The Cragtusk weren’t in groups, which was good news for Alex. It’s not that he was afraid of them, being higher leveled, but he wasn’t stupid enough to fight a bunch of unknown monsters at the same time.
At least not yet. Alex snickered to himself.
He slowly followed the treeline around the plains, using his [Stealth] skill to get closer. The forest wasn’t too thick and easily allowed him to traverse it. With the skill active, his footsteps were silent, barely any noise caused by his passing. Alex just tried to be careful with his foot placement, so he didn’t step on branches or make unnecessary sounds to alert the creatures.
It didn’t take him long before he was within range of one of the Cragtusk. The creature's body resembled a wild boar. The key differences were the sheer size difference and the rocks covering its back. These Cragtusk looked like they had a miniature mountain range running down their spines. Alex used the term miniature lightly. While it was small compared to real mountains, they were still bigger than his body. The stone covered their backs and upper sides, protecting them. They had long tusks, large, broad heads, and thick, bristly hairs covered the rest of their body.
When he came upon it, he started to channel his [Earth Magic]. He prepared a large stone spike about 10 inches long, 3 inches wide, and sent it hurling at the beast. Instantly after launch, the creature felt the attack, turned, zeroed in on him, and charged toward his position. It somehow instinctively knew where he was the second his stealth fell off.
The spike of earth Alex shot towards the Cragtusk did no noticeable damage. It just broke on its stone-covered back. Turning to his [Fire Magic] next, he started to manifest a fireball. When he launched the spell, it impacted the beast, but again, it didn’t do much. It simply left behind a small scorch mark.
These big bastards are tough. The rocks covering their backs give them strong defense. I could probably kill it easily with an earth spike from under it, stabbing into its uncovered belly. But what fun would that be?
Alex pulled out his sword and waited for the Cragtusk to get closer.
Once it closed the distance, Alex realized he had underestimated its size. It was as tall as a pony, four feet from the ground to its shoulder, and it had to be six feet long.
Shit, I don't know if I’ll be able to drag this thing back to camp. It has to weigh at least a thousand pounds.
The tusks on the boar were over a foot long and could easily skewer Alex. But he didn’t care. He was just excited for the fight.
The Cragtusk tried to run him through on its charge, but Alex dodge rolled to the side and swung his blade as it went by. The sword bit into its fleshy side, drawing blood, but didn’t go too deep. The beast roared out in pain, turned, and charged him again.
So, Alex repeated the same thing. Dodge roll, with a slash to its side.
Hmmm… that's boring. Will it do anything else? He thought to himself.
The third time it came at him, it did finally do something different. Instead of charging him, it walked up slowly and started to thrust its tusks at him. Moving its head around, it struck at him multiple times and tried to impale him. The force of the blows bounced Alex from side to side as he put his sword between the tusks and himself, protecting his body. Even with his new levels and stats, the creature was overpowering him. The Cragtusk was too strong for Alex to block completely.
During the time Alex was being juggled by the creature's might, he had stabbed his sword forward a few times between blocks. The weapon bloodied its snout, but didn’t do much damage.
This thing is too damn big and sturdy. I’m either going to have to get in close to get my sword in deep, or I'll have to use an earth spike.
During one of the beast’s thrusts, Alex misjudged the angle and got a deep gouge in his arm, the tusk easily piercing through him. But rather than backing up after the wound, he tried something else.
Let’s try this.
Alex channeled fire magic into his sword, coating it in flames. The Cragtusk hesitated when it saw the fire. The moment it froze, it gave Alex a chance to slash out with his blade. The fire-wrapped sword bit into the creature's head and destroyed one of its eyes.
One-eyed and bloody, the beast panicked and lunged forward, trying to run Alex through with its tusk. He quickly dodged the lunge and sidestepped the beast, while thrusting his blade into the boar's side, going right for the heart. The Cragtusk squealed and recoiled from the wound. It flailed and jumped off his weapon, but it was too late. Whether it was the sword’s blade itself or the fire that was on it, it had done enough damage to the boar's innards. It fell over dead.
You have slain Cragtusk (Level 6)
Experience and SP gained
He quickly looking the coins, and decided he would get the core later when back at base. Now… how am I going to carry this thing back to camp?
It took Alex 2 hours to get the boar back, when a regular walk would have taken him 30 minutes. He wasn’t too happy about it, but he had a strong motivation.
Bacon.
When he came into the camp, dragging a massive boar, people just stared at him.
The first thing he did was break much of the stone from the creature's back, reducing its weight. Alex then had to chop down a large, leafy branch, hoist the boar onto it, and drag it home by pulling the branch with the boar still on it. It worked, but damn was he tired now.
