With a dry ripping sound like the thickest paper ever being torn in half, a man walked into the space in front of Loden. The man seemed like a very average looking mid 30s white guy with a scraggly beard. Dressed in blue flannel pants, a long sleeve grey shirt and grey house shoes on he peered at Loden with appraising brown eyes. Loden felt as if a great pressure was squeezing his entire body in place. His stomach ran cold and sweat began beading in his palms. Why did the man look so ordinary but make him feel like a God was standing before him.
The disheveled looking man or god or whatever the hell he was began to look frustrated before finally speaking.
”Well are you gonna stay in the damn tutorial forever or are you going to do something? I mean shit you’ve been in here for like six months already and you’ve barely done anything at all!” Frustration dripped from every word like syrup. “ And you can forget about all those rewards you “won”.” He actually used finger quotes… “ Here’s what is going to happen. In a few moments you will forget ever meeting me and you will…No no no. This isn't working.” sighed the man in grey. The man looked at Loden with a bit of exasperated defeat bringing his body language in on itself a little. “ I had thought make you just like..... But never mind. Let's start this over shall we?” then everything went dark.
Loden woke to pain. His entire being burned with ice and fire. His brain exploded with memories that at first felt like they belonged to someone else. Somehow he knew that was because they did. After realizing this his world faded to blissful black again.
“Please stay on the illuminated square while the test site is configured.” Immediately following these words the floor everywhere else fell away. He saw the tiles fall into a raging torrent of water that swept the large stone tiles away before they could even sink.
Seeing that the tutorial had now begun Loden started to examine his situation. “10 x 10 square of stone in the middle of a godsdamned river.” Looking behind him from the center of the square all he saw was more river. To his left and right were the same. Not even a trace of land in sight. In front? You guessed it, more river. He spread his feet a little wider than his shoulders and rocked his weight side to side. Lightly at first, but with more and more pressure as he found resistance. Feeling that the square didn’t rock he faced left while staying as centered as possible and repeated his test. Again the square stayed solid and did not move an inch. Turning to face down river once again he carefully stepped forward to the edge.
As he came about two steps from the edge more squares appeared in front of him. “This seems”he paused. “Familiar.”
“ Move forward with the trial by progressing your way down the river. Use any means necessary without falling in. You will have many paths to choose. All are correct but some will be simpler than others. Your goal will be to reach the beacon. At that moment a shining silver light lit up down river. You must touch the beacon to proceed to the next test. You will face three tests in this tutorial. This obstacle course is the first followed by a combat test and then problem solving. This is a test of decision making and general fitness. The combat test will determine not just your fighting ability but also your fortitude and morality. The problem solving will determine your intelligence and attention to detail. At any time you may stop this tutorial by ringing this bell. Begin.”
Raising an eyebrow and looking at the blank grey ceiling in confusion Loden asked “Bell? What bell?”
Limited menu access granted.
Limited inventory access only.
The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
All other options locked until completion of tutorial or until Adventurer exits early.
“Huh. Ummmm inventory?” Loden said out loud. Nothing happened. “ Dude you’re dumb as hell. Stop acting like some fucking Rainbow and start using your grape soldier!” He thought about the idea of an inventory. A vast organized space that existed next to him at all times but just beyond the veil of the physical. His mother had tried to teach him how to sense the veil since he was about 12 but he had only ever barely paid attention to her lessons. Who wanted to practice imaginary magic when you could play football?
Reaching out with his senses he felt it and as soon as he did a standard inventory grid appeared in his mind. Conveniently located in the top right corner of the grid I saw that the spaces available area was marked not with a number but a symbol. ♾ In the very first square he saw the bell. Instead of trying to take it out and possibly accidentally ringing it he tried to examine the thing.
Tutorial Bell: Fleeting item. This item will dissolve after use. Ring bell to exit the tutorial.
Closing his inventory with a flex of his will Loden then looked at the squares ahead of him. Seeing the silvery light of the beacon maybe a quarter mile down the river he smiled. This would be like some games he played as a kid. Jump jump dash jump dash slide. He could do this. Backing up to about three quarters of the way to the end of the square he launched himself forward.
Jumping forward he saw more squares appeared ahead and he just continued forward. Three squares later a long strip of stone appeared that curved up and turned left. As he began to climb up his right foot slipped on the stone and he almost fell into the water when his weight crashed to the right of the path. Collapsing his left leg and torquing his body in the opposite direction he managed to slam his chest into the thin path and hug his arms around it. With his feet dangling for only a moment he swung his legs upwards and pulled himself up. Not thinking about the close call he continued forward, maybe a little slower this time. When he came to the end of the thin raised ledge another path appeared ahead this time above his head and about three feet from the ceiling. It looked like monkey bars so he jumped up and grabbed the first rung. Pulling himself along he got to the end and looked around. Just as his arms began to burn from holding him up he noticed that there wasn’t a new path ahead of him. Turning his head back to see behind him he saw that there was a new thin strip of stone below the one he was on by about fifteen feet. He would have to come back a few bars and swing himself to make some forward momentum so he could launch himself onto the path. Landing was the hardest part because as he did his body wanted to continue over the edge so one again he used the path itself to help keep him up by just slamming himself into it and hugging it to his chest. After he got his bearings he looked around and saw this path led in a straight line directly towards the beacon. As he walked he saw that he was somehow much further up and away from the beacon than he thought. Also there was something wrong with his perspective because when he looked off the side of the path to the beacon it was a few hundred feet down and away from the edge of the path. Yet when Loden looked straight down the path he again saw the beacon again inline with the path. As he came to the edge angled squares appeared ahead of him forming a v shaped wedge but offset from each other. He would need to run from one side and jump across a void to the other half and repeat until he made it to the beacon. With the steep angle of the walls he would be unable to stop once he started. If he did he would fall into the water. Shaking his head at himself he focused. And moved forward. Feeling his weight crash into each square he was reminded of that ninja show that was on tv. There was probably a bunch of people that were having an absolute blast here. As he came to the third to last square he realized he was going to be too low. He forced himself higher up the walls by trying to take a more angled path with his feet while also running up the side of the wall. By the time he made it to the last one he was panting heavily. Loden lunged with all his might at the edge and just barely felt a cool sensation on his right pinky as he reached his arm up and out.
SUCCESS!!!
You have completed the first trial!
Strength 10
agility 9
dexterity 8
endurance 12
Loden had the feeling that without his experience in the military he wouldn’t have come close to completing the path.