The ranged fighters reacted seconds after the queen moved. Arrows and attacks of nearly every element shot forward to meet the ugly insects. The queen flexed her legs and launched into the air. She avoided most of the attacks, but a stone spike caught her right leg. She let out a horrid sound that made Maximilian’s skin itch before she landed in front of the swordsman. Who didn’t waste a moment. His blade sliced through the air like the executioner’s axe, and for a moment Maximilian thought that would be it.

  The insect queen wasn’t ready to let it end that fast. She ducked in an inhuman display of speed that brought her inside the swordsman’s guard. Her blade was like a talon as it tore through the air, only for a silver barrier of energy to protect her target. The barrier lasted long enough to stop the attack’s momentum before it shattered. With a speed that made it seem like they planned it, the axe warrior arrived. His axe swung forward in a blur of motion that took the queen’s right hand. The axe looked more like a hammer than a sharp object. The queen’s blood painted the ground as she unleashed a cry of pain. Static Bolt caught her on the right side of her head while the warriors retreated. The queen’s wounded stump throbbed as if something wanted to rip its way out of her.

  “Don’t stop!” Maximilian screamed a moment before the queen regrew her arm. The Queen faced him, and time seemed to slow as she launched herself at him. He placed his faith in his robes to block the strike. It felt like Static Bolt took an eternity to charge as the queen bore down on him. Her talon had slammed into the barrier just before the spark of electricity formed. Maximilian roared as his barrier shattered. His skill slammed into the Queen’s right eye as he shot backwards. His world spun end over end as he slammed into the ground nearly ten feet away. He ran his hands down his front as he searched for the blood that should be there. When he found nothing, he laughed.

  When he remembered where he was, he leaped up ready to rejoin the battle when energy surged into his dantian. When he realized what that meant, he collapsed. The battle had to be over now, right? This was supposed to be a tutorial opportunity. Tutorials were supposed to be easy. His thoughts jumbled as he tried to convince himself that the Network was finished. It wasn’t until he heard the voice that he believed it. The battle was over. The Network will send them back. They had won. He looked around and found his relief in the eyes of everyone else. The excitement of the battle had long faded. Replaced with the will to live. He shied away from their eyes as something else formed in the pit of his stomach. A feeling he didn’t want to deal with. One that he pushed deep within himself. When the white light appeared to take him away, he was beyond relieved. He was in the expansive white room longer than he expected. When it hadn’t gone away for nearly five minutes, he became concerned. Just as he was about to ask for help, a prompt box appeared.

  Choose Reward: Weapon, Skill Slip, Credits

  He stared at the prompt in slight confusion. He hadn’t realized they would get to pick their rewards. That was cool. He ruled out the credits option with little thought. He had already earned a lot of those before this quest, and he no doubt he more. Of course, without a store, he did not know what he could spend the points on, so they were worthless. His eyes lingered on the weapon option longer. He hadn’t changed his mind about being a caster. If anything, the last battle made him want to do it more. He wanted to stay far away from the front lines. It just wouldn’t be that easy. The enemy would do whatever they could to close the distance, and they would succeed eventually. Even with his speed. A weapon could at least help with the odds. Despite that, he abandoned that option. The option didn’t tell him which weapon he would get, so it would suck if he got a whip or something stupid. With only one option left, he selected the skill. As soon as he did, two more notifications appeared, both of which were titles.

  Quest 2 Complete. Quest Grade: B. Reward Distribution has begun. Tutorial Title has been improved.

  Survivor: Survive a battle against overwhelming Odds: Reward: +2 points to all Attributes

  One Man Army: Stand against 100 or more enemies of the same realm as you and win. Reward: +5 to all Attributes.

  Title: Tutorial-2nd Quest: Complete the Second Quest of the Tutorial. Reward: All Attributes +5

  The resulting surge of energy was the sweetest thing he had ever felt. Calling it bliss seemed like a serious understatement. By the time he had calmed down and gotten control of himself, he was back in his apartment. He found the skill slip on the table in the same place as the box but didn’t rush over to it. Instead, he pulled up his status screen.

