Chapter 23 – I Hate Tutorials

  They traveled for a while, putting as much distance between them and the site of their battle as they could. They did what they could to try and hide signs of their fight, but neither Jack nor Elaine had any experience in things like that, so they decided to focus on getting far enough away. Jack wanted to go farther before stopping, but Bryant couldn’t move at the pace that Elaine and Jack could, and they had to be careful about what traces they left behind.

  They came to a stop at a large tree that towered over the area. Its branches were large enough for them to rest on while at the same time covering them from sight. Getting up to the lower branches was a simple feat for Elaine and Jack, but Bryant was still new and didn’t have a lot of skills to fall back on.

  “Let him climb,” Ciao said. “It will be good for him.”

  “Normally I’d agree,” Jasper said. “But now might not be the time.”

  Jack ended up making use of his new Net spell and creating a simple latticed ladder for Bryant to climb. This was the first time Jack used the spell other than to show it off and he wasn’t sure how strong it would end up being. With some experimentation, he found that so long as he continued to concentrate on the conjuration as Bryant climbed it, he could strengthen the net until it was strong enough to support Bryant’s weight. Once they were all settled in the tree, Jack dismissed the net.

  “Think this will be enough?” Elaine asked.

  “Maybe,” Jack said. “I doubt anywhere is truly safe, but I think we can hide here for a little

  while.”

  “I can take a quick look around,” Zephyr said.

  “Yeah,” Jack said. “Just a quick look. It’s getting late anyways.”

  Zephyr took off again to scout the area leaving the rest to sit around and wait. Bryant didn’t wait long before speaking up. “Dude, what the fuck? Where did you two come from? What were those things? And why are you here of all places?”

  “I could ask you the same,” Jack said. “How did you get here?”

  “Same way you did,” Bryant said simply. “Blue portal thing.”

  “Wait one second,” Elaine said. “Does anyone know of any way to muffle our voices?”

  “Ciao might have a spell that can help with that,” Jasper said.

  “Fine, but I expect proper repayment for my services,” Ciao said as a bubble of Mana expanded from her. It was invisible to the naked eye, but Jack could sense it all around them. “What is this place anyways?”

  “It’s the Jungle of the Four Lords,” Jack said.

  “The Four Lords!” Ciao exclaimed shaking her head. “I am bound to a summoner with a death wish. Suppose it will be a short contract then.”

  “I haven’t died yet,” Jack protested.

  “So, you didn’t leave,” Jasper said. “I would have thought you had tried to leave the moment I left you. We have some time now. Why don’t you fill us in on what’s been happening.”

  “Yeah, we can do that,” Jack said. “But first I have to ask. Bryant, I know you wanted to go through the portal, but the last place I expected to find you is here.”

  “It wasn’t like it was my first choice either,” Bryant muttered. “I mean really Jack. A jungle, why’d you choose to start here?”

  “You didn’t choose to come here?” Elaine asked.

  “Not exactly,” Bryant said. “I asked that System entity thing, P.A.T.C.H., to send me to wherever you were and it sent me here, but you weren’t there. Just some abandoned camp with a lot of spears lying around it.”

  “You were sent to my base camp?” Jack asked. “Do you know where it is?”

  “Er, I got a little turned around in the jungle,” Bryant said.

  “Did you leave something there?” Elaine asked.

  “No, just sentimental I suppose,” Jack admitted. “I put a lot of work into that camp.”

  “Anyways, that’s my story,” Bryant continued. “What about you? Why did you choose this place? You know people thought you died back on Earth.”

  “I thought they might.” Jack sighed. “What about my family?”

  “Not going to lie,” Bryant said. “It got a little bad for a while. I think most hoped it wasn’t true, but you weren’t the type to go through a portal. Not without letting anyone know you were going to and then there was a report of an accident over the Tear. Things got really bad then, I couldn’t believe it myself. Part of me was hoping that you had taken a portal instead. That it wasn’t you, but then I saw your car. The only good part was that there wasn’t a body when they pulled your car from the Tear. I think that helped more than anything. No body meant you might still be alive, and since you weren’t down there, then you had to be here, right? At least, that’s what I thought. So, I came here. Even if you weren’t here, I wasn’t planning on staying back on Earth. But don’t worry, I let people know I was going through the portal and that I’d look for you before stepping through.”

  “Well, now you are stuck here like me,” Jack said. “There is no going back until we complete the Species Quest. And we only have six more years to do that.”

  “Then it is a good thing I’m here,” Bryant said. “We can help each other out. Six years is a lot of time. I’m sure we can figure something out.”

  “Yeah,” Jack said. “But this place isn’t very habitable or safe.”

