《The Jack of The System》 The Arrival The captivating sound of the rain lightly tapped against the window of his room, Russel sits quietly in the dark, laying in bed, watching as the droplets of rain slowly trickle down the gutter through his window. His face scrunched up,and his bloodshot eyes that tell you he hasn''t slept. "Russell!!" Russel jumps out of his bed with a start. Fear and worry plastered all over his face. The stomps and screams of his mother coming up the stairs, all he wishes he could do is hide under the covers of his warm and comfortable bedding, but he knows what''s coming. It''s the end of the first quarter of his fourth year in highschool, and the deadline for all assignments is tomorrow, and he is running on straight F''s with zeroes all over his gradebook. It is quite apparent how furious his mother would be if he gets kicked out and has to transfer again... "Russel, why the hell haven''t you answered me?" His mother swings open the door and strides through the doorway, her fury instantly heating up the room. "I got another damn call from your principal saying you haven''t done a damn thing in any of your classes in a month. You TOLD me you caught up, not to worry about it almost every day! So why the hell am I still dealing with these calls!? I do everything for you, and yet we have this conversation almost every week! I try, and I try. Yet I can''t force you to do your work, but you still lie about it. I don''t have that power left in me after all these years. And you still tell me you get your work done. For what? Do you even care about your life anymore? You tell me th-" "SHUT UP!" commands Russell, swiftly cutting off his mother. "You always use that against me! Yes, you tried years ago! and I was good, I was doing good. Then you just ASSUME I''m fine afterwards. And your attention, ALL of your attention, swings right back to my brother and sister. Leaving me to fend for myself until SOMEONE explains to you that something is wrong with me. All you care about is whether or not what I do affects you. Yet you do your best to cater to whatever my siblings ask of you. Then maybe, just maybe, I wouldn''t end up flunking out again. Ever thought of that? Ever thought maybe if I got all that attention I could be like the other two?" Silencedescendsupon the room following Russell''s rant, and he stares straight intohis mother''s eyes. His mother clearly furious. After half a minute has gone by, Russel finally breaks the silence, tears forming in his eyes. "All I ask of you, all I have ever asked, is to be treated the same.Yet, here we are, yelling back and forth again. I hate it. So why? Just why?" "Do NOT guilt trip me Russell. It is YOU who is failing out of school. Not me, not your father, not your siblings, YOU. So do not turn this on me. You have no idea how much I care for all of you. How much I do behind the scenes for you. You are fed, you are clothed, and you are able to go to school. That is more than a lot of people your age have. Yet, what do you do with it? You sit here, sitting in your own sorrow and filth, doing nothing with your life even after eighteen years." His mother, flushed red from anger, and a hint of sadness in her eyes, turns to the door to leave. "Russell, get out of the house. I don''t want to see you at all today. This is my house, and you are ruining it with your self pity. Come back when you are ready to to fix your actions." And with that, his mother stomps out of the room, leaving behind Russell to take in what just happened. "Was... Was I just kicked.. out?" Tears slowly trickle down Russell''s cheek, as he realizes that he might have finally pushed his luck too far. Pushed too far to get the attention he wanted... Thump Russell falls to his knees, as fear, sadness, and hatred begin to well up in his stomach. As he sits there, peering at his open door into the dark abysshis mother just went into. An unknown amount of time had passed until Russellwas finally able to gather his bearings and slowly stumbleback to his feet, wobbling as hecontinues toprocess hiscurrent situation. Wiping his tears away, he walks into the darkness past his door, into that abyss.Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. Flash Blinded by the sudden white light of lightning, Russell barely stays standing. Continuing down the corridor of his house towards the front door. Booooom The sound of thunder perveates through the entire house hold, shaking the very foundations as Russell makes it to the laundry room, his face regaining slight coloring after his argument. He looks around, finding his pure black sneakers he''s had for years. He slips them on, still snug around his feet, he grabs his car keys as he opens the door to the garage. Turning on the light, there lies Stacy, his one and only, his best friend. His beautiful,bright redtruck. And one of the only good things he still has. Opening up the garage, Russell is immediately drenched in the rain, blinded by the light of lightning flashing in the distance. With a sigh, he opens up the door to his truck, hops in, and starts her up, and drives into the storm. Sometimes, even if I have to sacrafice how well we are able to live, how well I eat... I just wish I could be