It was late afternoon on his tenth day in the tutorial. The breeze was quite cool, but not to an uncomfortable degree. Instead, it was pleasantly refreshing. Arthur leaned against the railing, standing on the terrace of the wooden house, and enjoyed the moment. It was exceptionally quiet, especially considering the chaos that reigned here yesterday.

  After leaving the company, Arthur couldn’t find the right place for himself for a long time. He had some savings, so he could afford to be unemployed for some time. Not knowing what to do with himself, he decided to find a hobby. Since his image as a lumberjack was often mentioned to him in his previous job, he decided to try to do something in that direction. One day, he bought a set of knives and chisels, and then he started carving wood. Although he was not successful at first, he quickly fell in love with this activity. He cherished the feeling of fulfillment that accompanied him when he sat in a sweater on a rocking chair, carving out fancy shapes and drinking coffee during breaks.

  After gaining some practice, he decided to start selling his works and earn a living that way. But one day the system came. Thrown into a white void, he thought long and hard about his choice. Not because he didn’t know what to choose. He simply didn’t know if he should really do it. He had always had a pacifist approach to life. However, if it came to a fight, pacifism wouldn’t win it for you. After much consideration, he decided to add a combative style to his original choice.

  He was moved to a lonely wooden house where he now resided. He had acquired two skills so far and had managed to raise his level several times. Although he still focused on creating, his quests also involved using his creations to defend his new, temporary home.

  Looking around the landscape, he thought about yesterday’s events. This time, he was attacked by three waves of monsters. First, it was a group of five ordinary goblins, which he had already dealt with on his second day. Then, two wolf riders appeared, and finally, the shaman joined the normal goblins. Luckily, he managed to attract its attention. If he started casting spells at his house, it would probably burn down. His previous quest was to make a large wooden shield with a minor fire resistance, so the arrival of a shaman casting fiery spells was not a coincidence.

  Sighing, he pushed himself away from the railing and walked over to his slightly burnt shield. After using a skill on it to briefly repair it, he checked the barricades and traps again. He had to create new ones in the morning, as yesterdays were either badly broken or completely trampled. Today, he also managed to infuse them with additional effects of light bleeding.

  Although his skills didn’t allow for much now, they had probably already saved his life. Still, Arthur had mixed feelings about them. If he had a clear idea of ??what he wanted to achieve when he started working on an item, the activated skill did its job. Although he somehow knew what he could afford, he didn’t even have to know the details of how the entire process of enchanting an item with an additional effect looked like. On the one hand, it was convenient. Most likely, to create an item with improved resistance to a given element without skill assistance, he would have to spend long months or years studying. On the other hand, if he had full control over this process, maybe he could better adjust the power and effect of the spell.

  Every time he used a skill to create an item, he felt something leave his body. He wondered if he could somehow influence the process, or by replicating that feeling, create it himself, without the aid of system skills. He also really wanted to know what the effect held inside the item actually looked like. Having been a programmer before, he assumed that the spell had forced some kind of code into the object’s structure. But he felt that it was far too early for him to think about that.

  He looked at the surroundings of his home, where yesterday’s pools of blood and creature corpses had already disappeared, leaving behind only bones and junk equipment. He sighed once more and began working on further preparations for tonight.

  ***

  After another full day, the landscape finally began to change noticeably. Now, it took them several minutes to get from rock to rock. But they continued in a direction where they were even less common. They were both exhausted, but hunger, now almost unbearable, drove them forward.

  It was their sixth day without any food. They didn’t know why they still didn’t feel thirsty, but if they had to drink normally, they would have been dead long ago. Orion took on the role of the one who kept the atmosphere positive and tried to cheer Martha up by talking about their lives after their return and telling funny stories. At this point, however, his efforts were no longer bringing any visible results. He tried not to think about grim scenarios, but seeing his exhausted companion, he also was losing hope.

  Orion tried not to give up, though. He decided that as the one who had talked her into going with him, he should take responsibility. So he grabbed her by the hand and led her to a nearby rock, to be at least partially out of the open field. Although he didn’t know if what he was about to do was wise, it was the only way out. Orion grabbed his trusty weapon and put the sharp edge to his palm.

  It would seem that the pain of a simple cut would be nothing to him. Apparently, however, this place had different rules in this case as well. After cutting himself, he almost lost consciousness. The pain he felt now was, surprisingly, much worse than he had been served during his year-long stay in the torture hotel. The moment the skin pierced, it felt as if he had cut not only his hand, but his entire being. He felt the life draining from him through the wound he had created for himself.