  “Still, more people would help,” Elaine said. “It isn’t going to be easy, but I have to ask. You haven’t met anyone named Clayton since you been here, have you?”

  Bryant shook his head. “You two are the first people I met.”

  “Good,” Jack said. “Clayton isn’t a person you want to come across, especially right now.”

  “What about you?” Bryant asked. “What happened since you came here? How do you do that shadow thing?”

  “Let’s start from the beginning,” Jasper interrupted. “What happened after I left you in the Tutorial?”

  Jack sat down and started telling them what happened since he came to this world, starting with his encounter with the truck going over the Tear. Jasper and Elaine already knew some parts of the story, but not the details. He talked about his first few weeks, what he could share about finding the Trial, and being captured by Clayton and the Wenduags. Elaine helped to explain when Jasper or Ciao asked questions Jack wasn’t sure about. They kept talking for hours as the others listened intently.

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  “And when we finally finished killing the Goblin King we ended up breaking through the cavern wall in the process. That ended up leading us to the lost city and I think that basically catches everyone up to right now.”

  Bryant leaned back against the tree trunk. “Shit man,” Bryant said. “Sounds like you been running from one near death experience right into the next.”

  “Something like that,” Jack said. “I've been knocked unconscious so often in my first week I ended up with a trait that gives me a resistance to being knocked out now.”

  “Wait, you have?” Elaine asked.

  “Yeah,” Bryant grimaced. “I think I’ll try to avoid that.”

  “Guess I haven’t told anyone that,” Jack said in response. “It’s fine now. Hasn’t really happened since.”

  “Based on what I heard, I’m willing to bet it has more to do with the trait,” Jasper said. “Glad to hear you been taking my words to heart. You've been very toad-like.”

  “I’m still not sure about that,” Jack said. “I've been just trying to survive, but I think I am starting to get the hang of this new world and its rules.”

  “Adapting,” Jasper nodded. “Very toad-like indeed. Just don’t let the world dictate all your choices for you. Surviving is important, but it’s only the first step.”

  “Well, we are stuck here for a while,” Elaine said. “At least until Zephyr returns. Most likely, we will have to spend the night here. We should make plans for tomorrow. I still think we should do some hunting before returning, but if those Wenduags are searching for us, we might be better going straight back to the others.”

  “About that,” Jack said. “Didn’t that fight seem a little too easy?”

  “Easy?” Bryant said. “You two were just a blur of color, I couldn’t even track most of that fight, and the Ape-people things moved just as fast to me. How do you even move that fast?”

  “Those Ape-people would be the Wenduags I told you about,” Jack said. “And Fast? I mean, it felt like the Wenduags were moving slow from what I remembered but I don’t think I was moving any faster than I normally do.”

  “Stat increases,” Elaine said. “It’s hard to tell from your perspective as your stats increase, but you are forgetting that you gained close to thirty levels worth of stats since you last saw them. You might even be approaching the second threshold now. Only people who dedicate themselves to stat training or have powerful classes might have close to what you have for your level now.”

  “But it doesn’t feel like anything changed at all,” Jack said pondering. “I’m not moving fast right now, am I?”

  “It’s not a raise in the minimum level,” Jasper explained. “Not yet at least. Increasing stats is more about raising the maximum you can achieve and reducing the effort and time to get there. When you are not in a heightened state like when you fight or train, you will appear as you do now. But when you need to, you can reach those heightened levels easier and maintain them for longer. Eventually, you will need to work on your control. Once you start breaking through thresholds, the minimum you rest at will be at a higher state and you will need to do special training to interact with those that haven’t broken through yet.”

  “That at least helps explains some things,” Jack said.

  “I admit, I was always curious about that too,” Elaine said.

  “It’s basic knowledge,” Ciao said.

  “Still learning the basics,” Jack replied.

  “So how do I go about training my stats then?” Bryant asked. “I remember seeing some messages appear about some stat increases every now and then, mostly Constitution, but I didn’t know how to look at that then. I haven’t had much luck increasing them on purpose when I tried either. This whole System thing is confusing to me.”

  “Your onboarder during the tutorial should have explained all that to you,” Jasper said. “Who was it that you got?”

  “I didn’t do the Tutorial,” Bryant explained.

  “How have you been increasing your Constitution?” Elaine asked.

  “Not sure,” Bryant said. “Every so often when I eat some of the fruits or mushrooms I find here I get a stat increase message. Do you think they are Stat increasing plants?”

  “More like poisonous,” Ciao muttered.

  “You think?” Bryant asked. “I do remember getting a skill for poison resistance early on but nothing in a while.”

