Chapter 2 - The Tutorial (Part Two).

  Shapeless and formless, S?ren merely existed as thought alone. The floating blue box in the endless void asking if he wanted to revive was his only companion. No! I do not want to revive! S?ren raged in his mind. I want to log out! He mentally mashed the no button and visualized the emergency log off gesture dozens of times to no avail.

  Augh... think this through, he thought to himself, trying to calm down. The last thing I remember is packing for the trip to a dig site in northern Iceland. Come to think of it... why was I even going to Iceland? I don't remember anything in Iceland that would be relevant to my research. And absolutely no recollection of any plans to visit a VRcade.

  Despite not having a physical body, S?ren could still feel a pressure reminiscent of a headache building up "somewhere" in what passed for his mind the harder he tried to bring up recent memories. Frustrated, he resigned himself to whatever events he was trapped in and mentally tapped `Yes` on the window floating in front of him. A brief feeling of vertigo washed over him and he found himself lying on soft, white cushions attached to the top of the floating white platform in the a sterile white room.

  "Welcome to Gateway traveler!" shouted the same cheery voice. The words bounced off the walls around S?ren. Ugh... S?ren thought to himself as he waited for the chilly and white bands clasped around his wrists to release him. Notably absent this time, was a discussion about his catastrophic arrival. There were also no signs of damage to the padding caused by the hordeling's talons.

  "Let me out of here!" S?ren tried shouting. "Who are you?"

  "In just a few moments, an encounter with a Hordeling Spawn will begin. Your performance will be assessed in order to determine suitable Paths from which you can choose upon completion of the Tutorial." And with a snick, the cold metallic-white bands around his wrist slid open. S?ren was able to keep his footing this time however, as the platform he rested on rotated to bring his head up and feet down.

  "Still just an empty room," S?ren complained to himself, muttering quietly. Before the door opened again, he took a moment to focus his sight and mind on the top left corner of his vision. He wasn't sure if he was relieved or not to see the copper icon and the three colored bars - green, purple, and dark steel - reappear. He was surprised however to see that the sliver of bright steel he had noticed just before dying was still there.

  "Interesting."

  His attention was drawn away from the holographic element in his vision by a quiet sound displaced air and a whisper of metal on metal. The concealed doorway in the wall that he had randomly decided was south, had melted open and revealed the same scene as before. A darkened chamber intermittently lit by flashes of blue-white light from arcing power cables dangling from the ceiling. Collapsed tables, broken workbenches, and twisted furniture remained scattered throughout the chamber. Noticeably absent was the blood from his previous encounter. S?ren quickly moved into the chamber, once again stepping on the jagged metal shard near the doorway. This time he noticed the bright red -6 that appeared just at the top of his sight before it floated upwards.

  "Fuck! That monster isn't even here yet and I'm already six points down," S?ren complained. He stooped down quickly to pick up the shard and rushed for the table as the horrifying chattering sound and clicking of talons on stone echoed in the dark chamber. A flash of electricity revealed the location of the first hordeling. It was perched inside a small alcove in the rough surface of solid stone behind a section of wall that had collapsed onto the floor. The hordeling stretched itself out as it dropped to the floor and zeroed in on the sounds of S?ren's voice. Its tiny legs scraped across the stones, dislodging several that clattered away from creature.

  S?ren dashed towards the table near the electrical cable that hung loose from the ceiling. Sparks emitted from the end of it and faded as they hit the floor below. A quick glance behind the table didn't reveal any lurking hordeling spawns.

  "Hey! Over here you overgrown rollie pollie!" S?ren shouted at the hordeling as he turned around to face it. The blind creature quickly obliged S?ren and charged towards him, crashing into the table interposed between the two. S?ren grabbed the the end of the insulated cable and thrust the end of it at the spawn, shoving it onto the top of the chitin armor that covered the creature from end to end. Like before, the hordeling spasmed and jerked onto its side when the electricity arced through its body. Double digits with a small lightning bolt to the side ( -52? ) scrolled upwards and faded into the darkness. S?ren whooped silently and vaulted over the table, landing next to the stunned hordeling. A few quick stabs into the leg joints finished off the creature. Each stab was a critical hit.

  The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

  You have defeated a Tutorial Hordeling Spawn (Copper I). (1/3)

  You have earned 10 TEK. (20/1000)

  You have lost 10 reputation with Umber Horde.