  But he couldn’t do anything about it. The moment of the cut, his entire body stopped following commands, shaking uncontrollably. His teeth clenched, and his eyes rolled to the back of his head. Scenes from the time of suffering immediately appeared in his head, but they didn’t even come close to the level of agony he was currently experiencing. He didn’t know how long he was in that state, but it felt like hours, even days, passed. Martha noticed this quite fast and perked up. She tried shaking him and calling out to him, but it didn’t work. It took him a few minutes to regain control of his body, and he stuck his cut hand out to her. He still couldn’t say a word, but Martha understood. She looked uncertain, though.

  Orion nodded to her and moved his hand further so she could feed. It was only then that he noticed how strangely his blood was acting. Instead of running down his hand and falling down, it pooled around the wound, and some of it ignored gravity to slowly float into the air. As he watched the drop fly away, he noticed that after a moment of separation from his body, it began to dissipate. Attributing this to another strangeness of the place, he finally managed to say a word.

  “Drink.”

  Martha snapped out of the shocking sight of the floating drops, and looked at him again. Finally, not wanting to waste the liquid, she approached him and began to drink. Before she could even swallow his blood, she felt its nourishing effect. The hunger began to disappear unnaturally quickly, and her exhaustion turned into a feeling of complete rest. Although it was extremely intoxicating, she pulled herself away from Orion’s hand. She tore part of the rag she was wearing and wrapped his hand, wanting to stop the bleeding.

  Orion didn’t look good. While he definitely didn’t know his blood would have this effect, it was by no means free. With each drop that drained away, he felt his condition worsen significantly, and his hunger intensified. But he didn’t want to show it. He gathered all his determination and stood up straight. Looking at Martha, he smiled encouragingly. He wanted to say something, but he knew he wouldn’t be able to.

  There was no need for words, though. Martha hugged him tenderly, feeling gratitude; a feeling she had almost forgotten existed before she found herself in this strange place. Seeing the cost of a simple cut, she knew it wasn’t just blood. Even as she drank, she felt as if he had given her a part of his life in those few drops. They held each other, and Martha sniffled, unable to find the words. Finally, she put her hands on his face and kissed him, crying.

  Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

  For Orion, this wasn’t his first kiss. Even being this sullen teenager, he still dated girls occasionally. It was probably for a different reason than for ‘normal’ people. He agreed to date the first girl, not wanting to hurt her by refusing. His first relationship didn’t last long, though, as she quickly got bored with his Stoic lifestyle. After that, he didn’t get involved in any relationships for a while, until one day he gave in to the pressure of society. His parents, siblings, and friends kept telling him to start dating someone. So you could say he felt obligated to do so.

  His second relationship lasted for a year and a half, but he realized that it wasn’t for him. He felt that he was dating a girl not because he wanted to, but because he should. He was afraid of the moment of breaking up, but it turned out to be a normal and civilized conversation. The girl he was breaking up with at the time was quite understanding and got to know him quite well. She probably could also feel what his approach was then.

  After this relationship, he had some isolated encounters, but he didn’t approach them with the desire for a long-term commitment and always made sure that the situation was clear to both sides. At some point, he noticed that he was unable to reciprocate the feelings that were being given to him.

  But now, recalling those relationships, he realized that they were all incomplete in some way. Although he had kissed many times, he had never felt that the act meant anything. This kiss was different. He felt as if it actually held significance.

  It’s a shame I had to die to experience this feeling, he thought.

  After a long moment, they broke the kiss. For a moment, Orion thought it came from a simple feeling of gratitude, but he quickly dispelled that thought. Throughout their journey together, they had slowly but steadily grown closer. At that moment, he saw the uncertain expression on Martha’s face, so he smiled at her reassuringly, feeling that he would be able to speak.

  “You taste like a slipper,” he said, effectively ruining the mood. His smile turned mocking.

  “You dick. It’s because of your blood.”

  Bantering for a moment longer, they continued their journey. Orion tried not to show that every step he took was a struggle for him. Martha quickly noticed, however, and offered support by placing his arm on her shoulders.

  ***

  “They’re walking bags of experience. Why not take advantage? I wouldn’t be surprised if they thought the same about us,” the man said, looking pleadingly at the one he considered the leader.

  “It doesn’t matter what they think. If they come to us first, we’ll defend ourselves, but no killing.”

  “What’s wrong with you? Are you suddenly becoming a saint?”

  The leader looked at the man with eyes dripping with disapproval. They had known each other long before the tutorial, so he knew the man standing before him couldn’t think several steps ahead. He gestured for him to sit down, then looked around at the group they had gathered while in this tutorial. Taking a moment to assess their gazes, he asked.

  “Does anyone have any ideas why I don’t want to kill? Go ahead.”