more. I''m not as smart as my sister, I''m not as athletic as my brother, and I might not be as outgoing and have as many friends as the both of them, it''s just... I don''t want to be like them. I don''t want to exist because of them. I want to be able to make a name for myself without having to use the names of my family. I want to be Russell Hansen. I don''t want to be "Little Hansen" anymore. I''m Russell for fucks sake. I''m me. I''m not them. So stop trying to compare me to them! As Russell continues to drive, the storm rages on. The tapping of rain from earlier has turned to splashes, the lightning flashing, the thunder roaring, Russell begins to panic. "Shit, what the hell? Wasn''t today supposed to be sunny anyway?" BOOOOOOOOOOOM Lightning slams into a tree directly infront of Russell''s truck, as he swerves to avoid the now falling tree. "Shit! Are those headlights? Don''t tell me someone else is coming, Crap!" Honnnnnnnnnk "Pay attention! Shit... Who the hell drivesso fast in weather like this?" Russell swerves his car, sliding through the soaking wet road as Stacy roars to a stop, The hood of his car smashed by the fallen tree,inches away from falling directly on top of Russell. The windshieldshattering into shards of glass as the car''s airbag flares up, and smashes into Russell''s nose with a crack. With ringing ears, and blood dripping down his face, the taste of iron filling his mouth, Russell turns to the left to see the oncoming vehicle through his shaky eyes fly off the side of the rode, barrel rolling down the hill. His vision blurry, shaking in fear, Russell strugglesto open the door of his truck, and stumbles out, falling onto the coldand wet gravel road. Attempting to stand up, Russell''s knee immediately buckling out from under him, as he tumbles back to the ground. Looking down to his leg, Russell sees his leg, red with crimson blood, shards of glass sticking at least an inch deep into his skin each, directly under his knee cap. Screaming in pain, Russell rolls to his side, spitting out a mouthfull of blood onto the gravel. Rolling himself onto his back, Russell peers into the clouds, rain pelting his skin. Every drop like a needle sliding straight throughhis skin straight into his blood stream. His vision shaky, he tries to figure out what to do. Coughing out another mouth full of blood, tears begin to once again fill up his vision. Remembering back to the conversation he had with his mom, he can''t help but think as darknessbegins to fill up the sides of his vision, "is that really the last thing I am gonna say to her? Was I in the right? Was she in the Right?". Lightning flashes in the sky, as Russell''s eyes turn to slits, trying to hold his vision and stay awake as long as he can, his vision slowly fading to darkness. Flash Right as Russell is about to lose consciousness the whole world seems to flash white. Russell''s eyes abrutly open, vision completely white for several seconds.Words begin to fill into Russell''s mind as his confusion reaches its peak. Welcome to The System, planet Earth. Size of Earth: Grade E Mana Density Potential: Grade B Planet size insufficient... Initializing twin planet protocol... Searching for appropriate twin... Planet Jupiter selected Size of Jupiter: Grade B Mana Density Potential: Grade E Combination Commencing... Thank you for your patience, humans of Earth. Your planet will now be combined with your twin planet, Jupiter. During this combination, all human residents of Planet Earth will be teleported toour System Tutorial. Good Luck. *Cough* "What the hell...? The hell is that supposed to me-" With another flash of white light, Russell, along with all the humans on Earth, vanished. Tutorial Extremely groggy, his head pounding, Russell begins to regain his consciousness. Opening his eyes to a pure blue sky, Russell slowly sits up. "Ugh.. Wha-" "Are you awake?!" An extremely high pitched voice screeching in his left ear, Russell swings his head to the left. Standing... No, flying right next to him, is a small, humanoid with wings... "You can understand me right? Right? Right?!" "Huh..? Ouch!" Russell grabs his forehead. His entire body feels on fire, his head filled with a piercing pain in his temple. Where am I? Am I... dead? Then why does my head hurt so much... What happened? All I remember is that damn lightning... followed by a tree falling... Then something about.. a system? Looking down at his knee where the shards of glass used to be, Huh. I really did die didn''t I... My knee is perfectly fine. Shit. "Hey you! Why haven''t you answered me!?" Looking to his left, Russell finally fully examines this thing next to him. About fifteen centimeters in height, blond hair down to the waist, big sky blue eyes, wearing a slim fit green one piece dress. And... Wings..? "Umm... Hell..o?" says Russell. "Hello is right! That is how you should greet people. *ptooie*" Spitting on the ground, this little fairy being seems to be quite upset at Russell. "You understand me right? So stop ignoring me." "Uh... Yeah. But.. what are you? Are you my uh... guardian angel of sorts?" Russell shifts his body to face this weird, quite rude, small humanoid. "Ha! Angel? You think some puny human is allowed to see one