I was on a circular stone platform, in a shaft of stone that extended beyond what I could see. Suddenly, in a flash of light, four other people appeared on the platform.
There were two teenage girls, who seemed to recognize each other, and immediately started to talk.
Us three boys just eyed each other, but eventually the older guy wearing a suit and tie, with grey hair asked:
“Who are you guys?”
One of them, the tall brunette woman, replied, “I’m Maria.”
The other woman quietly said, “Leah.”
I then said that I was called Jack, and the last man, a guy with brown eyes and black hair said that his name was Jake.
Apparently, the guy who spoke up was called Thomas, and was an office manager in Toronto before all this craziness went down, and was driving home from a late night at work when we got teleported to the tutorial. The two girls were in grade 12 of high school, and were on a walk in a park when all this happened. Jake worked as a financial advisor, and I actually recognized him, as he was one of the other tenants in my apartment.
“Wait, where are your apartments, again?” Thomas asked.
Jake answered, “At the corner of Bathurst Street and Ridgewood Road, right next to Ridgewood Park.”
Then I understood. “Wait,” I asked the girls, “Were you guys perhaps walking in Ridgewood Park?”
Maria confirmed my suspicions. “Yeah, we were, that makes sense actually.”
“And I was driving on Bathurst Street, probably around the park when the System came,” Thomas said. “Yeah, the System probably puts us in groups based on our location.”
After confirming that their grouping was likely based on proximity to Ridgewood Park, the conversation drifted. Thomas, always eager to lead, clapped his hands and said, “Alright then, we’ve got location sorted. What next?”
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Jack hesitated, the nagging question forming in the back of his mind. “Wait,” he said slowly, looking around at the others, “why were we grouped together?”
The rest of the group fell silent, glancing at one another uncertainty. “Didn’t we just say it’s probably because we were all near Ridgewood Park?” Maria offered, raising an eyebrow.
“Yeah, but...” Jack frowned, struggling to put his thoughts into words. “Why us specifically? What makes this group the right combination? There were like fifty other people in our apartment. Why us?”
For a brief moment, the air felt heavy, with Jack feeling like someone was watching him, but then Jake crossed his arms, scowling. “What are you getting at? You think the System has some... ulterior motive?”
Jack shrugged, trying to hide the unease crawling along his spine as the moment passed. “I don’t know. Maybe it’s nothing. But the System, or whoever is behind it hasn’t exactly been transparent so far, has it?”
Thomas gave a low chuckle, an edge of nervousness creeping into his voice. “Look, let’s not overthink it. We’ll deal with whatever’s next when we get there.”
The others nodded, eager to move on, but Jack couldn’t shake the feeling that something about their grouping—and his place in it—wasn’t as simple as proximity.
After this, we made small talk for a bit, before Thomas asked, “So, what are all your attunements? Mine are Earth and Shield.”
Maria said that hers were Earth and Staff, and Jake said that his was Shadow and Dagger.
“Mine are Sun, and Bow,” Leah said.
“And mine are Wind and Sword.” I said.
“So that probably makes me the tank, Maria the mage or damage dealer, Jake the assassin, Leah the archer or healer, and Jack the spellsword damage dealer.” Thomas added.
“Well, that makes sense,” I said, relying on my history of various RPGs.
“Well, what do we do now?” Jake asked.
As he said this, a screen popped up.
<i>Please distribute all Free Points before starting the Tutorial.</i>
“Okay,” Thomas said, “I put mine in Endurance.”
“Mine are in Strength, and Leah put one in Dexterity and one in Wisdom,” Maria said.
Jake put one in Perception and one in Dexterity, and I did the same.
I felt a huge rush, and felt like I was speed incarnate, and the world seemed to be moving slower around me. Then it all passed, and the world was back to normal again, albeit with me a little faster.
When we finished distributing our stats, another screen showed up.
<i>Tutorial Panel</i>
<i>Time remaining: 59 Days, 23 hours, 47 minutes, 21 seconds</i>
<i>Survivors left: 9992</i>
<i>Average Level: 1</i>
<i>Tutorial Points (TP): 0</i>
As soon as the message showed, our platform began to descend, and yet another message came.
<i>Welcome to the tutorial. Remember: Struggle For Supremacy.</i>