That could have gone worse, Shaun decided once they had all finished telling their story of what had occurred, Gabe and Eric both stuck with what they agreed with, not once bringing up what they had seen at the end of his fight. Although the worst of what had actually occurred was left out of their retelling, the change in the way the group now looked at him was obvious, Michael and Trevor didn’t try and remove him from the group, although they did make a number of comments like “What kind of person would be able to kill someone else?” and “If someone is willing to kill other people what else may they be capable of?”. And even though these things were said about those that attacked him it was clear that what they were saying also applied to him.

Afterwards, everyone kept their distance from Shaun, no one spoke to him but he did catch everyone looking at him with either open disgust or fear, and even uncertainty. The next few hours were much of the same and Shaun just sat by himself, not bothering to try and converse with the others, he just didn’t see the point, he needed time to come to grips with what they said. There were discussions about Ruin, both around what kind of people were there and whether the group should head that way and try and find it, however it was decided that they would stock up over the next few days with food before heading out.

Shaun took his shift as guard like normal and used that time to just sit and reflect, he considered training his dual wielding skill but he just needed some time to think and be alone. The next day instead of heading out with Gabe and Eric like normal, they had both asked to join the larger group before even leaving the cavern. Michael and Trevor couldn’t have been more happy with the changes that were occurring within the group now that Shaun had been completely isolated from the rest of them, it was the perfect situation in their eyes.

Instead of going out and hunting alone Shaun decided to spend the day in the cavern, he had indulged in his self pity for long enough and knew it was time to train up his dual wielding skill a little before he was to hunt alone. He also looked over all the updates that had occurred the day before.

Status:

Name: Shaun Clermont

Race Human (F)

Level: 5

Class: Rogue [Basic] - Level 10

Profession: N/A

Health Points:180/180

Stamina:200/200

Mana:30/30

Stats: (Available Points: 4)

Strength: 22

Dexterity: 38

Endurance: 20

Vitality: 18

Intelligence: 8

Perception: 37

Willpower: 6

Soul: 3

Affinity: N/A

Titles: New Initiate

Skills:

Class: [Basic] Short Blade (Level 23), [Basic] Stealth (Level 25 - MAX), [Basic] Detection (Level 20) , [Basic] Dual Wielding (Level 1)

Profession: N/A

The biggest changes on his status sheet were reaching level 10 in his class and adding a new skill. His stats had increased quite a lot over the last few days and he was happy with his gains. Looking at his 4 AP to spend he decided to put one in Perception, hating that it wasn’t equal to his Dexterity stat, he put two in Vitality to bring it up to 20 and kept the last one unspent to use down the line.

Wait, I have reached level 10! Shaun thought and then went to review the objectives of Stage 1 of the tutorial, hoping that he would see at least one of them completed. He hadn’t even looked at these since he had first arrived.

**Stage 1 objectives: 83,486 participants

22 days remaining

Collect a total of 10,000 Tutorial essence (TE): 5,039 Collected - Incomplete

Reach level 10: Level 5 - Incomplete

Survive**

That is a lot to take in. Starting from the top it looked like nearly 17,000 people had died in the first 8 days of the tutorial, he didn’t know whether to be thankful that it wasn’t more or shocked that so many had already been killed, either by monsters or other people. Looking at his TE count he was on track to complete that objective but he also knew that he had gained most of that from killing the three people the day before and that wasn’t something he wanted to do again. He needed to increase the amount of monsters he was hunting otherwise he might be cutting it close.

Stolen story; please report.

And then his level, that was the most disappointing, he had hoped that hitting level 10 in his class was enough to complete that objective but it was clearly based off of his race level. That meant, even though he was halfway there, needing to get another 10 levels in his class with such low level monsters around would take a really long time, he had been hunting monsters for days and only gained a level and even then, the higher level he grew the more monsters he would need to hunt to level up.

Finally moving on to the last thing he needed to check before training, he looked at his inventory. He hadn’t checked this since the fight and he had received the notifications that the inventory for the three people he had killed yesterday had been moved into his own. As he went through what he now had tucked away, he could see that he had a huge increase in what he know considered the standard monster parts, he had more Spider fangs, Venom sacs, salamander skins, and the blind blood bat hides then he knew what to do with, not to mention all of the monster meat he now had in reserve. He had the equipment that he looted off of the bodies, looking through this he immediately took out the sheath for his new short sword and put it around his waist. There weren't any other items like his Heating Stone but he did find something different that peaked his curiosity.

