Supreme Swordfiend

Zerasos' reaction had been strange. The Shifting Tides Style had seemed like a good style to Leon's untrained eye but he'd never expected such a reaction from the devil.

"So what- it's good?"

Zerasos flung the manual back to Leon before explaining.

"It's bound in what feels like [F] Grade Megalodon skin and those techniques inside are way beyond what any normal manual teaches at the [H] Grade. Tell you what kid, leave it with me. I'll have the boys in acquisitions see if we can't turn up another copy somewhere. I can't spill the beans on anything we do find out though, I'm still mostly limited to Tutorial info but once you beat this place we'll help you out with figuring out where this thing came from."

It was Leon's turn to cock an eyebrow as he replied, half the burger now gone.

"For free?"

Zerasos laughed in response the devil's blood red veins growing brighter as he did so.

"Not quite for free, we'll talk more once you're back kid- for now go slice up some lizards."

The remainder of the burger now consumed, Leon checked his gear to make sure all his armour was secure. Wavecutter remined at his side, sheathed. His worn arming sword hadn't left his hand since he'd entered the house, battered and bruised as it was Leon trusted it to see him through this next set of fights.

It felt good, finally having a plan. Leon felt he'd been bumbling around so far only succeeding by chance, making his own plans based on inferences and guesswork rather than solid information. His goal of one day being able to use the Shifting Tides Style would remain but he'd trust Zerasos' to point him in the right direction for the time being.

Though the devil definitely had his own interests at heart

He did need to make a decision regarding the group.

Cut them off or take them under his wing?

He'd dabbled with both before settling on a half n' half solution but with the information from Zerasos it was clear he could no longer afford to half-ass his approach. On one hand they were all normal people with no experience wielding a weapon and they would be a burden.

On the other hand the idea that they could be useful to him somehow was keeping him from moving hastily. Zerasos might have some insight.

Tightening a shin guard as he spoke, Leon posed the question to the devil, who had reclined into a beanbag while Leon had been distracted.

"Zerasos, the other humans- any sage advice on what I should do with them?"

The devil fixed Leon with the most withering gaze he'd ever felt. Pity, scorn and a tinge of sadness all wrapped into one expression.

"Fuck 'em kid, you've got enough problems without having to babysit some useless pricks, praying they'll be of use to ya- they'll survive if they're lucky. Worrying about anyone other than yourself right now is a luxury you don't have."

Cold and callous though the devil's sentiments were Leon couldn't offer a rebuttal. The logic was sound and his instincts agreed, yelling at him from within his mind that the others would slow him down.

It was as he internalised this attitude that all the puzzle pieces locked together- the small group, the single slime that had attacked and the rankings. The Tutorial wasn't designed to produce groups of middling warriors- it was designed to locate one amongst them with the talent to rise above the other nine and thrive. To survive he would need to abandon the others.

The part of Leon's mind that had been freaking out for nearly the entire day finally snapped out of it and reprimanded him- he'd made a promise to Selena, he would keep that at the very least.

He wouldn't, couldn't, break his own word. Even if the world was going crazy, he'd remain true to himself.

Striding to the door Leon felt it all finally hit home- here he was about to march on a den of murderous lizards, sword in hand. It was everything he had ever dreamed of, his heart pounded in anticipation, in excitement and in joy. He was finally living his dreams. His instincts screamed in anticipatory ecstasy, as he exited the cottage to find the rest of the humans gathering round the fire once again.

They could have left for the dungeon, together they stood a good chance at clearing it. They had instead chosen to endlessly argue and debate amongst each other. He saw them as they were now- quivering and craven, people whose fear dominated them. Burdens, ones that he would not carry forward. Save one.

"Selena, grab a torch- we're leaving."

That stirred them up, the rest suddenly shooting up, questions and remarks and noise. So much meaningless noise.

Selena took one look at Leon and saw the cold steel in his eyes. His demeanour had hardened in the minutes they had been parted.

"The rest of you- fuck off. Go run the slime dungeon. Or you can wait here for death to arrive, I really don't care either way."

Leon turned his back on them then, striding past his abode and over to the river. Fingers trailing the water, feeling the current's flow, plotting his course. The next dungeon was situated in the middle of a lake upstream and would require him to get his feet wet to reach it.

