Tess was exhausted. Not physically, but rather mentally. She took a seat atop one of the collapsed pillars within the arena. As she allowed herself to breathe, emotion came welling from deep within. How long had it been since she thought of home? It was a constant thought when she had originally been summoned, but had grown distant the longer she had remained stuck. It was like her family had died, just as it was likely that she had apparently died to them. Tears flowed as she again thought of a distant family she was never going to see.

She purposely did not check Timekeeper when she had recomposed herself, unwilling to know just how long she had spent in despair. Letting out the pent up feelings she had been unconsciously holding freeing. A tension she had felt was no longer there.

“Alright. What did we get for the trouble?” she said, approaching the reward chest.

Yanking the thing open, she found a pile of coins lining the bottom, acting as a sort of bed for a black, hooded robe. Identify called the item a Reaper's Cloak. It had some decent stat boosts, but most notably had a Life Drain ability, healing the wearer as they inflicted damage with a weapon.

“That's almost too convenient for my spellsword build,” Tess complained.

That reminded her that she wanted a more interesting name than ‘spellsword.’ She equipped the Reaper's Cloak, then modified its look using Appearance. There was now less billowing and excess cloth, fitting much closer to her own figure. All she needed now was a cauldron…

“Witch.”

Witches were, by the standards of her childhood, horrible godless beings that did evil things like eat children and trick maidens with curses. Learning from her numerous apprentices, that definition had changed to be someone a little less innately vile, but still dangerous. Someone who, perhaps stereotypically, wore black robes and an oversized floppy wizardry hat.

“Witchblade?”

That did not lock her into just using a sword. Any sort of blade would work. It was interesting and unique, but was it worthy of being the name of her build? No, that was the name that a weapon deserved. The name she felt was needed continued to elude her, so she decided to move on for now.

After shoveling the coins into her magic bag, Tess stopped by the numerous corpses and took their guild tags. There were sure to be family or friends who wanted some sort of closure about their adventurer. She also took a set of arm bracers which were enchanted off a knight looking sort of fellow. They had minor buff against damage received that was percentile, so with her stats being higher she would gain better use of the thing.

She still needed a proper set of armor, not to mention other charms and accessories, but for now Tess was pleased with the progress on her new gear set for her build. It was more fun to assemble from random bits at the start, then later either find or craft the legendary set that was the final form. The Witchblade would be her crowning jewel, of that she was certain.

“Could there be Random Boxes here too?”

It was possible, since the Tutorial served as an introduction to the System, the code for the Random Box existed within it. It was not going to be something that just randomly showed up in a convenient shop like it had with Charles’ cart. Perhaps in Purple ranked dungeons? Or held by Purple ranked creatures?

As Tess took one last look around the arena, she again thought about everything. She was maybe at Yellow rank, since she beat the dungeon, but according to her own understanding she should be so powerful that she astonished everyone immediately. In many ways, this world reflected the stories she had been told. The System measured things with points and levels. Stats improved oneself while skills gave unique powers to those individuals. Items could grant bonuses and give other abilities to their wielders. Monsters and dungeons were the training grounds for improvement that operated mainly in the same fashion as so many other stories. Rewards were even distributed. So why… how was she still weak?

The Crypt's most important lesson was that she was not the best yet. Being on ‘easy mode’ in the Tutorial for so long had warped her perception of the threat the world posed beyond it. She had always tried to instill that the threat existed, and hopefully succeeded, yet saw none of it herself. She was overconfident, arrogant even. The Crypt broke that notion and had her reeling.

“They all said to join the Guild, then you go on quests and fight in dungeons. Is that all there is to the training?”

She needed to ask someone that question, and there was only one place to do that. Tess accepted the query to exit the dungeon.

Teleported back outside the mausoleum, she rushed back to the Adventurer’s Guild. Despite her rush, she managed to not damage the door further as she slipped inside. Pulling up to the counter, the aged receptionist glared at her.

“What? Give up on those quests already?”

Tess slapped down the flyers that she had for the quests, then placed the guild tags she had recovered atop them.

“Nope. Just finished up in The Crypt. Thought these might be important to return. I have the pieces for proof of kill, if you want those too.”

The receptionist flipped silently through the tags, only stopping and staring at the green one for longer than any of the others.

“Did he make it to the boss?”

Clearly this woman knew the green ranked adventurer personally. Tess had not read the tags to know the names written onto them, but perhaps she should have.

“Yes. It seems that was where he fell in battle,” Tess admitted.

The receptionist nodded solemnly.

“He was a good boy. Once he hit Green rank, he went off with his party to get stronger elsewhere. Didn't even make it past Nirra before his father got sick. He came back so fast, it was a lifesaver. Got to be at his bedside when he passed. He stayed longer, making sure I was okay. Spent his time training new adventurers. Then those arrogant kids said they were going into The Crypt. He went after them to stop them, but didn't make it in time. I begged him not to go in, but he was determined to rescue them from their own choices. When none of them came out we all knew what had happened.”