  Name Maximilian Croft

  Level 2

  Species [Foundation]Human

  Alignment [Human]Earthling

  Manual 1st-Realm Cultivation Manual

  Titles Chosen, One Man Army, Survivor

  Limited Titles Tutorial

  Agility 25

  Constitution 25

  Intelligence 28

  Luck 27

  Endurance 27

  Strength 24

  Wisdom 26

  Free Points 0

  Credits [Foundation] 500,000

  He flexed his fingers as he looked over his improvements. He had grown a lot after that one battle. He assumed that those two warriors were at a similar level as himself but he didn't know if they were in the forefront or somewhere in the middle of the pact. He leaned more toward the former. Twenty-seven luck seemed like a lot regardless of what you started at. It wouldn't take long for him to reach the next level which meant his stat would increase again. He was pleased by how well rounded his attributes were but he couldn't shake the worry. He made a mental note to ask about that if given the chance. There had to be guidance for that or else everyone would risk ruining their lives.

  With his attributes dealt with he turned his attention to the skill slip. From what he could tell it was no different from any of the others. The symbols pulsed lightly as he tried to figure out what they meant. It felt like there was something there and he just needed to push a bit deeper and he would figure it out. He put that thought on the back burner for now. He sent a small amount of energy into the sigil and sighed as a new symbol settled into his channels. This time it was a spot just above his heart. He stared at the new symbol for several moments before he turned his attention to the new prompt.

  Prismatic Barrier – Proficiency: Early: A Barrier formed from a thousand colors

  He nodded along as he read the message. It was a defensive skill and from what he could tell it would work like his robes. Only he would have to activate it. According to slip it was ranked as a high quality defensive skill which made the last few hours of battle worth it as far as he was concerned. He decided to experiment with the skill now as to not get surprised later. The skill consumed twice as much energy as Static Bolt even after its improvement. Something that irritated him until the barrier formed and he got over it. It was a bubble style shield that defended from all directions including below him which was convenient. The barrier was divided into three colors, red, Orange and yellow. The lights cascaded down almost like a waterfall and then repeated as it got to the top. Which gave it a living rainbow effect.

  "So the shield is based on the rainbow?" He did a few more test and learned that the shield would move with him but he couldn't move too fast. If he touched the outsides of the barrier it would end the skill. He wanted to test if he could bring someone else inside the barrier once it was active but he decided not to ask a stranger. He wasn't sure what the rules were and he didn't want to risk wounding someone on accident. He also didn't want the Network to think he wanted to hurt other tutorial participants. He didn't want to see how it would punish someone for that. He ended the skill and checked on Static Bolt. The skill had progressed in proficiency which explained the changes. After a short test he realized he could control it if only slightly. He could reduce the bolt's power till it was almost as weak as before. With all his experiments dealt with he decided to get cleaned up. The robes had already repaired and cleaned themselves of the beast muck which only made him feel worse. It was like he had put on clean clothes after getting dirty.

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  Even after a thirty minute bath he still felt dirty. As if the bug bits sat in an invisible layer on the top of his skin. He had to resist the urge to get right back into the bath. He redressed himself and then entered his cultivation room. He sat down and started up his technique. Energy flowed into his dantian as he sunk into silent meditation. He reflected on the battle and the things he could've done better. He forced himself to process the deaths, the screams for help and his inability to do anything about it. A voice in the back of his mind scolded him for every mistake. Every moment of hesitation where he might've made a difference had he reacted faster. The intellectual part of his brain knew it was wrong. The chaos of the battlefield made everything difficult. It was almost impossible to hear each other let alone coordinate. He knew he judged himself too harshly. There was little anyone could do to save those people. Not unless they knew what would happen already.

  His cultivation speed as he focused on the memories. He wasn't sure how long he had sat there before he opened his eyes and took a breath. He wished he could say doing that made him feel better or even that it helped him come to terms. Instead, it might have made him feel worse. He wasn't sure if it was survivor's guilt or a sense of hopelessness or both. He cracked his neck and got to his feet. It was time to get some sleep before whatever tomorrow would bring. He left the room and was asleep as soon as he closed his eyes.

  Everyone gathered in the meeting room the next day same as before. Maximilian tried to get a count on how many people had died but it was nearly impossible. He couldn't remember if the people around him were the same people as last time or if he had just found a different group. Despite that he could tell that the losses were deep. That look in everyone's eyes had only intensified. Almost no one was having fun anymore and no one talked about leaving. He wasn't sure if that was because they had given up hope in the voice or if they had no hope at all. He didn't want to know the answer. The room was almost silent as everyone waited. When the pillar of light appeared no one spoke.