Selena had joined him by now, a thick wooden branch wrapped in burning cloth in her hands. He didn't ask where the cloth came from, suspecting he wouldn't like the answer.

"Ready to go?"

She nodded, his cold demeanour cause enough for her to clam up.

Turning one last time Leon saw that Mike was not amongst those who still volleyed questions at him. He was still by the fire, looking as lost as before. Tiring of the huddled masses Leon began drawing his sword arm up and assuming a fighting posture- successfully driving the others back, their tempers cooled under the threat of tasting cold steel.

"First and final warning. Don't get in the way of my training or I'll cut you all down."

That shut them up. One by one they retreated, some returning to the fire, others fleeing into the darkened forest. They didn't matter anymore. Beckoning for Selena to follow, he set off, travelling along the river's banks, guided only by the light of the torch.

The lack of a moon in the Tutorial's sky was disconcerting but since the place had been a pocket dimension to start with Leon could understand why the designers had foregone adding, what in their eyes was, a superfluous element. Did high grade entities have night vision he wondered? That would explain it.

Selena chose that moment to speak up, they had travelled for only ten minutes so far and the silent night ambience must have been getting to her.

"Aren't you afraid of getting slime'd in all this darkness?"

"Nah- forest's empty until daybreak. We're heading to a new dungeon, you'll get a class and I'll get another sword that's incredibly restrictive if my luck holds. Anyway- I learned a lot from the devil and we're still a good distance from our goal- no fish tax this time, ask away."

Leon caught a glimpse of her expression from the corner of his eye. Fear. Masked, poorly, beneath another joking façade. Fear was good. Fear would keep her alive at the very least.

When Selena spoke, her question caught Leon off guard.

"Just give me the TL;DR, honestly today's been a nightmare so far and I'll probably forget the details if you go into them."

"We're on the clock now, every minute we don't use to get stronger leaves us at greater risk of dying when the dinosaurs come out to play at dawn."

"Cheery! Any good news?"

"Nope."

"Figures."

The pair were silent after that, moving in companionable silence, the light of the torch guttering out as they continued. A splash disturbed the quiet as the branch broke the surface of the river, sinking to the bottom of the riverbed among the stones and muck. Another piece of detritus the river would slowly, inexorably erode.

Their eyes were slow to adapt. More than once Leon thought he would lose his footing or trip, though mercifully this did not come to pass. Within another ten minutes they had reached their goal- a lake in the shape of a crescent moon, a small island jutting just above the waterline, only large enough to house a glowing blue portal.

Selena grabbed onto Leon's arm before he could wade into the water.

"Please tell me we aren't going into the ominous portal?"

While employing his widest grin Leon replied. "We aren't going into the ominous portal."

Leon shook her arm off and began the swim over to the island. While he was sure it would have been easier to swim without the burden of his gear, he didn't want to waste time stripping down just to re-equip everything seconds later.

Hands digging into gravel and grit, Leon pulled himself out of the water, onto the land, his figure now visible from the bank due to the illumination of the portal. Selena hadn't moved yet, prompting Leon to call out to her.

"Come on, we're on the clock here!"

"You go on ahead- I'd prefer to dry off before I'm forced to fight for my life."

She looked uncertain, shifty. Like a frightened animal, one that was all too aware she was prey and was ready to bolt before the snapping jaws of the circling predators had a chance to tear into her. Leon knew that she had made her choice as he met her eyes and saw the guilt behind them.

Her plan was obvious in retrospect- to rely on him to leave the camp safely then backtrack to the camp, securing a new place in the remaining group as she could guide them to a second dungeon. She didn't have the stomach to fight alongside him it seemed. The betrayal should have stung, yet Leon couldn't bring himself to care- there was a fight on the horizon that was far more important than this petty bullshit.

It was slightly annoying that he had decided to uphold his word and now she was breaking hers, but again-this was minor in the face of a fresh challenge to conquer.

"Alright, see you on the other side."

He refused to look back, not seeing her brief contemplation before she turned back towards the camp. Leon entered the portal and felt his perception shift, his vision was being stretched out until it encompassed a sphere around him, before abruptly snapping back into his eyeballs.

