3 Out of Combat

[Achievement unlocked Hero's Belief, Reward: Outburst skill]

Alex was confused, he could think once again, everything was still blurry, but he was slowly able to process more on what was happening.

[Does Player Alex want to use the skill, Outburst?]

Alex didn't know what to say, he didn't even know where this voice was coming from, let alone what it was talking about. He only knew that this voice was very familiar like he had heard it before. "Outburst?" Alex asked in his mind.

[Outburst is a special skill, earned only when a player has completed special tasks. This skill can heal the player from near-death and will also give the player a boost to rank : National Hero. As this is the player's first time, there will also be an autopilot guide as a tutorial on combat for the player. Does the player want to use skill, Outburst?]

Hearing those words, Alex, still a bit confused replied, "Yes" He didn't know what was going on but he could slowly feel his body healing and could understand that the voice wasn't there to cause him harm, it was there to help him.

[Training initiated. Skill, Outburst used. The player will be given a tutorial in combat against the first enemy. The rest will be dealt with by the player.]

"What do I do?" Alex could now speak properly. He could feel all of his body parts again.

Alex opened his eyes, it felt like a dream but he knew that it was all real, the pain that he had felt a few seconds ago was completely real.

[Outburst Initiated. Player Rank boosted to VIGILANTE-HERO, player healed to peak condition. Combat visual tutorial initiated.]

Alex was ready, but it felt like his body wasn't in his control. He started to move on his own, he could feel everything but couldn't control his body.

'Is this what the voice means by tutorial? It will just control my body?' Alex thought as he stood up. His body seemed to be a bit taller. He looked forward and saw that the beings had certain numbers over their head.

[Level 50: Reaper] [level 95: reaper] [level 100: reaper commander]

There were three, all different levels. Alex didn't have control over his body, but the trauma from what happened just moments ago made him shudder.

"How did that weakling heal itself? It was supposed to be ripped in half. Everything is back to normal… And that body… The energy emanating from its body, it's similar to commander!" The weakest Reaper spoke. It was mind boggling when it saw Alex stand up as nothing happened. It was the one who cut his body in half, so seeing Alex just stand up, that also with powers a lot higher than its own was something that he made him fear.

[Combat initiated. The player will be shown how much power the skill Outburst gives. After eliminating the first enemy, the player will be all on his own to battle the rest. The outburst will remain for 5 minutes.]

The voice said as Alex propelled towards the reaper. The other two reapers also noticed what was happening, but they were too slow.

Alex had already reached the reaper, his hand on its neck, increasing pressure second by second.

*crack*

[exp gained]

The weakest reaper's neck broke. Alex could feel the neck-breaking by his own hands, he had never killed before, the thought of ending a life was something alien. Before he even knew it, Alex could control his body once again.

[Tutorial ended. The player has been demonstrated how powerful he currently is.]

This time, along with the voice, a small prompt appeared in front of Alex, a box that had the same words as the voice.

Baffled at everything that was happening, Alex didn't notice what was happening behind him.

The reapers were rushing towards him, both with killing intent. *swoosh*

One reaper threw a knife at Alex's back.

[-100 hp. XXXX hp remaining]

Another prompt appeared in front of Alex.

"That hurt, but not like before… This isn't a dream… But it feels unreal." Alex said as he turned to the ground, a small sword, previously owned by the reaper that he just killed. 'I guess I'll have to use this, I don't know hand to hand combat but I feel a surge of strength inside of me, I can probably use brute force to fight back…'

Alex thought he wanted to protect himself, but taking a life was something too far for him, even at this moment where his enemies were after his life.

[Weapon obtained, Reaper's Dagger. No special traits]

Alex was ready. He knew that he had to fight back to escape this place. He looked towards the reaper who threw a knife towards him. It was level 95 reaper. He was now only a few meters away from Alex, mid-strike.

Seeing the Reaper, Alex felt fear. No matter how much he powered up, Alex had to be mentally strong.

*woosh!*

Alex jumped away from the strike. He looked around him and spotted the last reaper; it seemed to be casting something, a large circle appeared on its forehead, but it didn't seem to be completed it.

'I'll need to stop him, I have a bad feeling if he completes that circle.' Alex had to stop the second Reaper, but he also had to take care of the current one who was attacking him.

Alex however couldn't do anything, all he did was continuously dodge the first reaper's strike, he didn't know how to strike back. 'If this continues, the 5 minutes will end, I'll need to stop this one as well as the second one!' Alex needed to be courageous.

After taking a deep breath, Alex looked towards the reaper that was attacking him, he could see that the strikes were powerful but they seemed to move slow. As he continued to observe, Alex noticed that there was a certain gap where he could attack and injure the reaper.

'You'll have to do this!' Alex knew that it was only death that awaited him if he continued on like this.

*swoosh!*

Alex quickly thrusted the dagger at the opening. It was a clean thrust, straight towards the reaper's chest.

*Bleagh!*

The reaper puked blood and fell to the ground; it was still alive, but suffering from the pain.

But Alex didn't know how to react He didn't want to kill. But the situation called for it. After some thought, Alex let the reaper die from blood loss rather than finishing it off himself. He couldn't handle finishing the reaper off, it was too much for him.

[Player lost exp]

As soon as The reaper died, Alex saw a notification appear in front of him. He had no idea why he lost exp.

"But why? Why do I need exp? And why did I just lose some? I got some after killing the last one, so why lose it now?" Alex asked, but he had no reply. He also didn't want to waste time. He had to deal with the last reaper.

But when Alex looked towards the reaper, he was baffled. The circle had to be fully formed on its head. Seeing this, he had a bad feeling, further enhanced by checking the reapers' level. [Reaper Commander, Level : ???]

He couldn't see the levels anymore.

'This is just like those games I played before, everything that's happening is like the games… But if I remember correctly, every time an enemy had a ??? Level, it meant that it was wayy higher level than me… I think it's the same, I need to run. I don't think that my current powers are enough to deal with him'

Alex thought to himself, he knew that the reaper in front of him was something that he couldn't deal with.

[Skill: Outburst: 1 minute remaining]

Alex could also see that he had only a minute of this skill. After it ended, he would lose this current power. Which would mean only one thing: Death!

Knowing all of this, Alex looked around, 'I can't see the gate through which I entered to get here… It just disappeared but I'm sure that there must be gates other to get out!'

He ran around behind him, the reaper manically laughing as he chased Alex. Every second, the reaper was getting closer and closer to Alex.

'There!' After frantically searching for an exit, Alex finally noticed another gate. It looked very similar to the one he used to enter this space.

'I need to exit!' Alex said as he ran for his life, this situation felt similar to before but Alex knew that this time, he could escape, he wouldn't waste his time anymore. He knew that the thing that was helping him could provide his powers that he wished of when he was younger, the power to protect others. He didn't want to waste his life when such an opportunity showed itself!

*Woosh!*

Alex quickly entered the Space, his surroundings were distorted, he felt nauseous. Alex felt like he was falling in empty space.

[Skill: Outburst. Time limit reached. Reverting to player base level.]

Alex was relieved he could escape before the time limit ended.

*zoom!*

[Player out of combat]