An hour earlier…

Janet rubbed her eyes, closing her System Menu. It had been almost a week, and she was no closer to finding information on Rayna. She had even convinced the Liaison to tell her something, but he just came back with a bunch of error messages.

The player ‘Rayna’ does not exist in the System. Please try another search criteria.

There are no players with the race ‘Lerian’ registered with the System. Please try another search criteria.

The tutorial participant that you are querying does not exist. Please check your records to ensure you have the name, level and race information correct and try again.

Rayna was no longer in Janet’s roster either. Her name had been removed from the records. She was just… gone.

Janet was still deciding how to tell Emma. She could tell the two were close and the situation wasn’t looking good.

A new notification popped up and Janet checked it eagerly, hoping the System Administrator received her message.

System update: a new System Feature has just been introduced.

Categories: a rating to define the difference in base physiques between players to more accurately describe a player’s power level. They can now be found in your Character Sheet next to your stats.

To determine your true stat, multiply your base stat by your C-level. All players will be scanned automatically. Please stand by…

Janet sighed. It was just a System update. It was a decent quality of life update if Janet was reading it correctly. The category system could explain the discrepancy between the monster’s abilities and their stats, assuming this applied to monsters as well.

Your C-level has been determined. If you would like to re-evaluate your C-level, you may visit the nearest Power Glass to do so.

Janet pulled up her Character Sheet to check it out. Her C-levels were conveniently located right next to her stats.

Name: Janet Lindale (Tutorial Leader)

Level 7 (394/1,436)

Class: Mage (Initial)

Race: Human

HP: 620/620

MP: 170/170

Stat Points

{C-5} Str: 10

{C-4} Dex: 15

{C-3} End: 63

{C-1} Vit: 62

{C-3} Int: 27

{C-1} Wis: 17

{C-1} Luck: 10

[Free Points: 6]

Janet hadn’t decided where to put her free points yet. On the one hand, she could put them into Intelligence or Wisdom, which were both too low for her current Class, but on the other hand, putting them into Strength or Dexterity might be worth more, now that the C-levels had been added.

Janet closed out her System and headed to the courtyard, finding a small crowd of people standing around and talking.

“Janet!” Ellen, a Level 8 Mage, waved to her. “Did you see the update?”

“Yep,” Janet said. “This will help us pick better monsters to fight, so make sure you bring your C-levels when you look for your next target.”

“The forum is going crazy!” Devon said. “Apparently, they don’t get updates often. The Tutorial Leaders are all freaking out.”

Janet pulled up her forum, grateful that the Universal Translation was functional again so she could read the translated text.

“Janet, can you put your screen in projector mode? The rest of us can’t see the messages from that section.”

Janet considered respecting the sanctity of a private chat, but the Tutorial Leaders from Ember had been an absolute nightmare to work with, so she decided to let the others see what they were chatting about.

She blew up her screen in front of the sitting area they had made with the beds that weren’t yet blood stained, and sat back to watch the show. The others gathered around like they were about to watch a new movie.

The absolute mayhem of the forum was almost as entertaining.

Hortuk: A System Update? In my lifetime? Praise Eldar!

Kel: I thought the System Administrator was too busy to pay attention to us.

Lennak: Is this a good sign? Is the Dark Age not coming?

Hortuk: Don’t mention it, you’ll jinx us all!

Lennak: Sorry.

Jeran: Can you believe the humans? They’re acting like nothing happened! One of them even looked disappointed that his notification was ‘just an update’.

Opan: Seriously? They don’t even know the basics. They’re going to die so quickly when they get to Ember.

Janet rolled her eyes, adding her own comment.

Janet: We might have an easier time if you actually gave us information instead of sitting on your asses waiting for us to fail.

Opan: Ugh. Why don’t you all just take what you’re given and quit complaining.

Jeran: I swear, the longer I’m stuck in this joke of a tutorial, the more I grow to hate these creatures.

Kel: Why did you take the gig in the first place? I bet you’re in here ‘cause you owe someone money.

Jeran: I’m here because I appreciate the System’s gifts, unlike these sorry excuses for players. They should be trembling at the Administrator’s feet for showing such mercy.

Ware: It isn’t their fault. Who could rejoice at being stolen from their home? Perhaps if the lot of you were nicer to them, they wouldn’t be so quick to hate us.

Olina: My group is positively delightful! Did you know we already have a Level 10? In two weeks! They became quite enthusiastic as soon as they recovered from the shock.

Jeran: Enthusiastic or desperate? My group is full of Level 1 Healers who squeak like Robis whenever you hit them. It’s quite amusing.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

“What a creep!” Carl, a Level 2 Healer, said. “Does this System have a report function or something?”

“It has Liaisons,” Janet said, quickly navigating to the right section.

Action requested: A Tutorial Leader going by the name of Jeran in the forum has admitted to physically abusing his players. Please intervene on their behalf.