  "Good day fellow practitioners." Thrawn called out in a voice that was reminiscent of a drill instructor. "It is good to see that your strength continues to grow. Today we will be discussing the skill system but first." He clapped his hands and another ancestry pill bottle appeared. Maximilian grabbed his and placed it in his robes. "Your pills have been altered to suit your contributions in your last quest. May you all achieve your evolution soon." As soon as he finished speaking a new prompt appeared. This time it was a quest notification.

  Active Quests:

  1.True Potential: Reach level 27: Reward: Access to the Class System

  "Now you all are formally on the road of the practitioner. You all should have noticed that you have access to skills now. You also should have noticed that those skills form as sigils in the various skill slots throughout your body. You no doubt have questions so let me explain how it works. There is a limited number of those slots spread throughout your body. One part of your journey as practitioners is to collect skills that can fill those slots. The easiest way to do that will be this tutorial. The second will be your class. There are additional ways in the multiverse but that will for you to learn when it is relevant. There are nineteen skill slots. It won't be an issue for you until you are much further in your journey but your skills are ranked along with your cultivation. You all have access to Foundation or Rank 1 skills. Once you evolve those skills will be less effective on your improved body, improved amounts of spiritual energy and on your opponents. You will need to evolve your skills. We won't go into detail about how to do that here. " Thrawn gestured to the scholarly dwarf who stood up and walked forward.

  "Skills are broadly divided into the following categories; Offense." The dwarf held up one finger. "Defense." He held up a second. "Support." He held up a third. "And finally auxiliary or miscellaneous. It is common for people to believe that Offense and Defense are the most useful skills. Those people are fools and are not long for this life. All four categories and their various subcategories will be vital. Skills can range from attacks and shields to disguises and even translation. Something you all should know well. There is no magic distribution rate as thus you will have to make that determination for yourself. The needs of practitioners and craftsmen are very different after all."

  "Uh what exactly is a practitioner?" Someone in the crowd asked.

  The dwarf paused for a moment as if pondering something. When he looked like he made a decision he nodded. "That will be explained in a future lesson. For now a practitioner is someone who chooses to do what you all do now. Pursue the martial path. There are other paths auxiliary paths such as; mercantilism, healing, crafting and many others. For now those are not the subject of today's lesson. By now you should have advanced your proficiency in your initial skill. Your skills advance from Early to Middle, to High and lastly Peak. As your proficiency improves the skill will display new or improved capabilities. It is on you to discover the method of improvement."

  The dwarf continued his explanation as Maximilian pulled the information on both Static Bolt and Prismatic Barrier. He thought back to the battle and when the skill advanced but there was no explanation. There was a pop as if a limiter had been removed and then symbol changed. The way the dwarf explained it made it seem like his understanding needed to change so why did it have to happen in battle? Wouldn't it work better if he just read the symbol or at least studied it. Now that he had the idea it wouldn't leave.

  "Yes?" The dwarf's voice brought him back to the moment where he realized that his hand was up. Now that it happened he decided to ask his question.

  "About the skills. You said it was understanding that advanced them. Mine changed during battle was that normal?"

  "It is common for foundation realm skills to advance in battle. Often times the mind is most open to understanding when there is need. That will not always be the case. It is also common for experiences gained through battle to lead to new understanding. We often call that process the condensation of one's foundations. All are vital aspects of cultivation."

  Maximilian nodded and lowered his hands. It sounded like meditation was an even bigger aspect of personal growth than he thought. He added to the list of things he needed and wanted to get done after each mission. The dwarf explained went over a few more details about skill activations and cool downs but most of it was self explanatory. It was also strangely video game like. Not every skill used spiritual energy as its fuel some could use your life force or even your level. The later seemed far too dangerous to reliably use so Maximilian wasn't interested. The last interesting piece of information was about skill cool downs. Cool downs were tied to the strength of the skill which was obvious but they were also tied to the skill's quality. Something he could control each time he evolved it. Right now his skill were high quality and basic quality. Which wasn't a quality and was what the Network provided for the tutorial. It wasn't bad per say it just had no future. The skill would work great when combined with another.

  He had ideas about how to do that but nothing concrete he needed to find a way to make the symbols fit like a puzzle. He just needed to understand how to interact with them. His symbols felt more like 3D pictures than something he could touch. He pushed those thoughts to the back of his mind as the dwarves disappeared. He wanted to get some more cultivation and meditation in which meant he couldn't waste time here. When the doors opened, he rushed straight for his cultivation room. There was so much more to learn and do. He could not be more excited.