He found himself standing beneath a clear sky, upon the burning sands of an ancient arena, the raucous cheers of the spectators drowning his thoughts with their volume, the blazing sun above already beginning to dry his sodden attire. All further observations were delayed as a metallic scent hit his nostrils.

Blood- unmistakeably blood. Putting up his guard Leon's mind kicked up a gear as he rapidly searched for the source of the smell.

A corpse, there in the sand. Legs covered in scrapes and gashes. Face completely gone, half chewed apart, half clawed off. Clad in a broken lorca segmentata, a style of body armour utilised by the early Roman Empire, the dead man was noticeably without weaponry. A pity, Leon would have enjoyed wielding a gladius or spatha.

A blue box popped up as Leon wondered where the man's weapon had gotten to.

"Entering Scenario Dungeon, party size: 1. Clear the scenario to exit the dungeon."

A booming voice cut across Leon's thoughts, power prestige and authority effectively conveyed despite the speaker's evident disdain for the target of the announcement.

"Yes, more applause for Petrus, another man fool enough to challenge my Hydragon. Next, an [H] Grade taking a [Gladiator] trial- you all know the drill, ten waves of raptors followed by a carnotaurus- wake me when he'd dead will you? These low grade fights are so dreadfully dull."

A door opposite Leon opened only long enough to allow a lizard to exit from its shaded confinement. While it was a small beast, only about as large as a turkey. Leon noted its sharp claws and serrated teeth. There was only a single raptor for this round, though that did little to stifle Leon's fighting spirit.

Snapping off a quick [Inspect] Leon pulled up the raptor's information.

"Level 2 Velociraptor- A small lizard that primarily hunts in packs. Utilises leaping tactics against larger foes to strike at their vitals."

The little dinosaur let out a feeble roar as it noticed Leon, charging him with all the speed it could muster. Leon chose to meet the creature with a charge of his own. The creature leapt as the distance between them shortened, targeting his throat. Placing both hands on the grip of his weapon, Leon let loose with a powerful upwards slash, catching the airborne lizard's throat and tearing straight through it.

The sensation of rending through flesh, snapping apart hollow bone was different to the feeling of cutting through slime. Harsher in some ways, definitely more visceral in terms of feedback. The blood, thick and sticky, practically blasted out of the entry wound, soaking Leon's face.

Then, the abrupt change in resistance as the blade exited flesh and began cutting air. The change in that air as the raptor's corpse approached, still aimed at Leon's throat, which he avoided as he dived to the side, his sword still soaked with the lizard's vital juices.

"You have slain a Level 2 Velociraptor!"

Showered in a spray of hot blood, Leon quickly wiped the worst of it from his eyes, flicking it onto the sands. They drank greedily of his offering, dark stains forming as more ichor fell onto the arena floor. Behind him, the creature's body and head lay, having suffered a permanent separation, both parts spewing yet more blood into the sand Leon felt the rushing mana enter him as he dismissed the kill notification. No level up yet, this was within his expectations as the Velociraptor was too weak.

The crowd roared as Leon flourished his blade to remove any traces of the raptor's blood. He grinned as he stood there, finally able to hear their chants.

"Boo! Hurry up and die!"

The crowd were destined to be disappointed today Leon thought, as he began extending his blade arm into the sky, striking as heroic a pose as he could, Leon answered their cries.

"Too easy- another!"

Two raptors emerged from the door this time and Leo was ready. They charged as one and Leon saw an opportunity. Thrusting his sword through the throat of the first lizard while dodging the second, he then flung the dying lizard off his blade and after its companion.

The beast stumbled and Leon took advantage, closing the gap between them and plunging his sword into the creature from above, rooting it to the ground as his weapon stayed embedded in the sand. The crowds of these gladiatorial arenas loved violence, bloodshed and gore. They also had a penchant for killing the boring gladiators he remembered.

Leon decided then that he would give them a show, drawing Wavecutter from its sheath, beheading the poor lizard and following up his execution with a swift kick to the creature's decapitated head, sending it careening across the sands, spewing blood all the while.

"You have slain a Level 2 Velociraptor!"

"You have slain a Level 2 Velociraptor!"

They weren't cheering quite so hard against him as he cleaned his blades while calling out his request.

"Another!"