No way in hell I could have dragged this damn pig before the integration. These strength points are definitely noticeable, even those extra three I just used.
Alex had used three of his eleven free points, putting them into strength to make his journey a little easier. He wasn’t comfortable adding more than three to his strength, as he planned to use them elsewhere.
Since it had been a while, he pulled up his full status sheet.
Alex Everett
Race: Progenitor
Level: 8
Profession: Progenitor’s Path
Class: Progenitor’s Path
Stats
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Strength: 18 (20)
Agility: 14 (18)
Endurance: 10 (13)
Toughness: 13 (20)
Perception: 7 (12)
Wisdom: 10 (17)
Intelligence: 10 (22)
Willpower: 18 (22)
Free points: 8
Essential Skills: Basic Skinning
Skills: Stealth, Earth Magic, Power Strike, Fire Magic
Racial Abilities: Eyes of the Cosmos, Celestial Control
Equipment worn: Sword of Alex Everett(+2 all), Ring of Intelligence(+1 int), Ring of Wisdom(+1 wis), Armored Leather leggings, Boots of the Kobold Kings(+1 agi, +1 per +1 End), Cloak of Zhiva(+3 int +2 tough +2 per), Knight's Halfmail(+1 tough +1 agi), Warriors Gloves, Amulet of Spell Control(+4 int +3 wis +2 will), Vambraces of Deflection(+2 tough), Staff of Earth(+2 int, +1 wisdom)
I’ll need to use these free points soon; holding on to them might be a bad idea. Better to be prepared for a fight than hope to remember mid-fight to put the points in. He continued to pull the boar, finally almost to where the skinning table was.
“Uhhh, Alex. That's a big pig, dude.” Sam commented.
Alex chuckled. “Tell me about it. Dragging this thing here sucked.”
Derek walked up. “Nice kill. Got any plans for that?”
“Not really. All I thought was bacon.”
Derek laughed. “I like the way you think. I’ll try to get it cut down, but our Basic Skinning doesn’t really help with cutting meat after skinning, so I’ll be just guessing. And this should give us enough meat to last quite a while, but we’re going to need to find a way to keep it from going bad.”
“Yeah, we’ll need to go ahead and cook it all, I think. We don't have a way to preserve it unless someone has ice magic or salt lying around.” Alex added. “And if there is a Basic Skinning Essential Skill, maybe there is a Basic Butchering or Dismantling one too? I haven’t gotten one from the rabbits or deer, but who knows.”
“I didn’t think about that. But you're right, there might be. While I’m butchering this pig, I'll try to focus on it and go slow, to see if I can get one.” Derek replied, waving Alex off as he started on the Cragtusk.
That afternoon, they ate their fill. Everyone was full to bursting. And best of all… Alex had bacon.
The following morning, on the fourth day of the tutorial, something changed. An hour after sunrise, they got an announcement from the Universal System.
***
Congratulations on still being alive! Currently, 87% of your Tutorial population remains.
Today marks the start of day 4.
Enough time has passed that you understand that if you want to survive, gain power.
The point of the tutorial is to help you grow strong enough to survive what comes after, while also giving time for the planet Earth to become a Prime Planet. The process will take almost 30 Earth days, hence the Tutorial timeframe.
Five events unfold during the 30-day tutorial.
—
On day 6, the first event will begin. - No end time.
Day 13 will be event 2. - No end time.
Day 20 Event 3. - No end time.
Day 27 event 4. - 48hr duration.
And the final event will take place on day 29. - 12hr duration.
—
All events will begin one hour after sunrise.
Events with no end-time can roll over into each other if they are not completed in time before the next begins. Each event will grow progressively more difficult.
Events will be determined by your tutorial sponsors, as will each event's rewards.
Perform well, and you may receive extra rewards, offers, allies, or even new enemies. The universe will be watching.
Above all, survive.
***
Countdown until first event begins: 47hrs 58minutes
Shit. This just added more difficulty to our plates. I doubt these events will be easy, nor do I think they’ll let people avoid them to sit in a cave relaxing. The system seems intent on pushing people into conflict. Alex saw people around the camp starting to freak out. Fear was displayed on most of their faces. Derek, Sam, and Sarah were also walking over to him.
“I assume everyone saw the announcement?" Alex asked them.
They all nodded yes.
“What are we going to do?” Sarah asked. Her hands were close to her chest as she wrung them in nervousness.
