“As you have selected a combat oriented class, you will be deposited into a combat tutorial along with a small team of people. As the goal of this tutorial is to assist you in growing, it will be with people that you are familiar with. Please note that the tutorial duration will last forty five days as your region of the planet designated ‘Earth’ is assimilated.” The advisor spoke, this time vanishing before reappearing by a door that had formed against the far wall.
Octavia shivered; the advisor’s casual tone implied that the tutorials were consistent. This really wasn’t a dream, was it? Trying to process the events, she clenched the rough handle of her Chakram tightly.
There were so many questions that were building up that desperately needed to be answered. “What do you mean, my region? What’s happening with the Earth?” The words gushed out of her mouth as panic rose in her chest. Being pragmatic could only go so far, and she couldn’t deny that she was becoming scared.
“The Earth will be split into multiple regions as it is assimilated to preserve life. The regions that are not currently undergoing a tutorial will be frozen.” Once more the advisor spoke with a cold clarity that made Octavia wince. As much as it spoke of preserving life, it seemed so detached and uncaring.
“Frozen, eh? Like frozen in time?”
“Correct. All life forms not taking part in the tutorials will be frozen. After your tutorial and city formations are complete, we will release all frozen beings in batches.” With another wave of its porcelain hand, the door swung open. Rays of golden light poured into the room, squashing the harsh white that came from the ceiling. The sound of wind blowing filled the room, followed by the scent of a lively forest.
“I see.” So it really seemed to want to save as much life as possible. It definitely wasn’t altruistic, but what was the goal? She shifted as she stood there, watching the strange mannequin, trying to come to terms with her new future. This all felt too real to be a dream. Even more so, it happened so quickly. There wasn’t much of a chance to become acclimated. Nor was there a chance to have all the questions building in her chest answered. Her time was running out in this room, and it would leave her searching for answers herself.
Not that it really mattered, as she was always the one to go out and take the world by its throat. Though, did it really matter if the system had come and changed everything? A sigh escaped her lips as her brown eyes settled on the open door, noting the irony of it. One door opens, and another shuts, huh? Hopefully, her friends are okay, and her team as well, since they were the closest things she had to a family.
“As all required material has been collected, please head through the door to the tutorial zone.” The advisor stepped to the side, its form melding into the wall.
“Sure thing. It was nice meeting you.” Octavia glanced over the table, to make sure she retrieved all her new gear before she walked to the door. The sound of her high heels clinking against the ground rang heavily in the air.
“Happy hunting human…” The advisor melted fully into the wall. Its strange voice hung in the air far longer than what was possible, before it too vanished.
Octavia stood in the room alone, taking deep breaths to steel her nerves as she stared out of the open door. Before her stood a forest. Trees reached high into a deep blue sky. The wind coursed through the air, carrying with it the pure scent of nature. She closed her eyes, enjoying the serenity of it all. Unlike her, the trees grew unbothered. Their world wasn’t just rocked and pulled out from underneath them. Maybe it was, but yet they grew uncaring of it all.
When she opened her eyes, the room had vanished, leaving her standing on a metal platform in the middle of the forest.
Welcome to the combat tutorial! This is the first floor of the deep dungeon tutorial. Your objective is to delve into the deep dungeon as far as you can in the allotted time. Monster kills will be rewarded in Reward Points (RP), which can be cashed out at the end of the tutorial. Please note that all RP gains are hidden until the tuturial is finished.
The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
As this is a tutorial designed for the newly initiated, death is not permanent. However, dying will have consequences.
Floor One ‘The Verdant Forest,’
Tutorial duration: 45 Days
A foreign power fills the air, stirring the once peaceful beasts. Survive the beast wave and find the source of the strange power.
Congratulations! As you are in the 1% of humans to be selected for the tutorial, you have been granted the title of Precursor.
Precursor: You are one of the first on Earth to be given access to the system. Lead your people to greatness. +1 to all stats. Gives access to universal language translation.