  You have lost 5 reputation with The Collective.

  The sliver of bright steel on the bottommost bar of his status window ticked upwards another tiny bit. Maybe a pixel's worth of space. The white text on the bar showed 20/1000 in the empty space in the center. No idea what TEK is, but I imagine I'll learn more from the Tutorial or maybe after the Tutorial is completed. I wonder if it would be worth it to farm these creatures once I work out the particulars of this encounter. His musings were cut short as two heavy thumps on the floor sounded behind him.

  Both of the Hordeling Spawns leapt towards S?ren as he vaulted back over the table. He grabbed the same dangling power cable, but was dismayed to find it had lost power.

  "Well shit!" Both hordeling spawn latched their talons on top of the edge of the table and pulled themselves upwards, their small legs scrabbling against the metal with a tortured sound reminiscent of nails on a chalkboard. S?ren started to back away, but a flash of what some might call genius, while others might call it stupidity, struck the young man. He charged forward and tipped the table over on top of the hordelings and then leapt onto the table, reaching out to use a partially bent table leg to steady himself. Twin screeches of pain preceded two sets floating red numbers that floated upwards into the darkness as a reward for his quick thinking and quick feet.

  S?ren jumped up and down on the table vigorously, triggering additional red numbers that drifted upwards like bubbles underwater as he chuckled with a bit of manic glee that was reflected in his green eyes. The spawn to his right managed to wriggle free as the chitin armor of the spawn on his left gave way. Cobalt blue blood mixed with a snot-like white mucus squirted outwards, leaving trails of the multi-colored liquids across the grimy floor. S?ren heard a quiet ding in the background this time when the hordeling's health bar was depleted.

  You have defeated a Tutorial Hordeling Spawn (Copper I). (2/3)

  You have earned 10 TEK. (30/1000)

  You have lost 10 reputation with Umber Horde.

  You have lost 5 reputation with The Collective.

  Another tick of bright steel appeared on the bottommost bar of his status window and the text updated to 30/1000, but this went unnoticed by S?ren as he quickly backpedaled away from what he hoped was the last enemy in the room. Despite being heavily wounded, the spawn was still somewhat quick on its tiny pointed legs. It flipped itself over with its talons and scuttled forward, chasing after S?ren as he fled back towards the sterile white room behind him. S?ren ducked behind the platform, hoping to use it as a distraction as he had unintentionally done during his prior attempt at the Tutorial.

  The bloodied monstrosity dragged itself into the room, following behind S?ren. A slick trail of cobalt blood smeared across the sterile white floor. A pitiful screech gurgled from its broken jaw. Apparently it had suffered a fair number of wounds while trapped beneath the table. S?ren stood up straight and peered over the top of the tilted platform and taunted the Hordeling Spawn, trying to lure it into attacking the cushions. Unfortunately its wounds were too much for it and it could only pull its oozing body towards the archaeologist.

  "This just feels wrong," S?ren muttered with a grimace on his face as he watched the Hordeling Spawn screech with a pain filled voice each time it dug its talons into the floor. Letting his guard down, S?ren stepped out from behind the platform and raised the sharp metal shard he still carried, intent on putting the creature out of its misery. The spawn sensed its prey appear from behind the barrier and triggered a surge of adrenaline from an engorged adrenal gland buried deep inside its chitin covered body. The flood of the hormone surging through its blood caused the spawn to leap towards S?ren despite the mortal injuries that had been inflicted upon it. Its talons swung down reflexively with a speed rivaling that of the mantis shrimp.

  "Owww fuck! No, this is what feels wrong!" S?ren shouted as he staggered backwards under the weight of the hordeling attaching itself to his chest. Blood gurgled out of the deep wounds from the serrated talons embedded into his upper chest and shoulder. His ribs cracked from the strength of the hordelings multitude of legs squeezing tight around his chest. S?ren feebly tried to dislodge the hordeling, but this only exacerbated his growing number of wounds. A vile crunch from the jagged maw of the hordeling turned everything black except for a floating blue box in an endless void.

  Date Posted.

  December 30th, 2020

  Date Edited.

  January 11th, 2021 - Removing bold formatting of speech. It was not a good idea. Someone should have stopped me.

  August 16th, 2021 - Cleaning up the story some with a bit of editing. Nothing major changed.

  February 6th, 2022 - Further minor edits to clean things up in preparation for resumption of writing. No major changes.