of those vixens? Just being near one would kill you. No, I am a majestic, beautiful, charismatic fairy. And sing my praises human, for I-" "SHUT IT TINA!" At the sound of the voice, the fairy, which seems to be named Tina, instantly shrinks down. Fear nearly materializing itself around her entire body. "What are you doing talking about yourself? Explain to him what is going on. That is your job. Look at his face, pretty sure at this rate he''s gonna end up dead by tomorrow." "...Ye.. yes. Understood, Sydney..." Facing Russell, Tina takes a big breath of air to fill her lungs. And begins to explain, "Alright human. I will forgive you for your earlier- "Tina." "Yes!" Flushed, Tina quickly continues "so like I was saying- This is the tutorial. While your planet is combining with your chosen twin planet, here you will learn the ropes. Understand the system. And it is my job to hel-" Swiftly interrupting, Russell begins to speak. "Hold on. First tell me what the hell happened to me? I''m dead right? What happened to my leg? My broken nose? Why am I fine? The only explanation is that I''m dead. What''s this got to do with Earth?" Russell sits up, staring directly at the fairy, Tina, now. "Well, you were.. very close to dying. You just might be one of the luckiest people of all time! That is for being assigned to your''s truly! You were on the verge of death. Quite surpising you didn''t die from the transfer here! But... for some odd reason, I was ordered by the System to allow you and that other guy to take part in the tutorial... despite your injuries. Along with the extra regeneration in the starter zone here, you were able to make a full recovery! Unfortunately... you have missed the first three days of the tutorial. So... You might struggle a bit to catch up. But that shouldn''t ma-huuu" taking another deep breath of air, Tina opens her mouth to continue, but is cut off. "Long story short, boy, we healed you and that other human. This is the System Tutorial. And we are your interface assistants for the tutorial. But due to our restraints in here, you still had to get over your shock on your own. You woke first, it''s been three days." the other fairy, who seems to be slightly taller than Tina, said. Looking back and forth between the two, Russell sits silently. Trying to process this. After all, how is he supposed to understand this? So... this is kinda like those game worlds? In those game novels? Or is this just where I ended up after death? Oh! What if I try and fly? Maybe I am some main character type, do whatever I put my mind to. Is that what this is? Closing his eyes, Russell begins to focus. Fleight. Flying. Levitate. Through the air... Gravity is my domain! Face scrunched up, steam seemingly coming out of his ears from the intense focus. "Uh... are you... okay? Do you have to go to the bathroom? What''s wrong with you.." Tina, seemingly disgusted, face beet red, slowly backs away. "...Huh? I''m trying to fly. I''m dead right? This is a dream? So I can fly right... right?" Russell, confused, opens his eyes to look at this egoistic fairy. Tina, staring at Russel wide eyed, flys towards Russell with a flap of her wings. And with the biggest windup with her shoulder of all time, smacks Russell clean across the face sending him flying a solid two meters away. "Tina!! What did you just do!?" "He''ll be fine! Just knockin some sense into the fool. Thinks he''s dead. Disgraceful to my healing. Disgusting human. Why did I have to get assigned here? I heard there were quite a few promising individuals on Earth... yet I get stuck with this constipated thing? Humph!" Tina sits down on a rock with a grunt watching intently on Russell. -26 Critical Damage Taken! "What the hell...? Critical damage from a fairy slap? How weak am I? And what the hell is this message?" Staring wide eyed at the message he just recieved, Russell scrambles to his knees. Slowly taking in the message. "Ha! So that''s how it is. You will listen when you take damage!" Rolling up her non-existant sleeves, Tina slowly flies off her rock towards Russell. "HOLD ON! It says critical damage! You wouldn''t kill me right? RIGHT?" "Heheheh... You said you already died right? So-" SmackLove this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. With a smack, Tina plummets straight into the ground slamming onto her face. "Tina, that''s enough playing. You have wasted his time already. So before he is truly doomed, explain what''s going on here." Tina, still limp on the ground, lifts her head slowly. With a glare towards Russell which causes his very soul to shake, she begins to once again explain. "Fine. I am Tinaferia, just call me Tina. And this witch of a fairy that nearly killed me is Sydney. Don''t worry about her, she belongs to another human-" Killing intent filling every inch of the clearing, Tina takes a peak towards Sydney who is extremely upset. Following which, Tina slowly makes her way closer to Russell and continues. "Ahem. I am your designated interface assistant. I am here to help you understand the System, along with selling you basic things for the tutorial. First off, let''s have you check your status. You simply need to think about yourself, and the system will send you a