“There’s nothing we can do, except get stronger. We have 47 hours to gain as much power as we can before the event begins. We don’t know what it’ll be or how strong.” Alex replied. “Nothing has changed… to survive, we need power.”
“He’s right. Our goal remains the same. Grow our strength to protect ourselves, our loved ones, and those who are now depending on us,” Derek added.
Sam nodded, “Roger that. Let's burn some stuff.”
“You guys know these people better than I do. Will any of them help us fight? Or assist in any other way?” Alex asked, glancing around the camp. People were looking scared after the announcement.
Sarah responded first. “Mostly, no. There are fewer than a dozen of them, and only one or two might fight defensively, if push came to shove. But they’re too low to defend themselves if it came to that. The rest are in a mixture of disbelief, denial, or overcome with fear.”
“That won’t do.” Alex walked over to the campfire where everyone could see him, and loudly cleared his throat.
“Everyone contributes, no exceptions,” he called out, loud enough for all to hear. “If you're too scared to fight, that's fine. But you need to find other ways to help. Whether that's cooking, gathering firewood or other materials, sewing clothes, cleaning, or repairing equipment, I don’t care. There are many ways you can contribute, and each is beneficial. Fighting isn’t the only important thing. And if you don’t want to help, well, you can get out of the camp, or you’ll be dealing with me.”
“Any questions?” He paused and looked around, trying to make eye contact with each person.
“No? Good. You all saw the announcement; we have 47 hours. Those of us who will be doing the fighting need to spend this time training and gaining levels. We would appreciate any help you all can offer.”
“But I am going to make a recommendation to you all. Fight. Fight for your loved ones, fight for yourselves. Don’t let the next Chad come and force you to do what he wants. Stand up for yourself. Fight. Gain power. Survive. Take your time and consider my words.”
“Now, everyone, go ahead and eat. We still have plenty of meat. After breakfast, one of us four will talk to all of you one-on-one to see what kind of experience you have, or what task you would prefer to do.”
Alex grabbed some meat for himself and walked to the side to sit down. He ignored the fact that everyone was still watching him.
I feel like a broken record, but what the hell is going on with me? Before the integration, I wouldn’t have been caught dead talking to a group like that. I feel like a completely different person.
Well, I guess technically I am… since I'm no longer human. Could my personality changes be related to my new race? I hadn’t thought of that before… but it would make sense if my new brain is entirely different from my old one. I’m pretty sure people's personalities are shaped by the brain, hormones, nervous systems, etcetera, so it makes sense that my personality would change. I don’t really know how it works with being a different species, though.
I felt no fear or nervousness talking to them. I just did what needed to be done to survive and keep moving forward on my Path.
Wait… Path? Why did I think of it that way? Before he could give it anymore thought, Derek interrupted him.
“Alex, got a sec?” Derek sat down beside him.
“Sure, what's up?”
“I wanted to ask you about the fight with Chad. How are you so strong?”
Alex chuckled. “I don’t think I’m as strong as you think. True, I’m more versatile than the rest of you, and I have some extra tricks. But half of my power comes from my gear.”
“What do you mean?”
“You realize I’m wearing a full kit of gear, right? Items from the dungeon that all give me stats. In total, my armor and weapons are giving me over 40 raw stats.”
Derek sat there speechless for a moment, mouth hanging open. “Damn. Really? With those stats. You were basically like a level 14 fighting against a level 5 Chad. It makes so much sense now.”
“Yep. And Chad had no fighting experience. He was extremely slow and just flung his mace around like a moron. I don’t think he had ever fought a real opponent before. You’ve fought those Kobolds in the dungeon; they were leagues above Chad in terms of skill.”
“I didn’t think about that. But looking back on your fight with him, I do see it. He had no idea what he was doing and just tried to rely on his raw strength.”
“Mhm. Exactly. You probably could have taken him, too. And speaking of the dungeon, I think you three should do it. You all can probably do it one or two more times before you out-level it. And this time around, you won’t need me in there with you.”
“Hmm, yeah. We should be alright this time. I’ll grab the other two before lunch, and we’ll go clear it. What do you want to do about the people here?”
“Just as I told them. We need to find each one of them a job. After breakfast, I’d like Sarah to talk to them and put together a list so we can assign the task. She’s spent the most time with them, and they seem to trust her.”
“Fair enough. What will you do?”
“Get stronger. I don’t think the dungeon would be worth it for me because of my level, so I'll go out hunting while I scout the area again. I would like to hit level 10 before the event starts, or at least get as close to 10 as I can. I assume we’ll get some kind of bonus, skill, or upgrade at 10.”