Tears had started falling as she spoke, but now she could not continue her story through the tears. Tess could see the mother grieving for her lost son, and in her mind saw her own mother weeping at her disappearance. Empathy swelled as Tess imagined how she might react were she in similar shoes. She had felt both proud and sad as each of her apprentices moved on, but they were not family in the same way that a child was. Realizing this, and that the receptionist needed some time, Tess quietly moved over to the other receptionist.

“Ma'am?” Tess whispered, “I need to know how I measure up in the ranks. And how to get better.”

The younger woman nodded.

“Well, as for the second part of your question, you should probably fight more monsters before going into a dungeon. While you get more points and levels inside, the risk of death is too great for most people. Better to gain experience where you can flee if needed, you know?”

That was it, experience. It was one thing the System could not measure. The Tutorial had no death for the player, but was designed to be done quickly. Tess had lost that edge.

“As for the former, I would say you are at least Green rank, as you not only survived a Yellow dungeon, but you did it alone no less. That's probably even Blue rank. You'll have to complete a rank test to determine where you are though.”

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

Tess sighed.

“I see. No magical device to measure such things? Too convenient, huh?

“No. I am not aware of such a device.”

“Then I guess I have to fight your guildmaster, right?” Tess asked.

The receptionist looked confused.

“Why would you fight him?”

“Isn't he the strongest? That's how you get the position?”

The receptionist laughed.

“Oh no. He does the official stuff from the headquarters, but he was only an Orange at his peak.”

“Then who?”

The receptionist pointed at her companion at the counter, still staring at the green guild tag of her son.

“Oh.”

“She made Blue in her day. While perhaps not what she once was, she’s still at least Green.”

“Watch your mouth, Carla,” said the older receptionist.

“Yes, ma'am,” Carla said back.

The receptionist, somewhat back in the present, placed the tag down and gave Tess yet another once over.

“She's right that you're Green. Want to do the Blue test?”

Tess gave a nod, though her surety about this test was still questionable.

----------------------------------------

Several days had passed since her return from the Crypt, and Tess had not been idle. Now that she had some funds to her name again, she quickly spent them on some leather armor, proper boots, and a simple sword to fill out her basic kit. She even had time to copy the stat enchantment from the hat to the boots and the defense one from the bracers to the armor. She stopped short of enchanting her new sword though, as she was still unsure about which to use.

Tess even found time to go hunting for random monsters, grinding to gain the experience she was lacking. Despite her efforts, not much was close enough to pose a real challenge. The parts she was able to harvest made hunting them passable for monetary gains.

After almost a week, the announcement of her test for Blue rank was made public, causing a stir within the guild. As Tess walked in the morning of, a wide berth within the small building was made by the other adventurers. Since she had beat up a party, soloed a dungeon, and was now fighting the branch’s best combatant, she had developed a reputation.

“I guess you're ready,” Tess acknowledged as she arrived at the counter.

“Indeed. Your arrival signifies your acceptance?” replied the receptionist, now not looking so much like one.

Her gray-streaked hair was tied back, with some sort of headband now being prominently shown off. Her clothes were beneath a set of layered armor, which Tess could see had both metallic and leather elements to it. Leather gloves and boots also had the same layered feature to them, though clearly lighter than the armor itself. A pair of blades hung from her belt, each a bit longer than Tess's own sword.

“I am,” Tess affirmed.

“Then let's go and give ourselves some space. There are no limits in this test. We go until the other surrenders or is unable to continue. No killing blows.”

Tess agreed and followed the woman. Together they left the town to stand just outside the walls. The crowd of adventurers from the guild followed to watch this match. It seemed nothing else was going to be done at the guild today. Carla, the other receptionist, seemed to be acting as judge.

“The Blue rank test for adventurer Tess will commence. This test shall be a duel against guild employee, Hepha, a Blue rank herself. Any questions?”

Neither Tess nor Hepha had any.

“Begin.”

“Binding Chains.”

Light emitting chains sprung into existence with Tess's spell, reaching for Hepha to restrain her.

“Good. Immobilizing one's foe is a good starting move.”

The chains did not touch her though, as in an instant Hepha had drawn both of her blades and sliced through the spell.

“What do you do when it doesn't work?”

Tess had not expected it to not work. She drew her own blade, yet did not advance. Hepha stood in place too.

“Distort,” Tess chanted.

Tess appeared to multiply into three while also becoming blurry to see.

“Making yourself hard to hit is good too.”

Tess charged in swinging her blade. One of Hepha's blades leapt up and caught the attack, deflecting it while the woman spun to bring the other blade in for her own attack. Tess ducked beneath and lashed out with a kick that separated the two.

“Unafraid to use your other limbs. To fight dirty.”

Tess could not understand why Hepha was making comments as the duel went on. Multiple times they came together, exchanging clashes of the sword and limb. Tess tried interweaving spells into her blade work, only to find them ineffective or nullified. Hepha seemed to be enjoying everything. Tess created space between them again.