notification automatically with your details." With a nod, Russell thinks about himself, and with a ding, a screen begins to fill up his vision. Russell Hansen Level: 1 Class: None Subclass: None Title(s): Survivor HP: 17/35 MP: 30/30 SP: 43/45 Stats Strength: 4 Agility: 6 Endurance: 5 Vitality: 8 Intelligence: 5 Wisdom: 7 Luck: 0 Skill(s): Survive lvl 1 Spell(s): None Notification(s): 1 Hmm... Vitality is at eight... I wonder if that has to do with the title. How do I check notifications? Just think about that? ding Congratulations! Due to falling to exactly 1 HP and surviving you have been awarded with the title: Survivor Survivor: +3 Vit. Gain skill: Survive Survive: When below 10% HP, you gain +1 in hidden stat, Luck! So I was that close to death. Why do I just gloss over that...? Weird. Whatever. Hmm... This title doesn''t seem too bad? My current luck is 0... So must be a stat that starts at 0. At least for me. So 1 stat in luck might just be the difference in certain situations. And +3 vitality... Nearly double what I started with. So I started with 5? "Ahem. I''m assuming you are done. Unless you have negative intelligence, you should be able to read through everything. And I am well aware you don''t. Anyway, as you should have seen, you have gained a title for your near death experience, and you should see that notification. To see-" "I already checked the notification. How do I get more titles? They seem quite helpful..." Russell, staring at a now once again glaring Tina said. "Hmph. You don''t just get titles. You earn them. And as your planet has just been added to the system, there are quite a bit of titles that are "firsts". First titles are special. There is only one of each. Of course, there will be awards for second, third, and other ranks, but firsts'' are always the best. But you are starting quite late... So you will be slightly behind. Of course, that doesn''t mean firsts'' are impossible for you, after all some of them require pure luck. Of course... With the amount of people of Earth, it is unlikely you will obtain any unless you are quite special. And you seem... Quite miserable. Anyway, as to where we are... This can be considered one of the many tutorials. There are many. Afterall, we can''t just send billions to the same place." Staring intently at Russell, Tina begins to think about how to continue. "So basically... There are others? Other humans in this tutorial? Where are they?" With that question, Russell finally examines his surroundings. He sits in a small clearing, surrounded by mountainous trees. Weird, multicolor flowers sprouting up from the dark green grass adding color to the surroundings. Quite silent, except for a slight breeze flowing. I mean... It''s quite peaceful... Not what I''m used to though. I haven''t gone camping for years. But this fairy seems pretty strong. I should be fine. She.. can fight right? She won''t force me to go fend off a bear if it shows up in the name of the "tutorial" will she...? A low grumble fills the silence. Looking down, Russell staring at his stomach, finally realizing that he is still a human and has his hunger to sate. "Uhh... Do you have food as well?" "As far as humans go... There is only one other in this specific tutorial. You should of seen him too, prior to being transfered. He was quite bloodied up as well! What the hell happened to you two anyway? He looked even worse than you! You''ll probably have a run in with him eventually during your time here... he''s currently still healing in a seperate area. Anyway... food! Yes, that brings me to the Tutorial Store! Hehe... in the store you use Tutorial Points, or TP as some call them. You are given one hundred to start out. And this is when I come in! You use the store through me. Heh, pretty damn cool aren''t I?" Looking at this little fairy, Russell can''t help but sigh. Scratching his chin he asks, "but... if it''s a tutorial store... shouldn''t everyone have it? What''s special about you? Hmm?" "Eek- Wha... what are you saying? I uh..." red faced, Tina sinks back. At a loss for words. "Whatever. Don''t come crying to me when you need advice. Hmph." With a sigh, Russell looks over to the other fairy. A slightly taller, slim, black haired fairy with beautiful butterfly wings. Much more elegant than the blondie he was apparently assigned with. "Don''t look at me. I am not obliged to tell you much. But I can at least tell you that some stores are indeed different. But that depends on the person, thus depends on the fairy assigned to the person. Along with any advice your fairy gives you, which can be unique. Tina here is actually... quite knowledgeable in many different areas, which can be quite helpful. I will now leave you two and return to watch over my assignment. Goodbye." With that, Tina and Russell were left to themselves.She can''t be as unbearable as she seems right? Maybe just some social problems... Hopefully I can get through this with such a narcissistic fairy. From what I see so far... I''m in a tutorial. For what reason though? Normally novels with a premise like this end up with some sort of fighting... do I have to do that? Can I do that? Do I even have it in me to kill something...? I guess if it comes to that, we