Chapter 4 - The Tutorial Part 2

[ 10 minute grace period has begun ]

"I don't get it, gold hunters could've killed these creatures a thousand times over by now yet I struggle to kill even one!"

[ Answer: Gold hunters stats start at 100 and they receive an ultimate skill as well. Ornaum hunters on the other hand start off with the same stats as a bronze hunter, and no skills. However, they gain skills by performing their requirements once and they gain 5 stat points in each stat as well as 5 unused stats to distribute themselves. Gold players gain 5 stat points overall to distribute themselves, and 1 stat point in each stat. ]

[ As such, an ornaum hunter is stronger in the long run. They are also given access to the tutorial, where they train until they are strong enough to defeat gold-class monsters single-handedly ]

"So, you're saying that I am able to gain skills while the rest of them can't?"

[ No, you simply gain them instantly while the gold hunter must fulfill at least half of their requirements. For example, in order for them to gain the skill stab they must mimic the skill 500 times ]

"I see, so I gain skills as easily as I do energy from sleep."

[ Correct. You also are able to see their requirements if you ask about them. However, you seem to be able to figure some of them out on your own. I recommend gaining as many skills as possible in these grace periods ]

"Who exactly are you?"

[ I am the Ornaum pod you opened. More specifically, the AI that was in the potion you drank. I am what you would call a 'Nano-bot.' Note: You are the only one who can hear me, as I am inside of your brain. You do not have to speak to talk to me. You may simply think. This feature was added as to not embarrass the Ornaum hunter if they speak to me in public ]

'Good to know. Do you have a name?'

[ My designation is E11-iE. E for Eneto-bot, 11 for my production number, i for intelligent, and E so that you could call me Ellie instead of Elli. So my name is Ellie ]

'Well then, Ellie. Do you have any recommendations for skills i should get?'

[ Searching… ]

[ DING! I have 7 skills you should acquire before the next fight. They are, in order of importance, Poison resistance - acquired through the ingestion of a small amount of poison which is available for one skill point in the store. Fire Magic - gained by picturing a flame in one's mind while using mana manipulation to draw it into the hand. Water Magic - gained similarly to fire magic. Earth Magic. Wind magic. Spatial magic - gained by picturing a storage room whilst channeling magic into the item you wish to store, it is quicker than the storage system. Sword mastery - the evolution of lesser sword mastery gained by training sword skills 50 times each. ]

'Jeez. So this monster is poisonous huh. Might as well get started. I guess I'll buy the poison.'

[ Store is not accessible until the acquisition of spatial magic ]

'Then why put poison first and not spatial magic?'

[ Because you will not need it in this fight, however it can be of major help ]

'I do need it for this fight so I can use the store and get the poison though?'

[ … ]

[ List updated: Spatial magic moved to most important. Note: Ellie will get more intelligent the higher your level ]

'Alrighty then. Well let's get to it!'

Edward spends the next five minutes training to receive the magic skills, and succeeds on each of them while having trouble picturing wind magic because of him picturing it as squiggling lines instead of actual wind. After that, he spends a minute training his sword skills but is not able to receive the evolution.

'Time for the one I wasn't looking forward to.' Edward holds up a clear liquid which looks similar in consistency to syrup. 'So… What exactly is this?'

[ That is the poison of a Greater Imp. A gold-class demon. ]

'And… I'll be fine after drinking this? It won't hurt me?'

[ No, you will feel pain. However, you'll be able to survive and may receive the evolved form of poison resistance, poison nullification if you ingest all of it ]

'Ugh. Okay then… Bottoms up.' Edward cringes as he pulls the stopper off the small vial and holds it up to his lips. Surprisingly the poison is tasteless, but that doesn't take away from the disgusting consistency, instead it only heightens it. He uses his newly gained water magic to manipulate the poison out of the bottle into his mouth, leaving a completely dry, empty bottle. He swallows after two pained attempts of his body refusing to do so. In a couple seconds, he is writhing on the ground sweating and crying as it feels like his guts have been lit on fire and filled with the strongest acid ever created. His veins start to pop out on his forehead and turn a dark shade of purple before slowly returning to their natural colors and settling back down under his skin.

[ Skill gained: Poison Nullification - you are impervious to poisons platinum class or lower. ]

[ I suggest buying nine lesser health potions and using two to recovering both physically and mentally from your skill gain. ]

"D-do that. Please' As he says that, two red potions appear in his hands and he immediately drinks them. He feels his body recovering very quickly, including his energy coming back to him and his mind feeling clearer.

[ Skill gained: Greater Pain tolerance ]

[ Congratulations, you have achieved 5 out of 10 achievements necessary for a Racial Evolution. They are as follows, Gain the ability to connect to the hunt, access the leveling system, gain a greater skill, gain two resistances. ]

[ As per the privileges granted by the Ornaum rank pod, you only need 5 out of the ten achievements to evolve. The tutorial will be paused, and you will evolve. ]

"Wait already? I wasn't expecting this until like level 100 or something!"

[ One of the achievements for evolution, as well as the last is to reach level 100 ]

"Oh… So I can skip that? That seems a little over-powered to me.'