She waited for a moment and the Liaison answered.

The Tutorial Leader Jeran has been issued a warning. If the problem persists, he will be removed from the tutorial. Thank you for bringing this to the System’s attention.

“Dang, that was quick,” Devon said.

“It helps that he admitted to it.” Janet said. “I don’t think the Liaison would have acted without that.”

She flipped back to the chat.

Jeran: Which one of you rats just reported me?

Kel: Me!

Olina: Me as well.

Ware: You’re actively hurting our relations with the humans. Why wouldn’t we report you?

Janet: Glad to see that some of you are willing to work with us. Any information would be appreciated. You can contact me directly in the section for tutorial group 384.

Jeran: I bet this is your fault, bitch! When I get out of here, I’m going to find you and rip your throat out!

Janet went back to the System Liaison.

Feature Request: Block. A button to hide the messages of another player and to make your messages invisible to players you have blocked. It is useful for preventing cyber-bullying and verbal abuse.

Request acknowledged. It will be forwarded to the System Administrator. Is there a particular person you would like to block?

The Tutorial Leader Jeran.

Janet flipped back to the chat.

“A block button would be nice,” Carl commented. “But I feel like a follow button would be more useful. I had to make a list of forums to go back to.”

“I’ll put a request in later,” Janet said.

Jeran: And when you do, you’re going to be begging me for mercy.

Kel: Quit blustering, she’s not even listening.

Olina: You are quite an unpleasant person, aren’t you?

Jeran: You’re next, human-lover.

Olina: Human-lover? That’s the best you can come up with?

System Liaison: The Tutorial Leader Jeran has been forcibly removed from the tutorial due to physical abuse of his players and threats of physical violence toward others.

Olina: Oh, that is a relief. I’m sorry all you humans had to see that. I promise few in Ember share his views.

Ware: I don’t know if I agree with that, but we’ll do our best to deal with the ones who do.

Kel: Don’t worry, we’re used to this kind of crap.

Lennak: Wait, you’re a human?

Kel: Never said I wasn’t.

Olina: Oh, that is sneaky.

Janet: I have my chat in presenter mode. Do you have any advice that would help my players? We’re doing fine, but growth is slow.

Olina: Presenter mode?

Kel: It means she made her screen larger and is showing everyone at once.

Olina: Oh, that makes sense. Umm… my best advice is to pay attention to the categories of the monsters you’re fighting. Higher category monsters tend to give more Experience per level, though it’s not a hard and fast rule.

Ware: My advice is to go in individually. Splitting the Experience may sound great, but it just means you have to kill more monsters at once.

Lennak: No, they should go in groups, that way less of them die.

Janet: We’re using the group strategy to build up smaller players and the individual strategy to build a few power houses as far as we can.

Opan: Get as high as you can before you get out of here. There might not be much time once you reach Ember.

Olina: Should we really be telling them that?

Opan: How are they going to know if we don’t?

Lennak: That’s true, but what if we make it worse?

They had been doing this all week. Someone would mention the state of the System, and everyone else shut them down. Now was the time to push, or they may never get any real information.

Janet: Is this related to the Dark Age?

Lennak: You already know?

Janet: No, you mentioned it earlier and the topic keeps sneaking its way into conversations.

Ware: You’re all insane.

Kel: And you’re paranoid. Don’t make us go into this blind just because you don’t want to jinx yourself. Can’t you see that System errors are basically all we’ve experienced so far. We know something’s wrong and you all beating around the bush like this is really starting to get on my nerves!

There was a moment of silence in which Janet wasn’t sure if they were actually going to get an answer. Then Ware, of all people, posted a full explanation. The further Janet read, the more she wished she hadn’t asked.

Ware: I’m only going to post this once, so make sure you read it all the first time. The story goes like this. Ember was once a thriving utopia. The System Administrator brought in groups of Chosen periodically to bolster the population and keep the monsters under control. This is the time we call the Golden Age of Ember. It was a time of peace, when everyone had the freedom to pursue whatever Class they wished.

About three thousand years ago came the First Dark Age. In the space of a day, every function of the System was lost at once. No more Teleportation or Archives, no Store or Communications Relays; even the System Interface went dormant. The people of Ember were left with nothing but their stats.

As the System went dormant, so did its protections. Monsters poured forth from the forests, laying waste to everything in their path. Whole cities crumbled to ash and rubble under the onslaught. Those who survived fled to the mountains, fortifying caves to help them beat back the enemy.

Not much is known about that time. So much was lost, both from the Dark Age and from the Golden Age before it. Journals and records were trapped in the player’s Inventories and transferred to the System upon their deaths. Over time, some of these records have been recovered as rewards for quests, but precious little survived the endless battles.

The First Dark Age only lasted fifty years, but it is still regarded as the worst in history.

When the System came back, the people rejoiced. They drove the monsters back into their zones and restored order to the land. After that came what we call the First Light Age. It lasted a little over five hundred years and for much of that, the people of Ember thought they were safe. Then the System started to show signs of collapse.

