“Greetings! We saw you fighting the elk and only wished to help you finish the beast. We do not want to fight!” The deep voice shouted again.

  Keeping his stealth, he went out a bit farther into the plains and saw the group of individuals. There were well over fifty of them, probably closer to a hundred, and they weren’t human. They looked like all kinds of beast-like races Alex had seen in fantasy shows. There were ones with wolf tails, ears, and fangs. Cat people. Foxes. A few minotaurs. Centaurs. Bird people. And many more, Alex couldn’t quite make out. All of them were between levels 1 and 6.

  They shouted out again. The one that called out to Alex was one of the highest levels, a level 6 minotaur. One of the others told him to stop, a wolf person, advising him it was a bad idea.

  Korgrith Highhorn (Level 6)

  Rykos Longclaw (Level 5)

  “Korgrith. He may attack us; you saw what level he was.” The wolfman said.

  “I know that, Rykos, but we have no choice. The event begins in less than two days, and we have nowhere safe to go. We are exposed.” Korgrith replied in his deep rumbling voice. “ I will risk it. He is strong, and we need strength to protect our people.”

  Overhearing this, Alex decided to take the chance, his curiosity getting the better of him. Standing ten feet in front of Korgrith, he unstealthed, causing them all to startle. He just stood there for a moment, waiting for them to speak first.

  “I am Korgrith,” the minotaur said, stepping forward. “We do not wish to fight, only speak.”

  “I’m Alex,” he said, stepping forward and extending his hand.

  Korgrith stared at it for a moment, unsure. After a moment, he reached out, grasping Alex's forearm in a greeting. Alex grabbed his forearm back, though it was much, much larger than his hand, comically so.

  “Well met, Alex. May I ask, what are you? I see no fur, scales, ears, or tail. What manner of Kin are you?”

  “Kin? I’m human. And I assume you're not from Earth?” Alex asked Korgrith, looking up at the eight-foot-tall minotaur.

  “Earth? That’s the place the Universal System mentioned in the announcements. Are you from there?”

  “Yes, I’m from planet Earth.”

  “Hmm, I see. The land we are from was simply known as the Great Lands. I do not know any other name than that.”

  “No problem. I am sure we are not the only ones from different places. I imagine the tutorial probably has many more like us. Why are you and your people out here?”

  “We require somewhere safe. Aggressive monsters surrounded the place where we started in the tutorial. We lost many trying to escape the area.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that. The place I started wasn’t very friendly either. So you’re all looking for somewhere safe to go now, right?”

  “We are, if you know any place. Though I am unsure if any place like that can even exist in this “tutorial”.”

  “I might be open to the idea of your group returning with me to my camp. But there are a few things you need to be aware of and agree to first.”

  "Number 1, I am in charge.” He stressed that sentence, ensuring they understood. Then he waited a moment before continuing, giving it time to sink in. “If you all come with me to the camp, you’ll follow my lead, no exceptions. But you're not prisoners. If you disagree with me, you're welcome to respectfully voice your opinion or leave at any time."

  "Number 2: Everyone contributes. If some people don’t want to fight to defend themselves, that's fine. But they need to contribute differently, whether that's cooking, repairing equipment, gathering supplies, or one of the many other ways to help."

  "Number 3, I need to go to the camp first and warn them of your arrival. My planet, Earth, had no other species but humans before the integration. So they might panic and attack you, thinking you are a monster, if you go into the camp without me warning them."

  "And number 4, the camp is not very large. So we will need time to adjust and expand for all your people. It may be uncomfortable at first.” Alex laid it all out for them in clear, simple rules. He didn’t want to risk any misunderstandings or problems after they got back to the camp.

  The wolfkin Rykos growled at this, clearly not liking the rules Alex laid out for them.

  “Quiet, Rykos,” Korgrith said, silencing him. “May I ask you some questions, Alex of Earth?”

  “Sure.” Alex said, chuckling inwardly at him, using the “of Earth”. It sounded like something you would hear in a sci-fi movie.

  Huh, I guess my life kind of is a sci-fi movie now.

  “Are you in charge of your camp? You can speak for them and reprimand them if they step out of line?”

  “Yes. But I am not a dictator. While it's true I am in charge, they are free to leave whenever they wish. The rule is simple: if they stay in camp, they follow my rules; if they leave, they leave. It would be the same with you and your people.”

  “You would treat us Kin, the same as you do your fellow humans?”

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  “Yes, I don’t care where you're from. Earth or the Great Lands, or whatever other planets."

  “We are free to leave anytime we wish, with no restrictions or payment, if we decide not to stay?”

  “Of course. I swear it.”

  “Then we will come with you, Alex of Earth, and we will see if you and your camp are right for the Kin. But first, one last thing. In a leader, we value honor and strength. Honor you can prove to us in time, but strength is something you can prove right now. We saw your fight and know you're strong, but for me to trust my people with you, I need to feel it for myself. You must do me this favor. You will fight me, here and now.”

  Alex stared at him like he was crazy. “You want to come stay at my camp and you're making me fight you for allowing you to? Now?”

  Korgrith simply nodded. He then removed his large hammer and gave it to Rykos.”Please. This is our way, so will you do me this honor? I know it is not right for me to ask this of you, while also asking to shelter us. We will fight with no weapons. Though you may use your magic if you wish.”

  “And I can’t talk you out of this?”

  “No, it is required of our people. Prove your might to me, Alex of Earth.”

  Alex sighed and accepted the craziness of it. He didn't want to belittle their culture, and if he was being honest with himself, he didn't mind the idea of a quick fight. “Fine.”

  He took off his sword from his waist, along with his dagger. He didn’t plan to go full out with magic, cause that would feel unfair. But he would need some, given the difference in their size and strength.

  I wish I had time to test my wind magic before this fight; it might have been useful.

