“Why is this place so quiet?” Lauren asked while her hazel eyes darted around the forest. It had been half an hour since they started walking, and yet, there wasn’t a single soul in sight. It made no sense considering how humid and lively this forest was.
“Because the goblins ate everything. If you focus on your senses then you’d sll the unique stench of the goblins. Common birds and insects wouldn’t dare co to this area.”
While Lauren and Kyle were learning about the sanctuary, Zyrus was also learning about their past. He didn’t need to ask a single question. Different professions built corresponding habits. By observing those habits, it was easy to tell a person’s background and the life they had lived.
‘They’re like a pair of bloodhounds,’
Tracking, Hunting, Search and Rescue operations…those who were professionals in this area often shared the trait of observing their surroundings. A single roll of their eye was all they needed to calculate the sprinting distance to hiding spots, ambush locations, and the presence of life.
Zyrus guessed that this was one of the reasons why they died before getting famous.
“Calm your nerves. You will not find peace and safety for a long ti. How long could you keep up if you keep wasting your energy like this?”
“…Oh, I see. Got it,” Lauren flinched like a cat that was caught stealing food. It wasn’t like they didn’t trust Zyrus.
So habits were just hard to forget.
After walking for more than half an hour, they finally reached a different environnt. The vegetation was lively green while sll of moist earth filled the air. It was almost as if they had arrived at a different forest altogether.
Thick trees absorbed most of the sunlight, leaving behind so scattered pillars of light that illuminated the forest. This was an ideal location to rest in the middle of the day.
“Shouldn’t we eat our lunch now? This place looks nice,”
Kyle didn’t reply to Lauren and looked at Zyrus, waiting for his opinion.
They weren’t naïve enough to believe that there was a peaceful place in the forest, not after what happened today. Still, it didn’t an that they couldn’t enjoy the environnt.
“Don’t you find it strange?” Zyrus asked, pulling Kyle out of his thoughts.
“Strange? How so?” Lauren looked around with interest.
“Listen. The sound of insects becos fainter and fainter the farther we go,” Zyrus spoke while pointing his spear at the center of the forest.
Both Kyle and Lauren’s expressions turned grave. It was obvious why there were no creatures in such a nice place. The situation was similar to the forest area occupied by the goblins.
*Rustle*
“Be more careful about your surroundings. It’s not that dangerous here, so we can rest for the ti being.” Zyrus beckoned the duo as he cleared the thicket.
They sat on a clear ground and took out their rations from the inventory.
“How will we get rations from now on?” Kyle asked while opening his bag of food.
*Crunch*
“We won’t,” Zyrus tore the bread in half and stuffed it in his mouth.
“What will we eat then?”
“Let tell you so things first,” Zyrus gulped down the fruit juice and continued,
“This world might feel like a ga to you, but believe , it’s very much real. The faster you accept this, the higher chance you’ll have at surviving.”
Both of them were deep in thought as they listened quietly.
“Let give you guys a hint,” Zyrus spoke after he finished his food. He was much faster than both of them.
“Think about the history of mankind, before the start of civilization. How did we beco the apex predators on Earth?”
Zyrus took out his spear and continued with a serious note,
“You have to awaken those instincts that lie dormant within you. We were neither the strongest nor the fastest. We could neither swim in the deep ocean nor could we fly in the vast sky. How did we beco the rulers of earth then?”
He exercised the basic moves of spearmanship while he waited for their answer.
“Because of our intelligence,” Kyle answered after a brief thought.
“You're wrong.”
“What was the reason then? Evolution? Environnt?” Lauren’s asked with uncertainty.
“You have to figure that out on your own. The mont you do that, you’ll awaken your ‘Talent’.”
Of course, it was easier said than done. Barely 1% of humans managed to do that in his previous life.
If you co across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from . Please report it.
When they were done with their lunch, the trio finally went to fight their target. They didn't have to go far before they saw an area where trees beca sparser and big boulders occupied a quarter of the land.
“They look similar to the ones in gas,” Kyle muttered after he observed the clearing ahead.
“Indeed. And it’s slow and clumsy like in the gas too.” Zyrus pointed at the gray stone golem and added,
“However, you have to make sure to not get hit by it. Even though it has ridiculous defense and crappy attack power, it can cripple you with one hit.”
“Isn’t there sothing that can heal us? I feel like we should focus on that first.” Lauren added with concern.
“A lot of things can recover HP. Equipnt, Potions, Healing spells, Regen rate, and so on. However, I don’t want to focus on that. At least not now.” Zyrus answered while he readied his spear.
They were just about to reach the golems' aggro range.
“What will we focus on then? Raising levels?” Kyle asked as he believed that focusing on offense was the only other way.
“You’re half right. We'll get our skills first by fighting this guy, and then we’ll attack the ruler of this area.”
“Does this golem drop skill books?” Lauren inquired with sparkling eyes.
“Nope, but soone else will help you with that,” Zyrus gave her a pitiful glance as he attacked the golem with a stab.
Both Kyle and Lauren looked at his back and then at one another.
They shared the sa feeling. They knew enough about VRMMORPG gas to figure out how they’d get their skills.
This was going to be a painful day.
…
“Fuck.. Despite all this system bullshit, why does it have to be so goddamn realistic!” Lauren cursed as she plopped down on the grass.
“Is it really that bad?”
