The group had walked a few blocks down the road when a flash of red appeared around the corner ahead. The light reflected off the shattered glass covering the streets.

Leandra raised her bow and drew an arrow while Ethan crouched and moved into an alley; he knelt and waited for something to pass by, preparing an ambush. Leo glanced around, saw Paul gripping his staff tightly, and prepared himself.

A figure dashed around the corner, revealing itself as a large, fire-wreathed wolf or hound. Its fur was slick and black, and it slavered as it growled. It rushed toward them as two more ran around the corner behind it.

Leo’s eyes widened as Leandra loosed her arrow before drawing another one, her eyes focused on the leading hound.

The first arrow struck the leading hound in the throat, causing it to stumble, but it kept coming.

“Do something!” she shouted back at Leo and Paul.

Paul snapped out of it first and raised his staff.

A shimmering barrier that didn’t stop her arrow from passing through appeared before Leandra. The arrow shot from her bow through the barrier and kept going, but it gained a shimmering layer that seemed to burn the hound when the arrow struck.

Leo shook his head and raised his hand as the first hound dropped to the ground.

His Mana Bolt shot from his finger and struck the second hound in the eye, causing it to shriek and veer to the side.

The third hound ran on and passed a narrow alley where Ethan had been hiding.

The rogue jumped out and slashed one of his shortswords at the hound’s legs. It cut deep, causing the hound to fall. It rolled, head over heels, before slumping as an arrow struck its chest.

Leo shot another Mana Bolt at the hound he’d hit before, and it flew into its open mouth. The hound fell, and a ding sounded in Leo’s head.

[Your party has slain three Hellhounds. Experience awarded.]

[Level up!]

The sun sat high in the sky, bathing the scene in light. Leo felt queasy as he saw the hounds’ black blood pool beneath their unmoving forms. The fire around them had flickered out the moment they died.

“Urgh,” Leo groaned and bent forward. “That’s-. Fuck. I’ve never killed anything.”

His hands trembled as he sat down, and Paul approached him from the side.

“You alright?” Paul asked. Leo heard the slight tremor in his voice.

“Yeah,” Leo nodded before he shook his head. “No. I’ve never killed anything larger than a wasp before. This is messed up.”

“It is,” Paul nodded and held out a hand. “But, we can’t stay here. You know that. Let’s get going.”

Leo nodded, took a deep breath and accepted Paul's assistance. He got to his feet and looked around.

Leandra and Ethan were looking at them but looked away when they walked closer.

“Let’s keep moving,” Leandra said as she began walking. “And don’t fucking freeze next time. I’ll haunt you if I die because you can’t do your jobs.”

Leo lowered his head as he nodded, avoiding Leandra’s eyes, but followed after her. He busied himself by watching his mana bar fill slowly.

“Urgh,” Leo groaned. “This is all kinds of messed up. I’d thought killing monsters would be easy, but this-. I’m fucking nauseous, my hands are shaking, and that was only some monstrous hounds. What if I have to fight a person?”

They walked past broken storefronts, shattered windows, and gutted skyscrapers but encountered nothing else for almost an hour.

“Where is everyone?” Leo wondered, having finally gotten a handle on his twisting stomach. “Shouldn’t there be other people here? Why is it so silent and empty?”

“Something’s wrong,” Ethan said, appearing from a side alley. “I’ve scouted around for a bit but haven’t seen any signs of other people.”

“Yeah,” Leandra nodded as they stopped. “I think it’s safe to say we’re still not back on Earth. Not really. This has to be some separate space, or we’d have encountered someone. This city was full of people, thousands of inhabitants; there’s no way it would be this empty if we were all brought to the same place.”

“I agree,” Leo nodded. “So, assuming this is a tailored Tutorial for us, how does that change our plan?”

“It doesn’t,” Leandra said. “We still need to find someplace fortifiable.”

“Yes,” Leo nodded. “I can think of a few spots nearby. There’s a police station not too far away. City Hall should have some form of security, maybe a bunker or something, and a few schools in the area should also be workable. Otherwise, there’s a walled area not too far, where rich people like to separate their luxury from the masses.”

Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.

“The fenced compound could be good,” Leandra hummed as she scratched her chin. “But, it’s a large area. We’d need more people to secure it. The same goes for the other options, to be honest.”

“Oh,” Leo slapped his forehead. “There’s an embassy not too far, too! That’s got a solid wall and is a single building with a bit of space around it.”

“Perfect,” Leandra smiled. “I’m not too familiar with the area. Do you think you could lead the way?”

“Sure,” Leo nodded. “Ethan. Are you a local?”

“Yeah,” he nodded. “I’ll scout ahead. Don’t w-”

He was interrupted by a roar as a tall, muscular, green figure dashed from one of the buildings next to them. It was meters away when they noticed it, and it swung a massive axe as it ran. Leo reacted quickly and activated Mana Barrier, forming a circular disk of mana between him and the creature.

