[Quest: kill the boss monster, , before the time limit is up. Otherwise, all monsters in the Tutorial Area will be strengthened.]

[Rewards: each Player that participates will receive a level up and +10 to one stat]

[Time Limit: 03:30:30]

"Well, that's really not a lot of time at all," I muttered.

"We've g-gotta try and figure out where the boss is l-located!" Vic exclaimed.

"Yeah, but where would a boss monster want to hide?" I asked.

"W-well, if it's an ogre like th-those monster before, then it's probably p-pretty big," Vic replied. "Maybe it's h-hiding somewhere big, like the g-gymnasium."

"That's sounds like a good place to start. Let's go," I said. Vic, Drauum, and Mab all followed after me as we started walking across campus to the gym.

* * *

After several minutes of walking, we found ourselves outside the gymnasium. However, there was already someone else standing near the doors. It was shorter girl carrying a large shield and a sword barely larger than a dagger. She turned around and spotted us.

"Oh! Hello! Are you all here to challenge the boss as well? Because that'd be nice since I don't want to do it by myself," she said very quickly.

"Uh, yeah, we are," I replied. "My name's Dexter and his name's Victor. But you can just call us Dex and Vic if you want."

"Nice to meet you both, my name is Cynthia. Also, what are those two creatures next to you?" She asked, pointing at Mab and Drauum.

"They're my familiars. My Class allows me to summon or create familiars that can fight alongside me," I explained.

"That's pretty cool, I wish I could do that. See, I don't like getting hurt, so when I saw a Class that had a massive shield large enough for my entire body to hide behind, I jumped at the chance to get it," she told us. "But because of that, I don't have a lot of attack power, so I've just been blocking attacks and then running away, so I'm still just level 1 unfortunately."

"Wow, that was a lot of words just then," I said, slightly dazed. "But if you want, you can join up with us. Are you okay with that, Vic?"

"Y-yeah, that's fine with m-me," he answered. "By the w-way, my Class is , s-so I'm good at both attacking and defending."

"That's cool. I'm really only good at defending because my Class is , though I'm still glad I chose it," Cythia replied. "Also, sorry if it's hard to understand some of what I'm saying. I tend to both talk a lot and talk fast when I get nervous, and right now I'm absolutely terrified."

"It's cool, I get it," I told her. "Anyway, let's go kill a boss."

Taking the lead, I pushed open the gymnasium doors, Drauum and Mab on either side of me with Vic and Cynthia right behind me. However, we all noticed that it was pitch black inside the gym, even though there were windows. Looking up at the windows, I saw that they were somehow covered with something.

"I c-can't see at all!" Vic shouted, sounding a little panicked.

"Yeah, same here," Cynthia replied, her words speeding up a bit.

"Stay calm, guys. I can't really see either, but it'll be alright," I reassured them. I held up my . "!"

A small orb of fire flew through the darkness, lighting up the area near it. It then slammed into something and exploded, lighting up the area long enough for us to see a massive figure much larger than either of the ogres we had fought earlier.

"Run! Get back out! I'll draw it outside!" I shouted. Vic and Cynthia didn't need to be told twice and both dashed for the exit. I continued facing the direction the figure had been in, my staff still raised. I shot off another two before running towards the exit myself. However, I heard a monstrous roar behind me followed by the sound of running footsteps.

Right as I managed to make it outside, I heard the sound of smashing and saw the boss monster rip its way out of gym. We could now see it clearly, and it was actually somewhat horrifying. The ogre had two heads, just like its name would imply, and they were both looking at me. One head had a single eye and two horns while the other head had two eyes and one horn. Its skin was a blotchy, mottled orange and was stretched taut by the lumps of muscle all over the monster's body.

"How're we supposed to beat a monster like that? I mean, look at that thing it's absolutely huge!" Cynthia screamed. However, I stood my ground and raised my staff into a fighting stance. Drauum and Mab both stood at the ready as well as we watched the monster plod closer. It opened both of its mouths and something unexpected happened. Fire spewed out of the two-eyed head's mouth and some kind of green mist spewed out of the one-eyed head's mouth.

[Don't worry, I'll take care of this.] Drauum said. He raised his hands and the ground in front of us surged upwards, creating a wall that blocked the ogre's breath attacks. The wall successfully protected us, but it crumbled apart immediately after. I noticed that Drauum's glowing eyes dimmed for a moment, but regained their full glow.