“Argh.. Of course it is!” Kyle replied as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
Zyrus just shrugged as he looked at the horizon ahead with a nostalgic expression. The sky looked the sa as he rembered. The crimson sun t the earth, making the clouds shine brilliantly in the evening glow.
“Are you sure it’ll be helpful?” Lauren asked while gulping down the cold water.
“Don’t you guys feel any difference? Even I can see the improvent in your skills. Besides, you have to fulfill the requirent to trigger the quest.”
“Really?”
“You’ll know when you fight again. Think about what you’ve learned so far; it is just as important as getting the quest.”
“Fight? Again?”
“Tch... you guys are lacking stamina.”
Kyle and Lauren looked at Zyrus with expressions that said, 'You're the abnormal one. '
Zyrus felt a bit self-conscious after looking at their swollen hands, but it was a necessary step. He wasn't any better than them in terms of physique, but his pain tolerance had reached an inhumane level since long ago.
“Kyle, your swordsmanship has improved a lot. Your main source of attack is your bloodlust, not your ‘Strength’, so focus on that. I expect that you’ll succeed in the next one or two fights.”
Kyle nodded and Zyrus looked at Lauren next,
“Lauren, I don’t have much to tell you. Your aim with daggers is good. All you need is more practice and with your natural talent, you should be able to trigger the quest already.”
He gripped his spear and walked towards the golem’s location once again
“Join when you’ve regained your stamina.”
Zyrus was within the stone golem’s range after a few quick steps.
|[| Race: Stone Golem |]|
Level: 4
Strength: 5-10
Agility: 1
Intelligence: 1
Vitality: 20
ATK: 30
DEF: 50
Trait: Physical damage immunity 50%
*Sweep*
He moved his spear in a fan-like shape. Ideally, this move was used when fighting against multiple enemies or in a defensive stance. This ti though, he was using this to keep the golem’s aggro on him.
-0
He didn’t pay any attention to the null damage. He was thinking about his conversation with the red eyed man.
‘I have to find it, the source of their origin. That’s the only way to slay the eternals.’
*Slash*
-0
‘That’s just the first step though. After that, I’ll have to sever their connection with the origin with my source,’ Zyrus thought as he lunged his spear towards the golem's joint.
*Thrust*
-3
‘However, I shouldn’t connect with my source of origin now.'
His attacks would beco much stronger if he did so, but his life would be in grave danger. Unlike the last ti, he knew that creatures from higher rings of the sanctuary were paying attention to the tutorial.
The power of origin was sothing beyond the system's control. It couldn’t be quantified and therefore, no one could observe it.
No one except those who had that power.
‘I know those bastards have it, their source of origin.’
That’s what made them immortals. So long as their source remained, they would never die. They had unique sources, and he could sowhat guess what they were based on their powers.
‘It must be light for that Marcus bastard, and slaughter for Kevah.’
How could he possibly kill light? How could he slay sothing like slaughter? That’s why he failed. He killed them, sure, but that was just a shell.
As long as light remained in the sanctuary, as long as there was a concept of slaughter, they would never die.
They were immortals. It was too late by the ti he realized that truth.
Zyrus slashed with a cold glint in his eyes. Leaving his plans for revenge aside, his current goal was to get an achievent and receive the quest from an elder soul.
-4
He kept using the three basic spear moves, “Slash”, “Sweep”, and “Thrust”, over and over again. By this ti, both Kyle and Lauren had started their fight against another golem as well.
Kyle engaged in close combat and used his sword to defend and attack. Lauren stood a dozen feet away from them and threw her daggers with deadly accuracy, hitting the golem’s joints every ti.
Despite their comndable teamwork, the damage they dealt was no more than 1 or 2.
The golem had fifty DEF and 50% Physical damage immunity, not to ntion it was level 4 with 20 stats in vitality. As for its weakness? It only had a multiplier of 5 on its joints.
It took them half an hour to bring down its HP from 200 to 0.
Zyrus, on the other hand, kept slashing and thrusting over and over again. Whenever another golem ca by, he would use 'sweep' to get its aggro.
-4
Exp 220
He was twice as fast compared to the duo, but still, his Exp increased at a snail’s pace. He only got an extra 10% bonus for killing a higher-level golem.
It was even less efficient than fighting against goblins. However, his goal wasn’t to level up.
Finally, when the sun went down and the forest began to glow with green mushrooms, he saw the text in front of him which made him smile.
He leaned on a tree trunk and looked at the status screen with satisfied eyes.
[Congratulations! You have obtained the Achievent: First step of the Spearman, (E)]
[You have slashed your spear for 1000 tis! You have obtained the Skill, “Spear Slash”]
[ 2 SP]
[Note: You can only get an achievent for your first three self-created skills in any tier]
[Congratulations! You have obtained the Achievent: Skilled Survivor, (E )]
[You are the first person who has obtained a skill in this tutorial!]
[ 3 SP]
Zyrus felt giddy looking at the status screen, but it was far from over.
Why did he keep using the sa three moves over and over? It was for this mont. His hard work had finally paid off!
[You have Swept your spear for 1000 tis! You have obtained the Skill, “Spear Sweep”]
[ 2 SP]
[You have thrust your spear for 1000 tis! You have obtained the Skill, “Spear Thrust”]
[ 2 SP]
Not only did he get three new skills, he also got the SP equivalent of nearly two level-ups!
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