  “You haven’t noticed that you been eating poison all this time?” Elaine asked. “Even without the System Messages, you must have noticed something was wrong with the food.”

  “Ya, the fruit may not be great, and it makes me feel weird sometimes,” Bryant said, “but hunting is hard. Like really hard.”

  “Why didn’t you do the tutorial?” Jack stated.

  “Who does the tutorial if they don’t have to?” Bryant said. “I hate tutorials. I figured I’d get you to show me the ropes when I found you, or I’d just figure it out as I went.”

  Jack sighed. “Jasper, would you mind?”

  “What’s one more person,” Jasper croaked. Over the course of the next hour, Jasper walked Bryant over accessing the various features of his status and adjusting the settings as he liked.

  “Oh, I gained two levels from that Wenduag,” Bryant said near the end. “Four unallocated points to spends. Wait, why is my Wisdom and Strength that low? That can’t be right.”

  “What does it say?” Elaine asked.

  “Says I have a three in both,” Bryant said. “But I’m not stupid or weak.”

  “It’s a new body,” Jasper said, repeating a very rehearsed statement Jack remembered hearing himself. “The number is the closest number to your relative overall value in an area. Even one point difference can be a drastic change in ability. Unless you were at your peak and dedicated most of your time to building your strength, it is unlikely that you would have more. Wisdom and Intelligence are the same. They do not represent your actual knowledge but more your ability to learn, understand, and use Mana. Most people start with low numbers in these as well.”

  “I remember mine being low when I first arrived,” Jack said.

  “Same,” Elaine added.

  “Fine,” Bryant said. “I’m going to put my points in both those though. I don’t like seeing them so low.”

  “Very wise,” Jasper said.

  “Literally,” Jack added.

  Elaine shook her head. As they were going over Bryant’s System lessons, Jack went through his own gains from the fight and was surprised at some of the prompts that came up.

  *You have killed Wenduag Scout (x3)*

  - Experience gained

  *Level up! Human (Level 9)*

  +2 unallocated points

  *Level up! Akashic Champion (Level 6)*

  +1 Str./Dex./Con./Wis, +2 Int

  *Level up! Hunter (Level 2)*

  +1 Dex./Perc.

  *Skill increased: Focused Strikes (Novice)*

  Increased speed and accuracy when focused on targeting specific areas. Increased damage when targeting a creature’s vulnerable area.

  *Skill increased: Stealth (Student)*

  Dedication to the art of moving unseen has made you a student of the craft. You now leave no trace of your passing when moving across solid ground and have a natural understanding of how to blend into your surroundings.

  *Skill increased: Sneak Attack (Novice)*

  You have learned how to determine when your opponents’ guard is dropped. Increased chance of landing critical strikes when attacking from a position where your opponent is not expecting.

  *Skill Increase: Spear Proficiency (Novice)*

  Your hands have become accustomed to the spear. Increased chance of guarding and disarming opponents with spears.

  *Spell increased: Regenerate (Novice)*

  -Increased health and body regeneration

  *Quest completed: Exceptional Talent*

  -Bring one skill into the Student Rank

  Reward: Skill Upgrade Gem (rare)

  *Quest gained: Exceptional Talent (2)*

  -Don’t underestimate the power of momentum. Bring five more skills to the Student Rank

  Reward: To be Determined

  *Quest gained: Third Step*

  -Reach Apprentice rank in any skill or spell

  Rewards: Choice of one of three skill gems (upgrade, rank up, or combination)

  Several class levels and skill rank increase. Jack was confused as the fight didn’t feel that difficult to him, but perhaps that was the reason for the skills increases. The Wenduag were powerful creatures and while they did get the jump on a few of the lower ranking members, that still didn’t take away from how dangerous they could be. However, one thing did bother him. Why did his Regenerate increase?

  “Good stuff?” Elaine asked when he was done.

  “Yeah,” Jack said placing his unallocated points in Charisma. It was still his lowest stat and with all the others growing ever higher, it just kept making his Charisma feel low to him. “I got a few different levels and skills increases. Even managed to complete a quest. What about you?”

  “Same,” Elaine said. “Even got a few new skills. Sneak attack and Flurry.”

  “Those sounds awesome,” Bryant said. “I only have like four skills and one spell right now. How is hiking a skill?”

  “Feels like just about anything can be a skill,” Jack yawned. “We can help with that tomorrow.” He pulled out some prepared food from his Storage and passed it out to the others.

  “We will need to get you a Stealth skill at least if we hope to make it back without being noticed,” Elaine said accepting the food.

  “Oh sweet!” Bryant exclaimed. “Real food!”