(XVII) Tutorial Island

Tropical birds called out in the early morning skies, small simians leaping between the trees. The humidity hung heavily in the air, sticking to Jackson's skin as sweat quickly covered his entire body. He brushed the massive ferns, cautiously following his mini-map toward a point of interest nearby.

Pushing through large, dense foliage, Jax stepped into a clearing where a tall cliff roared loudly as a waterfall flowed into a massive lake.

Standing next to the large fronds, he surveyed the area, checking for potential danger. God's Tower wasn't organic; safe havens were not magically found. Conscious hands created them.

He stepped out to the clearing, walking toward the water's edge as a small vortex appeared out of nowhere. As it grew larger, Elissa stepped through, walking down the air, like stairs, as she appeared in front of him.

"Well, now! You're a pretty fast one! It hasn't even been ten minutes!" She said, pretending to look at a watch, checking her wrist.

"What do you want now?" Jax said, balling his fist against his hip as he stared at her unamused.

"It's time for you to receive your challenge for Tutorial Island! Why else would I want to be here?" She scoffed, flipping her long white hair. She popped her wrist toward him.

[First Floor Challenge]

[Welcome to God's Tower! We'll take things slowly so you can get your feet wet. Tutorial Island isn't a singular island; it's an archipelago, and you're on the smallest. It is plagued by an infestation of an invasive species. Cull the Hollow from the jungle to advance to the next island.]

"How many are there?" Jackson said, dismissing the notification, staring sternly at the Elvish woman. She smirked and wagged her finger at him, shaking her head.

"Nuh-uh-uh! You'll be receiving no help from me!" She said mockingly as Jackson threw the Hollow Spirit Core through the air, being caught by Elissa, shocked at the surprise attack.

"I want to sell that. Give me a fair deal and tell me how many Hollows are in the area." Jackson stated in a flat tone. The Guardian raised the glowing green core into the air, closing one eye as she inspected it.

"I'll give you 50,000." She said, tossing it back to Jackson.

"100." Jackson countered, a smile spreading across his face. He knew she was trying to cheat him and wanted to give her a taste of her own medicine.

"You're crazy, newbie! No one would pay 100k for only an Uncommon Hollow Spirit! 60, final offer!" She said, crossing her arms and huffing.

"75, and you tell me how many enemies there are." Jackson said, turning around. Elissa began chewing her nails as she contemplated the offer, frantically making calculations as his actions stressed her.

"Fine!!" She shouted, throwing her hands toward him; he slowly turned around and gave her an incredulous look, prompting her to regain her composure and take a deep breath, muttering, "Asshole..."

"Deal." Jackson replied, tossing the core to Elissa once more, "Now, how many Hollows are there?"

"Ten." She replied, softly tossing the green orb into the air as it vanished into small blue lights. He immediately received a notification that the funds were received in his System's Inventory.

"Now that I have funds, I'd like to make a purchase, open the Market." Jackson demanded, turning toward her and crossing his arms across his chest.

"You have to make it to the player hub. I can't open it now." Elissa explained, shaking her head as she began floating on an invisible chair, floating casually in the air.

"Make an exception. It won't be long; I need one item. I'll even give you a tip for doing it!" Jackson said, stepping toward her.

"A tip, you say..?" Elissa asked, her eyes turning to dollar symbols as she waved her hand as a screen appeared before Jackson. He began to navigate through the menu, locating his desired item and quickly purchasing it.

"Good choice!" She said as a giant purple fruit the size of a basketball appeared in her hand. It was an odd-looking fruit with large swirling stiff mounds around the whole peel.

He held his hand out as she placed it in his palm, as a system notification rang reflecting the loss of a 50% tip on a 50,000 Point purchase, immediately returning him to 0.

"Good doing business with you!" Elissa said, smirking as she closed one eye and saluted with two fingers before the vortex appeared behind her, sucking her into it.

Jackson smiled at the fruit, placing it into his Gobbii Bag and looking around the clearing, "Best I wait a bit before taking that..." He muttered to himself, walking through the brush as he began searching the jungle.

'Ten Hollows...' He thought to himself, carefully traversing through the massive plants. While he had killed plenty of beasts in the last few years, he had never faced a true Hollow.

God's Tower, a synthetic creation, is not an organic structure; so naturally, so too are the Hollows. Beasts were the mutation of the Hollows that escaped out into the wilderness of Terra, evolving into animals and then... Multiplying.

As he crept through the jungle, he heard a loud crunching sound and pulled both swords out of their sheaths. Crouching, he quietly approached the source of the noise. Using his blade, Jax parted a massive fern.

A dozen meters ahead of him was a giant wolf with pitch-black fur. Its head had no hair, revealing its skull with two glowing green flames protruding from its eye sockets. Big white bone spikes pierced through its coat, running along its four shoulders and spine down to the tip of its tail.

It stood over the bloodied corpse of a tiny monkey, crunching loudly as it devoured its prey, none the wiser that it had just become prey itself. Jackson cautiously passed through the shrubbery, quietly adjusting his body as he prepared to launch his sneak attack.

The Hollow leaned down to take another bite when Jax quietly kicked off the ground as hard as he could, dashing with both swords crossed in front of him. It turned its head, startled at the noise, only to see the man leap into the air.

Jackson soared through the air, raising both swords above his head and unleashing a powerful overhead slash, slashing the Hollow's side, launching it into a palm tree as it collapsed to the ground.

Jax quickly repositioned himself, his blades at the ready as he stared at the motionless Hollow in disbelief, "It couldn't have been THAT easy! If that's the case, they're even weaker than the beasts outside!"

He slowly began approaching the downed Hollow, his eyes locked on its body, trying to discern if it was still alive. His heart was pounding in his ears as he inched closer.

Once he was within a few meters, he reached out and poked its soft belly with the tip of his sword and nothing happened, prompting him to release a heavy sigh of relief.

Instantly, green flames burst from the Hollow's eye sockets as it roared, launching toward his neck. Jackson's eyes went wide as his body moved autonomously, and he backstepped away from the wolf's jagged jaws.

When his foot left the ground, purple sparks shot out from under him as he was shot like a bullet through a couple of palm trees, skidding against the dirt to a halt as he tumbled, crashing against another tree. Loud explosions burst as each of the trees splintered and came crashing to the ground violently.

The purple lightning arced across his fingertips as Jackson stared at his hand bewildered, panting heavily as he coughed, dust surrounding him as he looked at the charging Hollow more than a few dozen meters away.

"What the fu..?" He muttered to himself.