After the nymph left again, Aiken decided to explore the place. They had been transported to what seemed to be a desolate city. It was a very small one. They were currently at the center of it. He started walking, separating himself from the group.

"Hey, you! Where are you going?"

"Yes, don't wander off. We need to stick together. Who knows when monsters will appear again?"

"We are free to do whatever we want. She never said we had to stay here."

"But…"

Aiken ignored them and kept walking.

"Can we come with you?" He heard behind.

There was a group of four people, two men and two women.

"I saw you earlier. You killed quite a lot of those baby minotaurs."

Aiken shrugged his shoulders.

"Please, can we follow you? We won't cause trouble." One of the women said.

"You can do whatever you want. If you want to follow me, suit yourself. But I'm not responsible for your lives." Aiken replied before walking away.

The group followed him. As soon as they exited the city, they encountered some monsters. They were snail-looking creatures the size of a rabbit. Aiken grabbed his sword and hacked it several times into the exposed head of one of the snails. A relic appeared, and he quickly consumed it. These creatures were weak because of their lack of speed. But their defense wasn't something people at their current power level could hope to break. Therefore, the best approach to deal with them was to wait for the snails to come out of their shells.

Seeing how Aiken was easily getting rid of the monsters and collecting relics, the four also started to attack. However, seeing and doing were two different things. One of the women wasn't able to fatally wound a snail, and her hand was bitten off as a result. In her panic, she stumbled on other monsters and was attacked. She was bitten to death, and one of the snails consumed the relic that came out of her.

The other woman screamed in distress. Aiken rushed to her and put his hand over her mouth.

"You are going to attract more monsters. Keep it down."

After several seconds, she calmed down.

"But she … she was…"

"Yes, we all saw it. She was lacking in strength to finish off the snail and was taken off guard. If you can't heavily damage them in two hits, retreat, wait until they come back from their shells, and attack again."

It was the only piece of advice he gave them before returning to hunt snails. After some time, people who were curious came outside to see what they were up to. Seeing how Aiken was consuming relic after relic, others started to join in the hunt. A couple of hours later, there were no more snails in the vicinity.

Aiken checked his status.

[Aiken]

[Agility: 12]

[Constitution: 10]

[Intelligence: 55]

[Strength: 11]

He was a bit frustrated. This was a feeling shared by many people in the past regarding the relics. Increasing one's stats was a slow process. The young man went further out seeking more monsters to kill. He was racing against time. He knew the nymph would come back soon for the last trial. He wanted to increase his overall strength as much as possible.

The next monsters he encountered were purple cats. Aiken avoided going in their direction. Killing one required too much time, and the risk of getting injured was not negligible. The cats were agile and good at dodging. However, some people went in their direction. Aiken wished them luck and continued on his path. The three people were still following him. He didn't mind as long as they didn't get in his way.

Painful cries came from the purple cats' location. As he suspected, the animals weren't going down without a fight. He finally found what he was looking for, earthworms. They were about half a meter to a meter long. Aiken would use his sword to stab the soft ground and send some soil on his target. This would infuriate the worm, who would crawl toward him only to meet his sword.

The young man could easily kill them because of his previous experience. Others found it difficult to dispose of the worms with such ease. Some people were injured, and others were killed. This drove people to start working together. Since the relics couldn't be shared, whoever got the kill kept the precious item. There were fights among them at first. However, reducing the number of people working together to two or three seemed to have done the trick.

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Aiken barely paid attention to any of them. People came to offer him to join their group, but he calmly refused all offers. It was faster hunting alone. The real goal of this tutorial was to get humans mentally and physically at an acceptable level for Pangea. The gods wanted them to get used to killing and also improve themselves. Aiken wanted to use the opportunity to the fullest. They were weak monsters in the T-World, he felt like he should take advantage of it to put himself in a better position in Pangea.

Aiken continued hunting for a couple more hours before stopping. People gave him some weird looks as he went back to the city. The group following him stayed behind to hunt some more. The young man didn't say anything to them. It wasn't like he didn't want to kill more monsters. But he was a bit tired and wanted to recover his stamina before the last trial began. Spending all his energy to get stronger and be killed because he was tired was something he wanted to avoid. He checked his stats when he reached the center of the city.

[Aiken]

[Agility: 14]

[Constitution: 11]

[Intelligence: 55]

[Strength: 12]

As he expected, the nymph appeared on time. She gathered everyone at the center.

"You guys kept yourself busy. Relic hunting, that's not a bad idea. There are only 394 of you now."