  Silence fell over the tent. The group of men either didn’t know or were afraid to answer. Although they felt fairly close to each other in this group, no one wanted to piss off the leader unnecessarily.

  Finally, a cold voice broke the silence.

  “It’s not worth it yet.” replied the gray-haired man with dead eyes.

  Only a few of the group understood what he meant in his answer. However, they kept it to themselves, occasionally nodding their heads as a sign of understanding.

  “Exactly.” the leader admitted. “Judging by your furrowed brows, I’m guessing you didn’t understand. So let me explain. As you’ve probably noticed, with each level you gain, your progress slows down.”

  A few people joined the group knowing where this was going, but there were still a few faces of confusion. The leader looked at the man he had been working with since before the tutorial, and continued.

  “If we want to keep up our leveling pace, we’ll have to face stronger monsters, which means we’ll take on more risk. But it’s not just us. The other group is going through the same thing. I say we approach them with an offer of an alliance.” He paused for a moment, looking at the puzzled faces, then shook his head and continued. “We’ll cooperate politely, while we wait and watch as our future food gains more and more mass. When they’re nicely fattened up, then we’ll give each other a signal and attack by surprise.”

  Seeing finally understanding, the leader nodded and added.

  “But we have to be careful that the same thing doesn’t happen to us. We have to somehow motivate them to cooperate. Suggestions?”

  “The best motivator for cooperation is a common enemy.” someone replied.

  “True, but we won’t conjure it up. Even if something like that were to appear, we would probably be informed by the system.”

  There was a buzz in a tent, and the more astute members exchanged ideas. It was soon decided that instead of a single powerful enemy, they would seek out other groups and gradually turn them against each other, while simultaneously pointing out the involvement of their neighbors. In this way, joining forces to defeat another group would seem like the right move.

  They debated for quite some time until the final plan was set. Soon this tutorial will be washed in blood and the victors will emerge stronger than ever.

  ***

  Their journey today was coming to an end. Martha, who was in much better shape now, tried to support him every step of the way. However, if they continued like this, she too would eventually lose her strength. Orion felt that he might have difficulty even climbing the rock. Despite the suffocating feeling of hunger, it was better to take the time to rest than to continue at this snail’s pace.

  At this point, the distance between the rocks had increased to kilometers, making it increasingly difficult to find one on which to rest. Being in such an open space had raised their alertness to new levels. The lack of comfortable cover and the constant strange background noises increased their sense of stress.

  Finally reaching a rock with a shelf suitable for resting, they began their climb. Orion had been the first to ascend, so he had noticed it earlier. Looking for a handhold, he looked up at the shelf, from which the head of the black creature was now peeking out, staring hungrily at them.

  Despite keeping their guard up, they were unable to see the lurking threat until it was too late. The creature lunged at him, and only because they were still low were they able to push off the rocks and fall to the ground unharmed. Luckily, Orion had enough reflexes to pull back Martha, who had narrowly avoided the creature. Rolling after the fall, they heard the sound of a heavy mass colliding with the gravel-like ground, tearing off smaller stones. Quickly getting to their feet, they were able to see the creature in full.

  It was completely black and looked like it was made of something similar to tar. Parts of its body looked dried and hard, while others were dripping with this strange substance, like it was partly liquid, partly solid. Its shape resembled a failed fusion of a monkey, a crocodile, and a dog. It had muscular primate paws that ended in sharp claws, a reptilian body and sturdy tail, and a dog-like head, set on a long but thick neck.

  The creature mindlessly rushed towards them, making disgusting sounds. Apparently, it couldn’t decide which one to attack, so they managed to avoid the charge by jumping in different directions. However, they didn’t have much choice in the way of escape, so without any communication, they approached the rock from which the creature had jumped. The monster was clearly a quick learner, as this time, instead of just running, it began to approach cautiously, never taking its eyes off them. Thoughts flew through Orion’s head quickly, but as his back touched the rock, his mind was hit by a sobering reality. They had no chance of climbing faster than this thing, and even if they did, it would catch up with them at some point. There was no shelter nearby. They were on their own. Glancing quickly in Martha’s direction, he saw her panicked face.

  Orion tightened his grip on the sharp rock he had been carrying around with him since he woke up here. He took a few steps forward and got into position, preparing to face another charge. The creature probably took this as a challenge and lunged at him. Orion didn’t have time to react, as he was forcefully pulled away by Martha. He rolled across the sharp rocks, quickly trying to regain his balance.

  When he looked up again, he saw the monster shaking its head after hitting the rock, and next to it, Martha’s body twitching in pain, her eyes wide open and a huge gaping wound stretching from her neck to her stomach.