The Enlightened Blade

Raj woke up for the second time that day, this time in a forest. A prompt greeted him as soon as he was able to process what was happening.

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.

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.

“Well, she did say wilderness, I guess this is what she meant,” Raj mumbled as he slowly rose to his feet. He looked around and found his new sword laying in the grass a few feet away. “I just realized this doesn’t come with a sheath,” Raj grumbled, picking his sword up. “That’s annoying. And it’s pretty big too. Not as big as my sword though… hehe.” Two-year-old humor aside, he took in his surroundings.

To his right, he saw some trees. To his left, he saw some more trees. In front of him, he saw even more trees. And behind him there were… more fucking trees! “Where the hell am I supposed to go?” Raj wondered. “I’m not a survivalist, I don’t know how I’m going to survive out here in the forest.” He took a deep breath, and started thinking. He knew that the basic necessities of food, water, and shelter would be key. He did not know how big the forest was, but he knew that there were others, 99 others to be exact, so he should run into people eventually. I cannot count on that happening today though. Food should not be too big of an issue, seeing as how the robo-lady told me that they were monsters here. I am going to assume that I can eat at least something. Water is something I am going to have to search for. Shelter as well. Wait, don’t I have a profession on my Status? “Damn it,” Raj muttered, cursing his own stupidity. “Why did I not ask her when I had the chance. What if I could get a profession to help me survive, or to get stronger?”

Raj decided that he could not really gain anything from standing around any longer. He wanted to test out his Mana Slash(Common) skill, but he realized that he did not know anything about his MP in this world, or how fast it would regenerate. He did not want to waste a precious resource in the open, and he could also attract unwanted attention. After all, the tutorial probably had monsters that he could not even dream of taking on at his current strength. I should have asked her for information about what the stats do. I am actually so stupid.

He started walking through the forest, making sure to stay on high alert. He wanted to be ready for anything that could come his way. Without a sheathe, his sword was held in both hands in front of him. His walk went on for 5 long but silent minutes, which eventually morphed into 10. His nerves were all but shot at this point, and his eyes started drooping. Raj realized that it was late night when he was inducted by the System, so he was pretty tired. That’s when Raj remembered that Arjun had been right next to him when he got inducted in the first place!

“Shit! How the hell did I forget about my best friend!” Raj exclaimed. “I must be more tired than I thought! I hope he is okay. Arjun has always been a fighter after all, and he works out. He should be able to survive until we can meet up. I hope he gets shaken out of his drunken stupor by the System, or he is screwed.” Raj then realized that he had said that out loud, and not in a whisper. He mentally berated himself for what seemed like the tenth time since he landed in the tutorial.

That’s when Raj heard a growl somewhere to his left. He froze, and then quickly turned to face the direction that the growl came from. Then, Raj saw the head of a fox emerge from the dense foliage. Raj was instantly fearful and glad. He was fearful because he was facing a predator. With a thought, Raj activated his skill Identify(Common) for the first time.

[Fox - lvl 2]

The information he got was pretty minimal, but at least he was able to identify the level and type of beast he was going up against. Raj raised his sword and charged at the fox. The fox lunged at him with surprising speed, causing Raj to halt his charge and dodge to the left. The fox’s increased level means it probably has better stats than me. I have to remember that. He feinted a wide slash, and then spun around and sliced at the right flank of the fox. He was rewarded for his efforts, his sword biting deep into the flesh of the fox. He received a claw to the leg in retaliation, and he stepped back, pulling his sword out, causing blood to spray out from the wound.

Raj winced at his wound. It was not deep, but still troublesome and limited his movement. The fox was definitely on the losing end of that exchange however, and it tried to limp back into the forest. Raj was still pretty far away from it, and the fox was fighting more defensively, which meant that Raj’s chance of injury was increased. A crippling injury in this forest could spell death. Raj decided that it was time to try his Mana Slash(Common) skill out. He focused on his skill, and felt something drain out of him. His blade started shining with a blue light, and he quickly slashed horizontally in the direction of the fox.

The effects were devastating. The slash of light sped towards the fox, leaving the injured animal no time to react. The fox was cut open at the chest; it was not fully bisected, but it was still cut deep into its organs. Life fled the beast’s eyes, and Raj felt a surge of warmth flood into him.

“Woah,” He gasped after the rush subsided. He refocused and saw a prompt waiting for him.

You have slain [Fox - lvl 2]. Bonus EXP for killing an enemy at a higher level than you.

Congratulations!

You have leveled up x1!

Stats have been distributed.

Raj took a moment to process the notification. So fighting higher-level opponents gives bonus EXP… I guess that makes sense.

Raj decided to assign his free point right away instead of waiting, seeing as how he would need all the strength he could get. I don’t really need INT or WIS right now. My Mana Slash(Common) skill is my only mana drain so far, and I can cast it 8 times, which should be enough for any fight. No, I need some more physical stats. After some more thought, he decided to put 1 stat into AGI and one stat into VIT. A rush of power coursed through him once he confirmed the changes, and Raj felt like he could take on the world! He opened his new Status to see the changes.

Status

Name: Rajeev Narayanan

Race: Human(H)

Class: Warrior[(Common-H) lvl 2]

Profession: None

Titles: None

HP: 117/130(bleeding, -1/sec)

MP: 71/80

SP: 74/100

Stats

Strength: 10

Agility: 11

Vitality: 13

Endurance: 10

Intelligence: 8

Wisdom: 7

Free Points: 0

Class Skills: Mana Slash(Common)

Profession Skills: None

General Skills: Identify(Common)

Raj winced when he realized that his health was being drained because of his leg wound. He quickly made a shoddy bandage out of the foliage around him, and his poor medical work was fortunately enough to stop the effect. My HP, MP, and SP all regenerate by themselves. HP is probably VIT for regen too, SP might be END as well, but MP might be WIS for regen. I don’t know the exact numbers though. Raj decided not to waste more time in this area. He started walking, this time electing to go in the direction that the fox came from. He hoped that the fox would have made camp around a source of food, water, or shelter. Maybe a cave or a lake. Raj walked past the corpse of the fox. He felt sad that he had killed the fox, but he knew that he did not have a choice. He walked with a slight limp and watched his stats tick up slowly. I’ll need all the HP, MP, and SP I can get if I want to survive.

As Raj started to disappear into the thick forest greenery, he had one final thought.

I wonder how Arjun is doing?