The words poured through her vision, along with another wave of information. It wasn’t much, but it gave her the general gist of the area. She was still a little on edge, but she was forcing herself to stay calm. Losing her head in a situation like this would only get her killed. Even if death wasn’t permanent, a warning blared in her head at the thought. The consequences would be severe even if she didn’t know what they were.
“Octavia! Are you alright?” Derrick’s voice tore her from her stupor as she turned to look at him. He still wore his work clothes, but over the top of it was what looked like a light blue mage’s robe. He appeared so suddenly that Octavia didn’t notice his arrival.
“Yeah, I’m fine. I'm a little overwhelmed, but I’ll be okay.” She flashed him a small smile as she brought her chakram up and rested it on her shoulder. Truly, she was okay. A little shaken, but mostly calm. Once she got settled in, however, it may be a different story.
“Good, good.” Derrick shuffled over to her, and reached into his pocket, and pulled out a box of cigarettes, slamming his palm into the carton before pulling one out. She eyed the man as he brought it to his lips. Personally, she didn’t enjoy smoking; however, it was his way of dealing with stress, so she’d be shocked if he didn’t smoke at that moment.
“Are you alright?” She asked as her eyes swept around the oddly quiet forest. The only sound was that of the leaves rustling with the wind. It was unnerving to stand in a strange forest, and only have the sounds of the wind to accompany you. She was almost certain her father had told her something about a silent forest being a bad sign once, but that was in a long, distant past.
The clicking of a lighter split the silence before he spoke again. “Yeah, I’ll be alright. Just need to process things.” The acrid smell of burning wood and earthen overtones of a burning cigarette wafted through the air as Derrick stood, carefully nursing it.
“What does this mean? Why us?” She asked in a huff as her attention was pulled to the sky. Not a single cloud was in sight, only a deep, expansive blue that threatened to consume her mind as she stared into its azure depths.
“Hell if I know. It’s so far above me I stopped being scared. Now, I’m just exhausted.” He sucked on the cigarette once more. The cherry embers grew bright before they faded.
“Me too. I really need to sit down and process everything. But from the looks of things, we won’t have the chance.” Her eyes went back down to the forest as she studied the shadows. The light failed to pierce the canopy in any meaningful amount, causing what looked to be a twilight effect. What felt like two pairs of eyes had settled onto her.
“Out of the frying pan, and into the fire. Fucking cock sucking system.” He took a final drag of his cigarette before flicking it to the metal below, grinding it under the heel of his shoe.
A small smile split Octavia’s face, as she turned away from the forest, and looked at the man. “Yeah, fuck the system.” Her eyes lingered on his robe for a few seconds, before something a little more mischievous replaced that smile. “Oh? Is that a mage robe I see? I didn’t take you for that kind of man.”
“I’m sorry. Did you expect me to be some hulking man swinging a sword around? Truly, I’m wounded Octavia.” A faux look of sadness crossed his face as he reached into his robe and pulled out what looked to be a wand.
“Wow, not only are you wearing a mage robe, you are roleplaying as Harry Potter. You truly are a shameless man.” She chuckled as her hand travelled the length of her chakram back towards the handle.
“You know, I wish I knew the killing curse. It might get you to shut up for once.”
“You love it, and you know it.” Octavia flicked her hair, and turned her head away pointedly.
“Yeah yeah, yeah.” He huffed and crossed his arms.
The bantering brought back a sense of normalcy that was violently ripped away by the sudden upheaval of this so-called system. Life wouldn’t go back to normal, but at least this was something she was used to. “Hey, do you think..” As Octavia went to ask if he thought Julia was going to be alright a small glimmer of silver light appeared in between them and there was another woman they both recognized, stumbling out with a sword and shield.
“Hey, Derrick.” Octavia stared at Julia for a second, noting that the woman was wearing what looked like leather armour over her dress shirt.
“Yes, Octavia?”
“Does this mean that Julia is more of a man than you?”