It wasn’t all at once this time; it was a slow grind to the end of civilization. First the non-essential functions were disabled—the Store, Teleportation, the Archive—then it started to cut back on more important functions like Universal Translation, penalty titles, and even Class Ascension. Over the last century of the First Light Age, the System slowly shut itself down.

Right before the end, it pulled a new group of Chosen, as if trying to bolster itself through the growth of new players, but it did nothing but delay the Dark Age for a few years. The Second Dark Age lasted a century, but it wasn’t as devastating as the first. The people knew what to expect and they took steps to fortify their cities and prepare themselves for war without the System.

Then began the endless push and pull. A Dark Age ends, allowing us to rebuild, then the next one begins, forcing us back to what we were before. Every time the cycle repeats, the Light Age gets shorter, and the Dark Age gets longer. The Fifth Dark Age lasted three centuries, and it has only been three centuries since it ended.

In a few thousand years, it might worsen to the point that the System never returns. That is why people are so afraid to speak of it. No one wants to acknowledge Ember’s slow decline, or the fact that they were born into hell.

Janet stared at the screen, despair rising in her chest. She thought they would have a chance to grow and learn to protect themselves. Now this? They were being sent into a pit of monsters without even their spells or skills? Didn’t that make Mage the most useless Class? What about healing spells?

“We need to prepare,” Devon said.

Janet turned to him. His face was resolute, even as his hand trembled. A few of the players were crying, and one of them stood up and left.

Janet squared her shoulders, turning back to the chat room. Devon was right. Now was not the time to fall apart.

Janet: What can we do?

Lennak: Do?

Janet: We’ve heard the history. What is being done to prepare? Do we have war machines? Walls? What are Ember’s armies like? Do they take volunteers? We also need to know where the best hunting spots are since we’re going to have to grow quickly in what time we have left.

Ware: We have the walls, but armies? War Machines? Can you elaborate?

Devon gaped at the screen. “Have these people never heard of a trebuchet?”

Janet shook her head. “Considering that word is French, no, they probably haven’t heard of it.”

Janet: What is the organized fighting like on Ember? What ranks are there?

Olina: It depends on the country. I know Helia has knights. My country, Kelinar doesn’t have a military. We hunt individually. It’s more efficient when dealing with hordes.

Ware: That’s nonsense. Parties of five or six work the best. That way you can watch each other’s back.

Lennak: I think Jerith has soldiers, but I’ve never really seen them. They mostly guard the walls of the territory.

Janet blinked. They didn’t have formal militaries? On a planet that is constantly fighting?

Janet: How about international cooperation? Are there discussions on how to prevent the Dark Age? Or perhaps relief efforts for refugees? Where can we be of the most use?

Ware: You want to go to Helia if you’re looking for organization. Lord Myre controls that country, and he leads well. I heard they have an idea for preventing the Dark Age, but it’s not going very well.

Olina: That’s because he’s a fool. He thinks that gathering energy is enough. We need to be lowering the monster population to reduce the energy requirements.

Opan: Having a lower population of craftsmen would help as well. The fact that we are leaking energy to help them grow is making everything worse.

Lennak: You wouldn’t have Health potions or swords without the craftsmen. Show some respect.

The conversation devolved into an argument, and it took Janet a few minutes to get them back on track.

Janet: What I’m gathering from all of this is that there are efforts being made to prevent the Dark Age. That is good. What can we do right now to help? And if nothing, how can we prepare for when we’re released?

Ware: Fight bigger monsters if you can. The System is losing energy from this tutorial. The bigger monsters you fight, the less energy it wastes teleporting them in. After you get out, just kill as many big monsters as you can.

Olina: Don’t forget the small ones, too. Every little bit helps. But for this tutorial, where you only get to fight a hundred monsters each, Ware is right. Fight the biggest you can manage without getting yourself killed. It will help with your growth as well.

Janet: Understood. I am going to make a forum topic for the Dark Age and ask the Liaison to pin it to the forum home. If you have anything to add, please put it there. We have three weeks to prepare for being transferred to Ember and I would like to do anything we can to ensure our mutual survival.

The topic moved on, and Janet took her screen out of projector mode.

“Devon, I need you to spread news of the Dark Age among our players. Let people know that the portals are closed for today and we’re holding a meeting later to discuss strategies.”

Devon stood up and nodded, running off to follow her instructions.

“Ellen, I need you to go to the forum and start telling everyone about the Dark Age. Get a few helpers if you need to, but we want everyone aware of this as soon as possible.”

Ellen nodded.

A player exited the portals.

Janet walked over. “Emma, just in time. I’m going to need your help with planning.”

Emma frowned. “What’s going on?”

“I finally got the Tutorial Leaders to tell us what has them on edge,” Janet said. “And our time on Ember is going to be even harder than we thought.”