Uncertainty gripped Flynn's mind as he watched the slowly ticking countdown. This practice had become something of a recurring theme within his second life, watching countdowns. He idly wondered what a philosopher would think of him and attribute this part of his life to. The anxiety of time ticking by and passing us? The never-ending countdown of age? Flynn scoffed. Luckily he was no philosopher, and his worries were much more straightforward in the here and now. What would Flynn do with the goodies he had gained so far from the tutorial? His accomplishments by no means were simple, in fact, he was probably within the top 10% of humanity when it came to tokens, and yet he found his gains lacking. He materialized one of the coins flipping it into the air before catching it. A shop screen appeared as he snatched the coin out of the air.

"Finally going to buy something?" A glowing tennis ball made itself known.

"Quite." Flynn's words held no room for argument as he perused his options, the endless number of items flashing as he scrolled downwards.

Flynn had quite a few options even after completing only the beginning section of the tutorial. Having twelve tokens meant he could buy up to twelve F-grade common items. Of course, he could also upgrade to an F-grade uncommon token for ten of those tokens, but that seemed a bit rich for his blood at this particular juncture. It only became more and more expensive as the rarity went up. A rare item cost 10 uncommon tokens meaning he'd have to obtain a hundred common tokens just to unlock one rare purchase, something some people got just for attending the tutorial. He cursed, but luckily his skill let him manage his emotions, well, shove them into the writhing corner of his mind, but it was all the same. If it was up to the warrior, Flynn would have simply waited until the end of the tutorial to combine his tokens into a few necessary purchases securing a lead on the general population of the trials. Unfortunately, if the System hadn't healed him after his combat assessment, he'd be dead right now, or at the very least crippled. He was just too lacking in power to obtain his goal in the short time he had left within the tutorials walls. He needed a boost, and what better way was there than good old shopping? It seemed even omniscient AI systems were even partial to capitalism. Flynn flicked a few items into his purchase section as he scrolled further down.

| Bag of Spatial Storage |

| Rank: Common| Grade: D

| Description: A small satchel that attaches to the waist by a belt that can hold matter equivalent to 15 cubic feet of space. Living items cannot be put into this bag, nor can other bags of storage.

| Price: 2 Common Tokens

| Simple Dao |

| Rank: Common

| Grade: B

| Description: A failed experiment by a craftsman in an uncommon world, this sword was forged from materials found in an uncommon world for its leader. Due to its failure, the smith left the blade unadorned and without spender deciding to sell it to the system shop instead of remelting it. Remember, the sharp side goes towards your enemies.

| Price: 4 Common Tokens

Flynn almost felt physical pain as he purchased the items, using up half his tokens in a matter of seconds. Unfortunately, he wasn't quite done. There was, in fact, one thing he desperately needed, and he would have given up all twelve of his points just to purchase it. Luckily the skill he planned to buy wasn't all that expensive, despite how strong it was. Many found it odd, but most figured the System wanted people to survive, so leaving a skill like this cheap was a good option for it to do so.

| Unrelenting Vitality |

| Rank: Common| Grade: A

| Description: A system-created skill that boosts the user's regenerative ability depending on their Constitution. This skill falls off in greater rarities but is essential for newly integrated species.

| Price: 6 common tokens.

And with Flynn's final purchase, he was left penniless. Instead of moping, Flynn took out the new sword. Its name was simple, but that was okay Flynn far preferred a simpler blade to one adorned with riches. The blade was not something of status; to him, it had a singular goal to kill. That wasn't to say the sword wasn't elegant. It seemed to be a mix of both a Dao and Katana from his own world, and he guessed the System and named it based on terminology that most closely fit form. The System had a habit of doing that. The blade itself was a deep dark silver that Flynn couldn't place. He had never seen a metal like it on earth or even during his time within the trials. Its shape was traditional to the Chinese Dao, with the end being slightly wider. However, the hilt and guard were far closer to a Japanese origin, although both seemed to be a strange approximation of the two. It was far better than the sword he had used during most of his time within the first trial, and he was pretty content with his purchase.

