turn and evaluate his group openly though Leon could tell the shock on his face was performative and the gears in his head were turning. He was weighing the pros and cons. Was Selena's life worth trading one of his party's for?

Leon knew he needed to force a reaction. Anything less would lead to Mike's group fracturing. Not a bad outcome, but not the one he wanted to see.

"You have two rogues, seems redundant. You could give up the novice, focus on physical might over magical might. Personally? One of the rogues would be my call, I'll let you keep their gear and you can have the survivor operate like a ranged-melee hybrid."

Mike dropped to his knees, head held forward. His voice was low, resigned.

"If you want someone's head take mine. Just promise me we'll be granted vengeance."

His party immediately burst forward, objections spilling from their mouths.

"No way Mike. We need you as our frontliner."

"C'mon now Mike, less of that now!"

"Yeah Mike, we wouldn't be alive without you!"

Leon knelt pulling the man to his feet, whispering so only Mike would hear.

"Not a bad show Mikey- not good enough to convince me, but not bad. The only reason you and yours aren't dead is that I'd be playing into a psychotic bastard's schemes if I killed you all. Remember- you live because my spite exceeds my intelligence."

Turning to face the three minions, Leon's drawn blade stopped them in their tracks.

"Alright, Mike gets to live then. Any takers for the role of sacrifice? No? No one? Well then traitor- looks like it's your lucky day. My ruling here is final, challenge it and you challenge me. You guys kill her after you leave and I'll find out. I've got ears and eyes everywhere. Same goes for you Selena- you kill these guys and I'll hunt you down. I'm not done though- there are consequences for your actions, limits to my mercy. Hold out your left arm."

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

Selena extended her arm, hand quivering in the light of the torches. Leon moved to face her side on, hands on both Wavecutter and its sheath.

He did not announce his strike. One second her left hand was attached, the next it lay in the dirt. Before she could scream Leon had retrieved the severed body part and presented it to her.

"Do not scream. Hold it to your stump and pray that healing works for re-attachments."

Through tears she cursed him, pressing her hand against the bleeding wound flesh already starting to knit back together, bone reconnecting.

"Fuck you Leon."

Leaning in, Leon made sure she understood why he had done this.

"You would be dead without me. You owe me your life. The only reason you still breathe is so I can spite a pair of bastards who want to dictate how I treat my fellow man. Next time you cross me I'll cut off far more than just a hand."

Turning to face the shocked party of Mike and his team, Leon kept Wavecutter drawn, Selena's blood dripping from the blue blade.

"You all seem to have forgotten something, or maybe it hasn't sunk in yet. That's my fault, so let me make it clear. Might makes right in this world and the only rules I'll follow are the ones I write. My level, my skill and my power are greater than yours. Anything I do is, therefore, morally and ethically correct."

His statement was punctuated by a blue box

"Day 3 Complete! Congratulations to the 74.5% of you who survived! Now displaying the ranking for your instance!"

1. Leon Knox

2. Selena Cole

3. Mike Hamilton

4. Francis O'Hara

5. Timmy Gallia

6. Elizabeth Gallia

The ranking was remarkably familiar, reminding Leon he hadn't inspected Selena. Snapping off a quick use of [Swordsman's Eye] revealed her level.

"Level 7 Novice"

Swiping the screen away, Leon continued to speak, sheathing Wavecutter as he did so. The blade had grown dull and Leon didn't want anyone taking the opportunity to inspect it.

"See? This might not be a game but that leaderboard tells us I'm winning. Since you're all weaker than me I could do anything, to any of you, and feel completely fine about it. If you have a problem with that then become stronger than me and make me follow your rules instead, or you could just kill me and it would be my fault for being weaker than you. Mike, you led your party here, in fact, I'm willing to bet you chased Selena here, hoping I'd kill her for you."

Mike made to speak and was stopped by Leon's raised palm.

"No, the time for your words is over. You have intruded on my land, failed to show proper deference and tried to manipulate me. All crimes in my eyes, which I will have reparation for. I can either take what is owed from only you or from all of your party instead Mike. Choose."

The man stepped forward, apart from his teammates. This time they voiced no objection. Leon stepped slightly back from Mike, gauging the distance to accomplish what was necessary.

"An eye for an eye is what drove your actions. That philosophy led you here Mike. I learned today just how painful losing an eye can be. Let me enlighten you."

A blue flash cut through the darkness and Mike's right eyeball was blinded, cut in two. From his upper lip to the top of his forehead a shallow wound ran, the blade's tip the only thing that had penetrated his skin. He had the fortitude to hold back his screams, focusing on healing his wounded eye instead.

Sheathing his sword Leon made his way back to the door of his house, addressing the Tutorial's participants once more.

"We're done here. Leave now, all of you. Don't bother me for something so trivial again or it'll be more than an eye or a hand I take. All of you would do well to remember this is only the beginning, a preparatory stage for us. Ask yourself if you really believe in wasting time, fighting each other over bullshit that doesn't matter instead of growing stronger."

Entering the house without a backwards glance Leon trusted the others to disperse.

Failure to adhere to his orders would lead to punishment, of the capital variety. Not something he would enjoy executing, just another act of cruelty to be embraced in the present to avoid a greater act of cruelty in the future.

Zerasos had not returned yet, though Leon wasn't worried. The devil's power eclipsed his own by orders of magnitude. Worrying for his well-being would be like an ant worrying about a human- pointless.

Still, training inside didn't seem right and despite having undergone the Trial Leon was still in good condition. Most of the day had been spent refining his fundamentals and mana circuit, leaving Leon brimming with energy.

So he meditated, upon a beanbag, his focus devoted to mastering Ebb and Flow. Errant thoughts plagued him during this process.

He had achieved his goals- imposed a new hierarchy with himself at the peak and rejected the offers from the foreign factions that sought to control him. He could have taken more, demanded more from them but they had little of worth and even less of anything Leon desired. Still, he knew there must have been a better way to treat the situation. A solution he couldn't see, a path he was blind to, one that didn't rely on intimidation and violence.

He discarded those thoughts. There was no point dwelling on the past. If any one of them crossed him in the future it was straight to decapitation, consequences be damned. Even better if they grew to a point where they would reward experience, though Leon would take it as a personal failing if they got within that five-level range.

His meditation continued, working the circuit's formation speed down by another few seconds, nowhere near another minute breakpoint while using only one mana pint's worth of the energy, the progress was still a gratifying contrast against the uncomfortable social engagement.

It was as Leon completed another round of circuit formation, Zerasos reappeared in a puff of his signature blue smoke, fists dripping green blood onto the floor and left arm broken and limp at his side. Still clad in only a pair of blue shorts that were now coated in the same green blood, the devil flopped into a beanbag wincing as his arm hit the fabric, speaking in a rush to Leon as he noticed the swordsman.

"Hell of an afternoon I had kid- help me out here, get a plate of drake steaks? My arm's killing me and regular food does jack shit for someone at my level."

Pulling a plate of green steaks out of the fridge, Leon wondered why the noble fridge deity never offered him any of Zerasos favoured food as he carried them to the injured devil.

He wolfed the steaks down with a carelessness Leon rarely saw the devil display, arm healing at a rapid rate, flesh and bone reforming in real time.

"Thanks kid, now sit down and lemme tell you about the best deal of my career. Made it today, because of you!"