*Giant Mole Rat Claws – Claws from a subterranean Mole Rat found in a Tutorial from a newly integrated planet. These claws are as sharp as a blade and made to dig through hardened earth and are also used as the Mole Rats primary form of attack.*

The claws were a few inches long and wickedly sharp, although he had no use for them at the moment, it did inform him that there were other types of monsters out there that he hadn’t come across yet. The fact that they came from a Giant Mole Rat also made him believe that it could possibly be a higher level then the monsters he had encountered up to this point.

With that out of the way he stood up and got to training his new skill. With his short sword in one hand and a dagger in his other, he went to work. At first he still felt a little awkward wielding the two weapons but instead of getting worried that he had chosen a useless skill he just closed his eyes, took a deep breath and tried to let the skills information flow through him. The longer he worked the better he felt until it came naturally to him. He had been training for hours without stopping, just focusing on his body and how the blades moved through the air in front of him.

Once he was covered in sweat and completely exhausted he checked on the notifications he completely ignored during his intense session.

*Multiple Skill Level ups: [Basic] Dual Wielding– Level 6*

Not bad, will need to keep focusing on training this one, I want to max out every skill before I hit level 20 in my class Shaun decided.

* +2 point to Willpower earned*

That one came as a surprise, he hadn’t gotten increases to his stats like that in a while, and if he was being honest, had completely forgotten he could. He had been working hard the past few days and hadn’t had any increases like this, he would have expected at least some in his primary stats. He figured the higher his stats were, the harder it would be to get any of these free increases which is why he had only received them in his lowest attributes.

Eventually everyone came back from their trip into the tunnels, no one greeted him on their return so he figured he would just stay silent. The rest of the day followed the usual pattern, eat, drink, sleep then watch. He decided that tomorrow he would go out alone and start looking for monsters again, and get back into his old routine.

For the next two days he followed the same schedule, he would leave with the others, who made no comment about him joining them and when they hit the first split in the tunnel he would go his own way without a word.

On the third day when he came back to the cavern he could hear voices inside that he couldn’t recognise. He stopped before he would be noticed by anyone and just listened. He heard Michael and Trevor talking to at least two other people, one man and one woman, who he didn’t know, the more he listened he could hear what was being discussed. They were from Ruin, which immediately put Shaun on the defensive, what they were talking about was preparations to set out the next day to take everyone back with them.

Shaun now had a choice to make, he could turn around and just leave, he didn’t need the group, if he was being honest with himself, he had everything he needed to be self-sufficient. But what he didn’t have, which the people of Ruin did, was an understanding of where stronger monsters were, if he was to go by the Mole Rat Claws he now had.

If I decide to go in there and go with them to Ruin I need a plan. If they turn and attack me I run, I don’t want to fight them for no reason, if I go in and they agree with me coming with them and I get to Ruin and I don’t like it I just leave. Shaun thought it over and he didn’t see any other options, besides he was curious about what this Ruin was.

Instead of delaying any longer than needed he walked into the cavern, ready to face whatever outcome his appearing there would lead to. When he came into full view everyone turned to him but didn’t say anything, just silence.

“I am guessing you are Shaun? I am Tegan, and the two guys with me are Mitchell and Josh. It's nice to meet you and be able to put a face to the name, we have been expecting you.” This was spoken by the woman from Ruin, he didn’t delay and quickly identified each of them, all level 5, stronger than the people he had met previously.

A little off guard with the welcome he had received, she seemed almost happy he was there. “Yeah, I’m Shaun, it's nice to meet you all as well.” Shaun replied, he didn’t get any closer, still cautious of being attacked at any moment but he didn’t see any reason not to be polite.

“You can relax,” Tegan said with a laugh, “We have been informed about your run in with the other search party from Ruin and for that……We want to apologise.”

“I never did like those three, always something off about them. Can’t say I’m sad to see them gone.” Mitchell said with a chuckle.

This completely threw Shaun, he hadn’t expected an apology, let alone confirmation that they didn’t have a great reputation with the people standing in front of him too. Not knowing what else to say he just thanked Tegan and nodded at Mitchell.

“We are heading back to Ruin first thing tomorrow, everyone has decided to come along. Would you like to join us?” Tegan went on to ask him.

This is what Shaun had decided on, to go to Ruin with them, even if for a short amount of time. But he couldn’t get rid of the nagging feeling that this could be a trap of some sort, that they would take him there and then either lock him up or just kill him.

“Sure, I think going with you all is a great idea. I am honestly curious to see what these ruins look like.” Shaun replied back, he would go but he would never let his guard down, at the first sign of something off he would run.

With that decided they settled in with the usual nightly routine, this time with their three extra guests. The others actually spoke to him, which surprised him considering the cold shoulder he had been receiving the last few days. He assumed that with these three confirming that the people he killed weren’t good people, he was now back to being part of the group.