[ Not at all, in fact it's very rare for Ornaum hunters to not have evolved twice before level 100, also you do not need to speak for me to hear you. ]

'Right, I forgot. Whe-'

[ Evolution has begun, you will fall into a deep sleep ]

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Ruby's POV:

It's been ten days since the earthquakes happened as well as Edwards disappearance. Monsters have appeared all over the world as well as new land masses have appeared. In the middle of cities, sinkholes that open up into caves have been found where the monsters are pouring out of. The world has had terrible storms everywhere and there was even a monster described as an oriental dragon that was as long as a city appearing near Beijing. Europe has had multiple cases of western dragons appearing. Monsters that were originally just folklore have been confirmed to be real. All this had happened within the first two days. All form of electronics have stopped working and its uncertain if they'll come back. So far, the monsters that have attacked our city, Seattle, have been weak and the bronze and silver rank hunters can take care of them with ease. Theres been occasional cases of monsters such as minotaurs appearing near the city, which are quickly picked off by either a group of silver and bronze ranks, or a gold rank. It's been discovered that we can level up just like in video games as well as skills. There's been martial artists who have stated that while they were practicing a message appeared in front of them saying they obtained skills. These skills do exactly what you train but it seems as though they are far more powerful than doing them without skills. Some magic-type hunters were feeling a bit left out as they couldn't figure out how to gain access to different types of magic while physical-types were able to gain new skills rather easily. I mean, it takes some of them only a day!

Healing-types are being used as, well, healers. I've been stationed near Downtown Park in Bellevue, in a certain hotel that has been rearranged into a make-shift hospital. A sinkhole opened up in the middle of the park so we're trying to minimize the loss of life. I welcome the work so I can keep my mind off of the events of the past couple days. I got Peppy and I a room on the middle floor so we're not too low where we may need to fight monsters, and not too high where we can't escape if we do face them. Peppy hasn't been smiling at all lately, and she's been having nightmares all night. We need Edward back here soon or neither of us will hold up much longer.

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Edward slowly begins to wake up groggily.

[ I recommend drinking a potion ]

Without speaking or even thinking, he casts spatial magic and takes out a potion and downs it. His head becomes clear and he checks his race.

[ Edward Knight: Greater Human. Race benefits, you gain an additional 5 stat points per level for a total of 10 ]

'Jeez! Haha! Maybe soon I'll be able to take out armies of monsters!'

Edward looked over his body and found that he had gained more muscle mass, and slimmed up looking like a professional athlete. He picked up the bottle and looked at the bottom which seemed to be made of silver, and used it as a mirror. His hair had changed to a lighter shade of brown, and his eyes did as well. He also grew significantly taller, while he was 5'9" [175cm] before he was now 6'2" [188cm]. His face was also clear of blemishes, losing his freckles (which he is slightly sad about), moles, and scars all over his body. He also lost the hair on his torso as well. He was surprised at how handsome he had become while still looking like himself.

[ 10 minute grace period has ended. Spawning Lesser Lizardman ]

A light blue light is seen forming in front of him. It begins to take the form of a red bi-pedal lizard which was slightly taller than him. As it forms, Edward instinctively takes out his sword and shield. He thinks about his magic skills and holds them in the hand behind the shield. The Lizardman spawns in and instantly starts running at him with its claws forward. Edward waits until the lizardman is a few feet in front of him, and releases all the magic he saved catching it off-guard. The magic all combines into a single ball which hits the lizardman right in the chest, the flames and water react with each other causing a steam explosion, which with the chunk of earth surrounding it causes a huge dust cloud.

"COUGH COUGH!"

Edward can't see because of the dust in his eyes, which he is hastily trying to get out before the lizardman can. He gets the dust out of his eyes and looks back toward the lizardman. It's laying on the ground with a hole in the center of its body, still alive but paralyzed from that point down.

'Holy shit magic's powerful!'

Edward walks up to the lizard which is attempting to use its arms to pull itself away from him while struggling for air as its lungs have been ripped in half by this spell. Edward lifts up his sword and stabs it into its throat, severing the spinal cord from the remaining spine.

[ Lesser lizardman defeated ]

[ Level Up x4 ]

[ Ellie will now calculate experience points on its own without help from the hunt ]

[ Experience will not be removed from the status screen unless asked for directly ]

[ Achievement gained: Fight a lizardman without getting poisoned ]

[ Achievement gained: Win a fight you should have lost ]

[ Achievement gained: Win a fight without taking damage ]

[ Level up x10 ]

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[ STATUS]

Name: Edward Knight

Race: Greater Human

Title: Ornaum Hunter

LVL: 21

HP: 1900 / 1900

MP: 17550 / 18000

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Strength: 180

Agility: 180

Dexterity: 180

Vitality: 190

Perception: 180

Wisdom: 180

Unused Stats: 160

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Active Abilities: Slash, Stab, Sprint, Lesser Shield Attack, Lesser Mana Manipulation, Fire magic, Water magic, Earth Magic, Spatial magic

Passive Abilities: Ornaum Privilege, Greater Pain Tolerance, Mana Sense, Lesser Battle Concentration, Lesser Mental Fortitude, Lesser Sword Mastery, Lesser Shield Mastery

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Items [ Merged with Spatial Magic] : Ornaum shortsword, Ornaum kite-shield, 50 Ornaum ingots, 6 low-grade potions

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Mana Pathways Open – 1 / 20