"You okay there, Drauum?" I asked the golem.

[Yes, Master, but thank you for asking. I just used up a lot of MP, so I'm tiring, that's all. I don't think I'll be able to do that again without taking time to recover first.] Drauum replied in his monotonous voice.

"Got it," I told him. Raising my staff, I fired off another , aiming for the two-eyed head. The magic attack impacted its nose and exploded, causing it to roar in pain. However, all the damage seemed to only be skin deep. "I'm gonna need to get up close and hit it myself if we're gonna take it down. It seems to be too tough to bring down with just our ranged attacks."

[Go! I'll support you!] Mab said. She held her hands out and a golden glow shimmered around my body. I suddenly felt stronger than ever, and I was more than confident in my ability to take down the boss. Charging forward, I fired two more at it, the explosions blinding the two heads long enough for me to get to its feet.

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"Hap!" I exclaimed, punching the ogre's ankle. It's leg buckled a little and it stumbled backwards, but it remained standing. I repeated this a few more times until it finally fell down. The ground shook from the monster's weight hitting it. Roaring, I charged towards one of the heads. Approaching the two-eyed head, I stabbed the tip of my staff into one of its eyes before sending another directly into its brain.

Smoke billowed out of the ruined head, but the monster wasn't dead yet. Its other head turned towards me and blew green mist at me. I held my breath and tried to jump backwards, but it was too late. As soon as the mist touched me, my eyes and skin began to burn. Seeing the trouble I was in, Mab and Drauum both ran to get me. However, as soon as she came near the green mist, Mab flew back away.

[Poison!] She exclaimed. Drauum, however, didn't even slow down and kept charging. The two-foot-tall familiar picked me up and began carrying me away despite me being more three times his size. The golem took me back over to where Vic, Cynthia, and Mab were waiting.

"Thanks, Drauum. But are you alright?" I asked.

[Yes, Master. Being a golem and not an actual living creature, poison has no effect on me.] Drauum informed me.

"Oh, that's cool," I said while trying to catch my breath. Mab flew over to my side and held her hands out. A green glow enveloped my body and I started feeling better while the burns across my body started disappearing. While I could tell that there was still a little bit of the poison left in me, it wasn't enough to do anything. "Thanks, guys."

However, in the time it took for Drauum to rescue me and Mab to heal my burns, the ogre had already gotten back up to its feet and was coming towards us. As soon as it was close enough, it swung one of its clubs at me. Cynthia pushed me out of the way and raised her shield, determined to take the hit for me. Luckily, right before the weapon hit her, Mab held up her hands and a blue light briefly shimmered around Cynthia and her shield.

But even with Mab's assistance, Cynthia was still sent flying. She slammed into one of the gym's walls with a sickening thud. Blood trickled from the corner of the girl's mouth, but she still managed to stagger to her feet regardless.

"T-take this, foul ogre!" Vic shouted, charging towards the boss. He dodged its attack and rolled between its legs. "!"

His sword slightly glowed with a red light as he slashed the back of the ogre's ankle. It roared in pain and anger and tried to stomp on the boy. However, Vic managed to avoid the monster's attempt to squash him and did the same attack to its other ankle. Then, he raised his shield and swung it as well.

"!" He roared. Despite the massive difference in size, weight, and strength, Vic's blow made the ogre stumble backwards and even stunned it for a moment. He then continued to hack at the monster's flesh, but his sword no longer glowed.

[I want to help!] Mab shouted. She flew towards the ogre, peppering its remaining head with blue bolts. It tried to swat her out of the air, but she nimbly avoided its attacks. However, it then opened its mouth and blew poison mist at her. Mab turned around flew back, but ogre threw one of its clubs. The massive weapon slammed into the tiny fairy and she started dissolving into blue particles.

I watched, dumbfounded, as she dissolved. Once she was completely gone, I grit my teeth. However, before I could do anything, Drauum tugged on my pant leg. I turned to look down at the small golem.

[Remember, familiars cannot be killed. We just simply return to our home dimensions to heal when we receive too much damage. She'll be back in 24 hours, good as new.] Drauum reminded me. However, I still felt angry at the monster in front of me.