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Flynn fell into a set of movements he had picked up at the end of his stay within the first trial. He flowed through the forms and steps as he all but danced across the room. Most sword forms from earth were created to combat other humans, ones who didn't hold boosted strength and stamina from the System. This one, however, had been created after the systems integration by one of the best swordsmen on earth. It was made to kill man and monster alike, and even now, Flynn found himself in the debt of that crotchety old man. A whistle echoed out from the glowing ball across the room.

"Not many newly integrated can make a sword sing as well." The words were not hotty or sarcastic and Flynn, if he didn't know better might have thought he had gained a bit of respect from the orb. Only Flynn knew better, and no one, not even the gods themselves, could gain this particular guide's respect. Flynn ignored the little shit turning his sight inwards to his newly obtained skill. He felt it radiate outwards throughout his body from his heart, filling his cells with vitality and warmth. Unrelenting Vitality was a passive skill that cost no mana reservation, all in all, it was a broken skill that allowed anyone to come back from the brink of death if given enough time. It would eat up stamina and mana to restore health when an injury occurred as long as the being was out of a combat situation. It allowed for what would usually take weeks or years to heal in a matter of days or hours, the only cost being your mana and stamina regen. It had its limits, but if he had this skill after completing the combat assessment he would have been in peak shape before he ever left the arena.

Next, Flynn fiddled with the System's UI to better suit his tastes. He hoped his class error was simply some sort of visual bug, but no matter what he tried, it didn't change. It was worrying, to say the least. Without a class, much of his power would be limited, and he could only rely on using purchasable skills, which, although powerful, were extremely costly. Classes were essentially the core of any warrior in the System, especially in early development. After fiddling for a while, he finally had the System where he wanted it.

Three simple bars adorned his vision, each color coated. Red stood for health, blue for mana, and green for stamina. Flynn felt the same way he had when someone showed him this the first time. He was in a god's forsaken RPG. His first clue was the stat points, but this had really sealed the deal for him. He shook his head going over the other changes making sure they were just right. He made certain combat notifications of importance would appear in the bottom right of his screen as a blinking notification or symbol depending on the situation. As for the rest, he tweaked them slightly but left most of it default. He just didn't have time or patience to mess with everything. Besides, he had a tennis ball to interrogate.

"Have you ever heard of the system having an error?" Flynn begrudgingly asked the golden orb.

"Oh, now you want me as your guide?"

"Nevermind, I should have known it would be useless to ask. It's not like a glorified intern would have any answers." Flynn went for a low blow, and the orb started to vibrate. He feared it might actually explode."No, I have not heard of the System having an error, at least not during the trials. Nothing has enough power within a trial to actually affect the System. Maybe in the early days when legendary planets and even primordial ones were participants." The orb decided to keep her job as his guide, answering the question with a know-it-all attitude. "But now the System doesn't let planets get that old before scooping them up. Especially so for your planet, you barely make the requirement to be common ranked beings." She scoffed but to her surprise, Flynn made no argument or comment against her. Mainly because it was something, he actually agreed on. His race was weak compared to other races, even within the first trial. Luckily earth's version of humanity was extremely good at two things adapting and warfare. That was really the only reason they could get past the first trial. However, this time Flynn planned on things being different. He would make things different.

"Thanks for the information," Flynn waved his hand as if shooing the orb away like an unwanted pet.

"We should really speak of the tutorial, I can't tell you much, but I can give you information that might save your life. I understand that you are powerful, but the third phase of the tutorial scales in difficulty drastically." Flynn allowed her to finish speaking before answering. She was quite different this time around. In his first life, she had constantly pushed him giving him tips that usually led to him being in danger. Flynn felt no malice towards him this time and suspected he understood the reason.

"Look, if you wish to remain my guide, answer my questions, but that is all. Think of this as a paid vacation, you don't have to do anything, and you make money while doing it?" Flynn thought it was a fair enough offer, the orb was already on track to gain whatever they gave guides and then some, so he promptly began ignoring the sphere. He closed his eyes, slowing his breathing as he reviewed his battle plan for the actual tutorial. After all, the guide wasn't lying when she said there would be a spike in difficulty, and Flynn knew he'd be in grave danger within the final phase. Even with his foreknowledge, his stats were low, and death loomed over him, so he kept his eyes closed, cycling his plan repeatedly as the clock ticked.