  He planned to rely on his hopefully greater speed and his old, reliable [Earth Magic]. Channeling the magic, he wrapped his fist in stone and condensed it, making it lighter yet stronger. This made it thinner yet more rigid and durable. He didn’t want heavy stone weighing him down in a fight.

  “Alright, let's do this.”

  Korgrith and Alex walked away from the group of people and stood facing each other, squaring off. After a few seconds, Korgrith moved first. The minotaur roared and ran forward, hoofs digging into the ground with each step, pushing off, and propelling himself forward. He had his head down and planned to skewer Alex right off the bat with his bull-like horns.

  Not wanting to die already, Alex rolled to the side at the last second, barely avoiding the minotaurs' large horns. Before Korgrith could turn and come back, Alex had already run up behind him. He couldn’t afford to let him build more momentum for a charge. In melee range, Alex punched out with his stone-covered fist. He attempted to land some solid hits, but Korgrith crossed his arms over his chest, absorbing the blow with his thick, muscled forearms.

  When Alex's fist hit the minotaur's arm, Korgrith grunted in pain. He obviously hadn’t expected Alex's strength, combined with the stone fist, to hurt so much. Alex threw a few more wild punches, trying to do some damage, but he had no real unarmed training. His only experience with fist fighting was getting punched in the face when he was in middle school. Nothing serious or professional.

  Korgrith reached out and tried to grab Alex, wanting to end the assault. But Alex knocked his arms away, refusing to let him latch on.

  I can’t let him grapple with me. He’s too big and strong. I need to focus on speed.

  Knowing the human wouldn’t let him grab him, the minotaur changed tactics. With his longer arms, he threw a few punches at Alex. Korgrith could tell he had no training, but his reflexes and speed were faster, which was causing him problems.

  Both fighters were already starting to doubt whether they could actually win.

  Alex tried his best to dodge Korgrith’s punches, but he was just winging it and didn’t really know what he was doing. A punch landed right on his face, and he was almost knocked out with a single strike. Alex quickly shook his head clear of the stars he was seeing, refusing to black out as he stepped closer to the large beastkin.

  When he dodged the next punch from the minotaur, he stepped in and threw two solid punches right into his stomach. Clearly, it knocked the wind out of him because he heard his opponent gasp, and it brought him to his knees. When Korgrith kneeled down, Alex followed up with a roundhouse kick, aiming for his face. Right before it connected to the beastkin, he added earth mana to his foot, wrapping it in stone and greatly increasing the leg's momentum and power.

  The blow knocked Korgrith on his ass. He skidded across the ground, horns digging into the soil. He quickly closed the distance again, ready to strike a few more times, not expecting the fight to be over.

  But Korgrith raised his hand and said, “That's good enough, Alex of Earth, we do not need to go too far.” He sat up and continued speaking. “You have shown you possess strength, and we Beastkin will follow you for now with no reserve. You are the leader. But if you show no honor, we will leave.”

  Alex walked over and offered his hand, helping the big minotaur stand back up.

  “Just like that? You’ll follow me, no questions asked?”

  “It is our way. We follow the strong and honorable, with no hesitation. Though we are allowing you to delay showing us your honor, considering the situation and our great need for a safe place.”

  “Well, alright then, I’m glad to have you and the Beastkin with us.” Alex waited a moment, looking around at the other beastkin, before speaking to them all, “Wait here and I’ll return in one or two hours. I’ll go speak to my camp and ensure they don’t harm you and your people when you come.” Alex said, reaching out again with his hand.

  Korgrith clasped his forearm again, and then Alex walked off towards the forest.

  During his walk, Alex thought about the interesting meeting he just had with Korgrith and his people.

  My time since the integration just keeps getting weirder. I would have pissed my pants before coming to the tutorial, if I stood before a minotaur and a damn werewolf. I literally told them the rules, that I was in charge, and punched him in the face. Who the hell am I now? I don't even recognize myself anymore.

  It will be great to have them with us, though... They seem much more capable than most of the humans we have seen. Much more willing to defend themselves and contribute. It’ll be great to have some people at the camp we can depend on to protect it. Right now, if I’m gone, it falls on Derek, Sam, and Sarah. And when they're in the dungeon or out training… The camp is basically defenseless. Strangely enough, I also liked Korgrith. He seems straightforward and honest.

  Alex also pulled up his Wind Magic ability; he hadn’t had a chance to look at it.

  Wind Magic

  Harness the powers of the air. Wind magic is powerful in many different ways. It can be used to cut, boost someone's speed, defend against projectiles, or, in the most advanced application, flight.

  Flight?? That would be awesome. But it sounds like that’s going to be hard to do. Might take me a while to learn to do that. But boosting speed… let's give that a try.

  Alex had recovered a fair amount of his mana during the talk with Korgrith, so he had enough to play with now. He started the channel, the [Wind Magic], letting it envelop his body, hugging him tightly. The winds around him whipped and churned, coating his body in a tightly wrapped breeze. The magic invigorated him, and he could feel his body reacting more quickly with the infusion of wind mana. His extremities also felt lighter.

  The Wind Magic was speeding him up a lot. When he started to run, it surprised him by the ease and effortlessness with which he moved. His feet were a drumming roar as they pounded the ground, trees a blur as he moved through the forest.

  Alex wore a big smile. He loved this feeling of freedom as the wind whipped through his long hair.

  This feeling of joy only lasted a few seconds until a crack reverberated through the forest. He had run straight into a tree. A very large one.

  If the tree had been smaller, he might have just broken through it and continued… But instead, he smacked into a thick tree trunk and lost 20% of his health, simply because he underestimated the speed and control required for it.

  God, I’m glad no one saw that….That hurt. It felt like a truck hit me. I’m surprised I didn’t break any bones.