No one was surprised by the information. They all knew some people perished; it was inevitable.

"Your faces are a little better than when you first came here. The tutorial is doing wonders for you. Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end. It is time for the second and last trial. The survivors will be sent to Pangea where the real game will begin. I wish I had something good to give to you, but I came empty-handed." She said before vanishing.

Her disappearance came with a notification everyone received.

[T-World's last trial, Papa and Mama Minotaurs come to pick up the kids.]

[The minotaurs believed their kids were sent to a daycare to be babysat while they lost themselves in carnal pleasures. After an exhausting performance, they came to take the newborns home. Imagine their face when they were told what you did to their dear babies. They've come for an explanation. Due to the energy they spend pleasuring each other, the minotaurs can only use a fifth of their strength.]

[Survive for one hour or until you kill all the minotaurs.]

A light came from the sky revealing a group of 20 minotaurs. Their eyes were red in anger. Aiken noticed they had no weapons. But their muscular body was all they needed. He turned around and made a run for it. The minotaurs charged forward. Some brave souls also rushed onward to fight them. Aiken could only deplore their lack of knowledge. A minotaur, even in a weakened state, wasn't something the brave souls could currently contend with.

As expected it was a one-sided massacre. Deformed human corpses were lying on the ground. Seeing the strength of the monsters firsthand, people started fleeing in all directions. The Minotaurs separated and went after them. Aiken knew this trial would only end after the hour limit. There was no way they could beat 20 minotaurs. He was already outside the city. The tutorial area wasn't big. He can only hope to be forgotten by the Minotaurs or that time ran out.

For the first forty minutes or so, painful cries and screams echoed through the air. After that, you would hear people's anguish here and there as the monsters found them. Aiken went to the outskirts of the tutorial area. Many people also took that route. However, they were tired. They had been hunting non-stop and did not rest. There were also other monsters they needed to worry about, slowing their progression. The minotaurs caught up and made quick work of people before consuming their relics.

Aiken was hiding in a nearby forest, in a tree. He found a minotaur alone not far away from his hiding place. It was injured. There were several bite wounds on its legs. The monster was dragging its feet. Aiken assumed he must have met some other monsters. The young man remained immobile, he even slowed down his breathing. He had made up his mind. He would not engage in battle. Time was almost up.

A squirrel was moving from tree to tree. It caught the monster's attention as the minotaur's eyes followed it. Unfortunately, the squirrel passed near Aiken's hiding spot, and the monster spotted him. It immediately dragged his injured leg in his direction. The tree wasn't safe anymore. A minotaur can cut down a tree with its strength. Aiken climbed down.

Two options were presented to him. To go deeper into the forest or stand his ground. He knew there were monsters he couldn't beat waiting for him to walk into their territory. He had seen many people venturing too far deep into the forest. He still remembered their screams of terror.

The minotaur was now facing him, about two meters away. His right leg was bleeding. He limped forward and tried to grab the young man. Aiken ducked, rolled on the ground, and slashed its ankle with his sword. The wound wasn't deep, but he drew blood. The monster faced him again. It repeated the same action. He dodged again. This time, he hit the injured leg with his blade. The monster let out a low growl and kneeled on his right leg. Aiken didn't charge his opponent. He knew it would be game over if those huge hands got ahold of him. He didn't need to kill the creature to survive. Wasting time was sufficient.

The minotaur got on its feet with difficulty. It was obvious it was waiting for Aiken to make a move, but the latter did nothing. The monster got frustrated and launched another attack. With Aiken's experience, he could easily avoid the injured monster's attack. Another slash was made on his leg. The young man's constant attack on the legs finally paid off. The Minotaur fell on both knees. Aiken considered going for its life but ultimately decided against it. Though the monster couldn't move, his upper body alone was a threat. Moreover, he wasn't sure if the beast couldn't move at all.

Aiken found a spot nearby and leaned against a tree while watching the creature. Both looked at each other's eyes for about five minutes before the minotaur vanished. He finally relaxed when he received a notification.

[The time is up.]

[The trial has ended. Congratulations on passing the tutorial.]

[Remaining Survivors = 5.]

[Your injury will be healed, and you will be transported to Pangea.]

Aiken sighed. Out of the 476 from the beginning, only 5 survived the minotaurs massacre. He wondered how many survived from countless other tutorial groups. Anyway, the real game will begin. There was a blinding light forcing him to close his eyes. He knew he was being sent to the ground where the god's game took place.