It slammed into the barrier and stopped, but Leo saw his mana plummet to near empty. He cast a Mana Bolt and saw it hit zero.

An arrow flew shortly after, and Ethan appeared behind the figure and stabbed it with his swords.

[Your party has slain an Orc. Experience awarded.]

“Fuck!” Ethan grimaced. “That was close. Good job, Leo.”

“Thank you,” Leo nodded and swallowed. “Damn. Alright, we should move. There might be more of them.”

“Yeah,” Leandra nodded. “Let’s go.”

They followed Leo as he picked up his pace and led them through the city.

“Oh, right,” Leo shook his head and sighed. “I forgot about the level-up. Let’s see—five stat points. Intelligence usually affects Mana pool and Magic attack power, so let’s put two points there and two into Wisdom for the regeneration. Uhm, the last point… I’ll put it into Constitution. I hope I’m right about these stats.”

He felt a rush of energy enter his body. Leo stumbled slightly but retained his footing as he kept walking.

They walked for a few more minutes, silently watched every nook and cranny, but saw no sign of other hostiles.

Leo turned the final corner and almost bumped into Ethan, who stood staring at the scene before them.

“What the-?” Leo exclaimed, wide-eyed. A dense forest spread before them, and as the group gathered around, Leo heard the sounds of birds and animals in the distance. In the split-second it took to turn around the corner, it transformed from an eerily quiet city into a noisy, clamouring jungle.

Leo turned around, looked at his group, and came to a terrifying realisation. The city was gone!

“What the fuck?!” he exclaimed. “The city! It’s gone!”

“Quiet!” Leandra whispered and clamped a hand over Leo’s mouth. He saw the tension and fear in her eyes, but she kept calm somehow. “Yeah, alright. We’re stuck in a fucking forest now. The plan stays the same. It’s only the details that change.”

She looked at the others in the party, and once she felt they’d collected themselves, she released Leo and straightened.

“Alright, listen up!” she said in a low voice. “I’ve got some experience with wilderness survival. We need shelter, and quickly. In the city, we could have made do with four walls and a ceiling, but here we need elevation. Night-time is when the hunters come out, and we do not want to be caught on the ground when they show. That was when the Earth was regular. With magic, I can only assume it’ll get worse. So, we need a large tree or some elevated structure. If we can find some cave we can secure, that’d work, but I wouldn’t bet on it.”

She began walking slowly as she spoke. The rest of the team hung on every word.

“We’ll need food, as well,” Leandra continued. “But, that’s a lesser issue here. Plants gather water, which we can collect, and animals are all around. I should be able to hunt a few, but I’m not doing that until we have a secure location.”

They kept going in silence. Ethan stuck close to them since he wasn’t as comfortable in a forest as in a city.

Leo felt stifled by the heat, and the dampness of the jungle caused his clothes to stick to his skin. All around him was green and brown, and the underbrush crunched beneath their feet. The sounds around them were cacophonous. He heard rustling all around and jumped at every shadow.

Most animals steered clear of them, which suited the group fine, but once in a while, they’d wander into the territory of something defensive.

Leo’s Mana Bolt got a lot of practice and levelled up to level 2, while his Barrier remained at level 1.

Too soon, the sun began setting, and Leo saw Leandra begin to sweat. She shook her head and gestured for them to gather around her.

“Alright,” she whispered. “We’re just going to have to deal with the lack of space. We’re climbing this one. It looks sturdy enough and has some solid branches that should hold.”

Leo looked up and saw several meters between the ground and the first branches.

“How do we climb that?” he asked.

“You guys go first,” she said. “Then, you lower Paul’s staff for me. The three of you should be strong enough to get me up there.”

“Fine,” Paul sighed.

It took some effort, but they all climbed the tree before the darkness fell. They each had their own branches and were positioned to monitor each direction.

Their plan fell through quickly as the exhaustion of the day's events caught up to Leo, and he fell asleep, leaning against the tree’s trunk.

***

“They’ve done well,” Light said as the group they were following settled in the branches of a tree. “Better than expected, really. That Leandra is keeping them focused.”

“Yeah,” Lunara nodded along. “I think I might claim her, you know. I don’t often work with rangers or archers, but it’s an interesting challenge.”

“Yeah,” Brimstone snorted. “Anyway, let me guess; Light, you want healy-boy, right?”

“No,” Light shook his head. “I’m considering the mage, Leo. There’s something about him. What about you? Where did you go off to, by the way?”

“Oh,” Brimstone waved him off. “You know I like to do my own thing. Don’t worry, guys. I’m doing this legit. I’m just looking elsewhere, is all.”

“Fine,” Lunara grumbled. “We’ll know if you try anything, though. Don’t ruin the fun for the rest of us just because you’re a terrible loser who can’t play fair.”

“Give me a break, Luny,” Brimstone groaned. “It was one time! Alright? Cut me some slack, would you?”

“Oka-” Lunara was interrupted by Light as he pointed to the screen.

“Look!” Light exclaimed. “Something’s coming!”