The Enlightened Blade

I probably should’ve asked a few more questions, Raj thought, already regretting his hasty exit from the camp. He hadn’t asked Paul about classes, or anything on his status. He made a quick vow to remember that information when he ran into more people. Oh well, at least I managed to snag some cooked food. Should be enough to last a few days.

He ducked under a branch, brushing leaves and debris off of his body as he went. He turned left after a while, as he had remembered Paul pointing in that direction when he was mentioning the other camps. I can investigate the camps, and determine the good from bad myself, he thought. Raj would then choose to go to whatever camp he determined to be the best, ally with all camps, or just go at it solo. Not the best option, but I would rather go at it by myself than with people I don’t trust. It went without saying that Raj would only make a choice once he found Arjun, and figured out his friend’s situation. He prayed with all his heart that Arjun was alive, safe, and hopefully somewhat strong.

Raj glanced up at the sky, taking note of the fact that it was around midnight. With a thought, he pulled his tutorial panel up.

Welcome to the Tutorial

Information: The Tutorial will proceed for 30 days. The only required criteria for completion is survival. Anything else is extra and will thus be rewarded for.

Countdown: 24 days, 6 hours and 3 minutes

Tutorial Contribution(TC) will be given to all participants for any actions that impact the tutorial or the beings inside it. This includes slaying monsters or other humans, as well as completing or contributing to the completion of objectives. The leaders in terms of TC will be given rewards at the end of the tutorial in accordance to the amount of TC they have. TC is not visible as points by the participants.

Objectives: A power lurks in the grassy plains to the East of the forest. Defeat the monstrosity and its 3 most powerful subordinates to complete the objective.

It had been nearly 10 hours since he left his camp, but he somehow did not feel as tired as he thought he should be. After an entire day of physical activity, the fact that he had enough left in the tank to keep moving was insane. Then he realized that the cause of it was his increased stats. I knew that they would improve my body, but seeing it unfold right in front of me is unreal.

He took a few more paces before suddenly freezing at the sound of a howl. He tensed for a moment, as it sounded very close to his position, and caught movement to his right. He sprung into action, taking a stance, and wasted no time using Identify(Common) on the four figures that were approaching him.

[Wolf lvl 5]

[Wolf lvl 5]

[Wolf lvl 5]

[Wolf lvl 7]

Raj’s eyebrows rose in surprise when he saw the levels of the beasts, but quickly determined that it wasn’t too surprising, seeing as how the wolves would’ve had to kill some creatures to survive this long. He was decently confident in his abilities, and knew he could kill the wolves. He had done it before, after all, and at a level disadvantage. That being said, the beasts were at a high enough level to inflict serious damage if he started getting complacent.

Raj opened the fight by burning all of his available MP in order to send out ten Mana Slash(Common) attacks; two slashes at each of the level 5 wolves, and three slashes at the alpha. The leader managed to dodge two of his slashes, but took a hit across its flank. Two of its subordinates had only taken one hit as well, but their injuries were more severe. One of the wolves had lost a leg completely, while the other had been cut deep into its abdomen. They were lucky in comparison to the last wolf, however, as it had jumped straight into both of his slashes, getting bisected at the stomach. It was currently off to the side, twitching.

Raj faked a move towards the alpha before quickly spinning on his heel and lunging at the left-most wolf. The alpha had fallen for his trick, allowing him to break through their formation. He sliced at the wolf, and his sword connected. Raj barely had time to glimpse at the head that rolled next his foot before pivoting, narrowly dodging the ensuing attack that he knew was coming. Sure enough, the only other wolf aside from the alpha had tried to claw him, but he simply dismantled the wolf in record time, putting it down with a few clean strikes.

He was given no time to breathe, however, as the alpha was already charging towards him, its eyes shining with rage. Raj sidestepped a swipe, and backed up from a bite. They played this game of cat and mouse for only a moment longer before Raj suddenly catapulted himself forward, using the momentum to shove his sword into the alpha’s open mouth. The light in its eyes flickered for a second, and then the wolf collapsed.

Raj yanked his sword out of the wolf’s mouth, reflecting on the fight that had just happened. Those wolves were among the strongest animals I have faced in a fight thus far, and there were four of them. So why did that fight seem… kind of easy? Do levels really make that big of a difference? Or was it in combination with my skills and experience? Raj just shook his head, and sat down on a nearby rock, waiting for his MP to regenerate. As he waited, he pulled up his notifications.

You have slain [Wolf - lvl 5].

You have slain [Wolf - lvl 5].

You have slain [Wolf - lvl 5].

You have slain [Wolf - lvl 7].

Raj could literally feel how close he was to level 10. It seemed to be taking much more EXP than he had expected it too, so he hoped it was a milestone. He had noticed that after level 5, he had a better understanding of where he was in relation to the next level.

After a few more minutes, he got up and started walking again, his MP almost fully regenerated. He walked for a few more uneventful minutes, never letting his guard drop. Only after another 15 minutes of this did Raj stop, this time because of something blocking his path. He hadn’t seen it from a distance, but it was as obvious as a light in the darkness up close.

A cave? Raj thought. It looked larger than the ones he had seen before in the tutorial. He walked towards the opening, only to be met with a prompt.

You have found: Dungeon - Level 5

Any user attempting to enter must be at least level 5 to enter this dungeon. Rewards will be distributed upon completion of the dungeon.

A dungeon. Raj had found a bona-fide dungeon. Oh hell yeah, Raj thought giddily. It was only level 5, but it was the first dungeon he had seen, so he was kind of happy for the lower level. He felt that he could definitely manage the creatures inside. He should also be able to level up from this dungeon, and maybe hit a milestone. More importantly however, were the rewards that the prompt had promised.

“Daddy needs his loot,” Raj happily said. He walked towards the entrance, and was enveloped by the darkness.

If Raj had paid more attention to his surroundings, however, he might have spotted the pair of eyes that had been watching him, noting down his every move. The owner of the watchful gaze turned once he saw Raj enter the cave, and went to report his findings to his leader.