"It doesn't matter if she's not actually dead. That thing just tried to kill one of my friends. No one does that and gets away with it," I snarled. "You ever want to fly, Drauum?"

[I have wondered what it would feel like to have the wind whipping past me.] Drauum admitted.

"Good," I said, grinning. Picking up the two-foot golem, I chucked him at the ogre. He hurtled through the air and slammed into the boss' face. Drauum clung to its skin and placed the palm of his hand against its eye. I then watched as stone shards shot forward, tearing through the ogre's eye and brain. It roared and collapsed, finally dead. Drauum stood and walked back over to us. He glowed brightly for a moment, showing that he had leveled up.

[Oh, I earned three levels from killing the boss.] He said. [I'll just choose to increase a stat of my choice with all three rewards. I need to increase my Arc stat so that I have more MP and recover MP faster. That way I can be more helpful.]

"If that's what you want, then that's your choice, but you've been plenty helpful so far," I assured him. However, before we could do anything else, a blue notice popped up.

[Congratulations on killing the boss monster! All Players involved in the boss raid will receive the promised rewards! Also, Player Dexter Davenport will receive the boss reward in place of the familiar, , as its owner!]

"Oh, I didn't expect that," I said. I then received a notice saying that I had leveled up. Looking at the rewards, I decided to choose the [Skill (random)] option. After a moment, I saw that the Skill I had unlocked was .

[]

[Description: while familiars are often quite strong, sometimes they’re not strong enough, in which case, are able to use their abilities to strengthen them. Can be upgraded, cannot be evolved.]

[Type: Active]

[Max Level: 10]

[Level 1 Effects:

1. +10% all stats for all familiars for 5 minutes]

[SP Cost: 25 SP per use]

[Cooldown: 10 minutes]

"That seems like it'll be a useful Skill, though I wish the duration was a bit longer," I said to myself. "Now, the +10 I was given. It has to all be put into one stat, so what should I increase? Hmm, I'm thinking my Soul stat since it determines my amount of SP and SP recovery, which all my Active Skills rely on."

Once I had added the +10 to my Soul stat, there was a flash of light in front of me. When the light had died down, I saw a large wooden chest in front of me.

[]

[50% chance of an Uncommon-Rank item, 30% chance of a Rare-Rank item, 10% chance of an Epic-Rank item, 5% chance of a Unique-Rank item, 3% chance of an Artifact-Rank item, and 2% chance of a Relic-Rank item.]

"Alright, let's open 'er up and see what I get," I said. Opening the chest, there was a flash of light that blinded me. When my eyes had recovered, I looked into the chest and saw a beautiful war hammer. Grabbing it, I pulled the weapon out of the chest. As soon as it was no longer in the chest, it increased slightly size. "I'm guessing that the chest somehow shrank it so that it could fit into the chest. But I guess it's not worth thinking about."

I then focused on the war hammer in my hands.

[]

[Rank: Unique]

[Type: Weapon]

[Subtype: War Hammer]

[Damage: 250-500 + Str stat]

[Effects:

1. +50 Str

2. x2 damage against inanimate objects and constructs

3. [Size Boost] Skill]

"Whoah! This hammer is awesome!" I exclaimed. Swinging it around, it seemed to fit into my hands perfectly. In fact, I was even able to swing it around with one hand almost as easily as two. Then, I decided to try out the [Size Boost] Skill. However, as soon as I used it, the war hammer doubled in size, increasing its weight and damage proportionally. Holding it with two hands now, I was barely able to swing it around. Setting it down, I decided to just wait until the Skill ended to pick it up again.

[That is truly an excellent hammer, Master. But be warned, there are still several item ranks above Unique, meaning that there are countless items stronger than that hammer. Do not become complacent.] Drauum warned. I listened intently grateful for the constant advice and information from both of my familiars. But before we could continue talking, another blue notice popped up.

[Congratulations! Since the Tutorial Area's boss has been defeated, that means everyone still alive can leave and join the rest of the world in the Main Event! Have fun!]

"So, should we go and join the Main Event?" I asked. Vic grinned and Cynthia nodded with a determined look on her face. I grinned at the two before turning around, picking up my new war hammer and leaning it against my shoulder. "Then let's go."