“What? Nothing else to do?” Hepha taunted.

Tess was growing frustrated. Never had any opponent stood up to her abilities for this long. Was there something wrong with her? Tess switched to a barrage of spells from range.

“Keeping distance is a good strategy. If you can finish an opponent before they can touch you, then you definitely win.”

Hepha seemed to be immune to her own statement. She slashed some spells apart while dodging others. Then a burst of speed brought Hepha in close, catching Tess by surprise.

“Always keep a trump card in your hand, dear.”

Hepha grabbed Tess by the face and slammed her into the ground. Tess groaned in pain as she felt the impact.

“Get up. You've got more in you.”

Tess stood, obeying the command and trying to be defiant. She had tried so much, yet nothing had worked so far. Spells were useless, but why? Then it hit her.

“Silent Cast,” Tess commented.

“Very good. You figured out a skill of mine.”

Tess had it too, but had always been so fast she never thought about it before. She had an idea.

Binding Chains, she thought.

This time the chains caught Hepha off guard. They snared her leg and in the brief moment of distraction, Tess moved. Copying Hepha, Tess disarmed her of one blade, then the other before holding her sword to Hepha's face.

“I yield,” Hepha said calmly.

Tess sagged with fatigue. Cheers went up from the crowd, stunned by the spectacle they had witnessed.

“I deem you worthy of Blue rank. You have a lot of potential, but need to remember to utilize the skills you have.”

Tess agreed.

“How did you get so many skills?”

A chill ran down her spine. No one had ever commented on seeing her status. She had figured it impossible. Tess gazed at Hepha in amazement. This woman had much to teach her. As such, Tess decided to be honest with her.

“I'm probably meant to be the hero.”

After all, whether the goddess believed it or not, Tess was a hero candidate.

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Elsewhere

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“... that there were two hero candidates.”

The new lesser deity in charge of the System's Maintenance Mode was visibly shaking with nerves as they reported on a submitted concern that stood out from the rest. They had been working at the complaints practically non stop since they had been ‘promoted,’ but frankly found nothing wrong with how their predecessor had been handling the situations. Individually customized patches for the end user software was a tedious way to go about it, which is perhaps part of why things were taking, as the supervisor deemed, too long. It was effective and made the clients happy that something was done, though a more thorough dive into those patches code showed no actual changes of note.

Then the deity found the Tutorial patch. Oh how they wished they had not found that patch. After all, a hero candidate stuck within the Tutorial was impossible. Yet the data showed there had been. After the patch was applied, it was then that the stuck hero candidate had left. The problem was that there had been another candidate at the same time inside. When the stuck one exited, the other had grabbed on and was carried through. It should have never happened, because there never should have been two there at the same time, but it was not something they had tested for. Which had led to this concern that the lesser deity was now explaining to the supervisor.

“So let me get this straight. The client is complaining because they received two heroes, but only paid for one copy of the System?”

“Ummm, well, the client apparently only acknowledged one as the hero, like we advise.”

“So what’s the problem?”

“The client is concerned about acknowledging the wrong one.”

“So just tell them to kill the other one. Why are you bothering me with this?”

The lesser deity remained silent.

“Get out of my office and just fix the client’s problems. I don’t care how it gets done.”

The lesser deity scrambled away. They were fairly sure they already understood why their predecessor had left. But if the supervisor just wanted things fixed, and did not care, then they knew what to do.

----------------------------------------

Elsewhere over Iriea

----------------------------------------

Oena sat staring at the message she had received back from the developer. There was a bunch of standard pleasantries and boot-licking words to try and ingratiate themselves to her, which she did not bother to read, before the valuable information.

“They have no idea what went wrong. Both were hero candidates, but only one was supposed to arrive here. Both… Both?”

Oena felt that nagging thought come back. She pulled up her list of System users on Iriea and again sorted them by start date. On the day that she received her hero, only the hero Olivia was there as having started a few days beforehand. That made sense now that she understood there was a Tutorial that the hero candidates went through, according to the message reply. Where was the other one? There were millions of entries to scour through, but she had to find that imposter girl’s entry. No, not imposter.

Oena paused as she reflected on the moment that the two little girls had appeared before her. Admittedly, she had taken favor to the one that looked a lot like herself. But that was not a guaranteed thing, so why had she chosen to believe her?

“Conviction?”

The girl had spoken as though she was certain to be believed. Whereas the other one just shut down. If she was a hero too, why did she not fight back? There was something that had to have interfered, as none of it made much sense.

She glanced back at her list of users. There was little to do than to look through each tab to try and find the other hero girl. She pulled up the first tab… and immediately noticed the unusual entry sitting in the first spot.

“Theresa. Start date… oh… I’ve really screwed up.”

As Oena stared at the profile entry, there was a knock at the entrance of her divine realm.