The Enlightened Blade

A lone man stared at Raj’s form for only a brief moment before shifting his attention to the rest of the tutorial contestants. He was one of the many Watchers, and his job was to monitor the situation within the tutorial. He also made sure to take note of every single contestant, as he would have to provide information to the factions.

“Hmm,” the man said, deep in thought. “I will keep my eye on this ‘Raj’. He is not strong enough to warrant special attention yet, but I believe he is capable of many great things…”

*****

Raj cracked open his eyes, trying to acclimate to the bright light he knew was coming. He opened them all the way, only to mentally slap himself in the face. His brief moment of embarrassment was washed away when the memories of recent events came flooding back to him. He grinned, and did a little dance.

Raj danced his way over to the monster corpse, singing as he went.

“Suck it, you big, stupid dumbass. I won. You lost. I won. I’m the best. Who’s the best? This guy!” He finished by pointing towards himself. His antics may have seemed absurd to anyone looking at him, but Raj didn’t care. He was still riding the dungeon clearing high.

As he started to calm down, he noticed the hundred and one notifications he had gathered after the fight. He sat down once again, and started going through them. Now that he had cleared the dungeon, this was the safest place to do it.

You have slain [Goblin Behemoth - lvl 10]. Bonus EXP for killing an enemy at a higher level than you.

Congratulations!

You have leveled up x1!

Stats have been distributed.

You have been awarded the Strength I title

Raj decided to hold off on allocating his Free Points, and kept reading his prompts.

Congratulations!

You have tiered up(H - - - > G)

You have been awarded the Enlightened One(G) title

You have been awarded the Agility I title

You have been awarded the Endurance I title

Congratulations!

Your class has tiered up(H - - - > G)

Class Selection:

Swordsman(Common-G): A swordsman is a warrior who has decided to specialize in the art of the blade. As a Swordsman, you will gain 3 STR, 4 AGI, 2 VIT, 2 END, and 5 Free Points per level. You will gain 1 class skill upon selection of this class.

Survivalist(Common-G): A survivalist is adept at surviving in even the harshest terrains. As a survivalist, you will gain 2 STR, 4 AGI, 3 VIT, 3 END, and 4 Free Points per level. You will gain 1 class skill upon selection of this class.

Dungeoneer(Uncommon-G): A dungeoneer works to dive and understand dungeons, with all of their intricacies. A dungeoneer must maintain a balance, and be prepared for anything they may encounter in a dungeon. As a dungeoneer, you will gain 4 STR, 4 AGI, 4 VIT, 4 END, and 2 Free Points per level. You will gain 1 class skill upon selection of this class.

Raj paused for a moment, reviewing his class choices. Survivalist was immediately thrown out the window, as it just wasn’t what he wanted to do. The Dungeoneer class made him hesitate, due to the uncommon tag that it came with. He ultimately selected Swordsman, however, as the extra stats didn’t justify him picking the class. Additionally, if classes were given based on what he did in the previous tier, then he would definitely want to see some classes that were sword-based.

A familiar rush of power coursed through his body upon his selection. He excitedly checked his new skill out.

Skill Gained: Dash(Uncommon): Upon activation, move at an increased speed towards your destination. The maximum reach of your skill is 10 times the user’s class level.

Cost: 20 MP

Raj’s eyebrows shot up at this skill. It had an increased MP cost, but with the increased stats, he would still be able to use it. He would of course have to balance this skill with his Mana Slash(Common), but the implications of a movement skill were huge. Put simply, it was a game changer. It could be used in nearly any situation, and he could retreat with it, he could close the distance to attack with it, or it could be used to simply travel faster.

Raj looked at his last few prompts, which he had purposefully saved until now.

Dungeon cleared. Accept rewards?

Raj mentally selected yes, excited to see what the dungeon would give him. A bright light descended out of nowhere, and left two items on the ground. Raj identified them.

Sword(Uncommon-G): A good sword that has been forged from a durable metal.

Agility Ring(Common-G): A ring that provides +5 AGI.

These were awesome! The ring was great because it provided AGI, which was a stat he wanted high. The sword was the real prize, however. Raj’s damage output was largely limited by his weapon, meaning that a stronger weapon would result in him being stronger in general. He slipped his old sword into his spatial ring, as he didn’t want to discard it yet. He might need it as a backup down the line. It had also been his first sword, so the sentimental part of him wanted to save it as a memento. He slipped the ring onto his finger. It was a simple gold ring, with nothing else added on to it.

With that finished, he looked at his new and improved status.

Status

Name: Rajeev Narayanan

Race: Human(H)

Class: Swordsman[(Common-G) lvl 10]

Profession: None

Titles: Giant Slayer, Vitality I, Strength I, Enlightened One(G), Agility I, Endurance I

HP: 500/500

MP: 210/210

SP: 320/320

Stats

Strength: 40(39)

Agility: 43(37)(+5)

Vitality: 50(48)

Endurance: 32(31)

Intelligence: 21(20)

Wisdom: 18(18)

Free Points: 2

Class Skills: Mana Slash(Common), Dash(Uncommon)

Profession Skills: None

General Skills: Identify(Common)

Raj stared at his status. How the actual fuck are my stats so high?!?!? He thought. The one level-up I gained gave stats based on my prior class, and my Agility Ring gave +5 to AGI. I know I got Strength I, Agility I, and Endurance I, which probably gave me +3 to all of those stats. But it still doesn’t warrant the insane increase in stats. Unless…

Raj recalled another title he had gained, and he quickly focused on the title.

Enlightened One(G) - Improve your race to G-rank. +10 to all stats.

The title had given him 10 of every stat. That was beyond broken. The gap between tiers suddenly seemed insurmountable. If his current self were to fight himself before he entered the dungeon, it wouldn’t even be a fight. He could confidently say he was at least twice as strong as he was before.

Raj just shook his head in disbelief, and reviewed the tutorial panel.

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: 23 days, 20 hours and 15 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 roughly 10 hours since the last time he had checked the panel, which had been right after he left the large camp. Raj heaved himself up with a grunt. His increased VIT was doing wonders, and he could practically feel his wounds healing. After some deliberation, Raj decided to put his 1 Free Point into AGI, and 1 into INT.

Raj could feel the changes to his body, and he felt invincible. He managed to calm himself down, and he thought of the level 22 monster he had seen. He had been ridiculously lucky, as he now understood the sheer gap in stats there was between them. If it wasn’t for the terrain, Raj would have been dead within seconds. With that gruesome thought, he started to trek out of the dungeon, new sword in hand.

It doesn’t matter who or what stands in my way, he thought. I will get stronger, and conquer the tutorial!