shall see. For now I gotta at least understand what''s going on."So uh... how can I visit your shop? And how do I earn more tutorial points?" Grunting, Tina continues with her explanation. "Well, you just visit it by asking me. Then you will get a popup from the System. To earn points, there are plenty of ways. Killing beasts, making items, leveling skills, the amount varies depending on the difficulty. Any other stupid questions? Hmph." "I would like to see the shop please." Brimming with a weird excitement and a slight smirk, Russell watches Tina with expectation.I feel like I can do something with this situation. Say this is all real, then I might be able to make something with myself. With all the time I''ve had on my hands, I might not be the smartest in school. But, if there is one thing that I pride myself on it is being good at games. I''ve also read my fair share of novels.I can be strong. "Ha. See, you need me! Witness my majestic Tutorial Shop!" With that statement from the extremely egoistic fairy, a popup fills up Russell''s vision. With a wide grin, Russell begins reading. Tutorial Shop - Weaponry - Tools - Skills - Spells - Sustenance Narrowing his eyes into slits, Russell selects one of the tabs. Following which, a massive belly laugh comes out from Russell. His grin only getting bigger, He examines the first option. First Skill Spells Fireball lvl 1: Conjure a small ball of fire from your palm to be sent towards your target. Base Damage 5 - 7. "Burn" Debuff may be applied. Damage scales with skill level, size scales with skill level, control scales with skill level. Cost: 50TP Windblade lvl 1: Create a condensed blade of air to be used offensively. Base Damage 6 - 8. Range scales with skill level, size scales with skill level, control scales with skill level. Cost: 50TP Waterball lvl 1: Conjure a ball of water from the moisture in the air, can be used to drink or use offensively. Base Damage 3 - 7. Damage scales with skill level, size scales with skill level, control scales with skill level. Cost: 50TP Mana Shield lvl 1: Using your mana pool, create a static shield out of said mana around you. Shield does not move. Stops 5 damage. Size varies with skill level, defense scales with skill level. Cost: 75TP Other spells may be unlocked by leveling up, or through achievements. Hmm... Three elements available for offensive spells... and a mana shield? I have thirty - five HP... so depending on the mana cost of these spells they could be very helpful. But, if I can only afford one or two casts I will find myself without being able to do anything magic wise. Too bad they won''t tell me the cost. Maybe Tina would know. I''ll ask after. First I have to figure out how to survive. I can''t just buy magic because it''s bad ass then die by starvation. That would suck. Going back to the food tab, Russell buys some basic rations for 5 TP, putting his TP down to 95 TP. From the nutrional value on these things... I should be able to survive for a week with all I bought. Hopefully TP is easy to gain and I wasn''t extremely hasty... Screw it, I can''t starve. Luckily they came with drinking water. Time to check the skills tab. ding Skills Passives Basic Dagger/Knife Mastery lvl 1: 5% boost to damage with knives and daggers, 5% boost to speed with all knives and daggers, 5% accuracy to all knives and daggers. Percentages scale with skill level. Cost: 25TP Basic Sword Mastery lvl 1 Basic Spear Mastery lvl 1 ... Actives Slice lvl 1: At the sacrafice of bonus stamina, slice a bladed weapon in a diagonal in front of yourself. Base Damage + 3. Damage scales with skill level, control scales with skill level. Cost: 50TP Sweep: At the sacrafice of bonus stamina, do a horizontal sweeping motion with any weapon in front of yourself. Base damage + 2. Damage scales with skill level, control scales with skill level. Cost: 50TP Other skills may be unlocked by leveling up, or through achievements. Weapon masteries huh... Why do they seem cheap? While actives are great and all... They seem much less useful than any of those masteries. Wait. "Hey, Tina, as far as skills go... can you gain the skills yourself?" "That is something that depends on you. That is all I am allowed to say." Following Tina''s response, Russell''s mouth begins to curl up. "And before you ask, the mana usage varies on all spells, and your affinity with the element." Looking at Tina''s cheeky smile, Russell can''t help but roll his eyes at this fairy. Yeah, you are damn good looking as far as human standards go. Like a damn ten. But, as far as your shit attitude... Sigh. Why can''t that other fairy be my helper? Standing up, Russell looks at Tina. "Tina, I''d like to buy a trainee dagger." "Not interested in skills or spells? Thought someone like your pathetic self would jump on the opportunity to use magic." Still, despite her comment Tina gave him the dagger at the cost of 15 TP leaving Russell with 80. Ignoring her quick mental jab, Russell examines the dagger. Weight''s not bad. Huh, who woulda known that weird knife throwing hobby my ex - girlfriend got me into would come in handy one day. Gripping the dagger in a forward grip, Russell does a quick slash directly in front of himself. A slight whistle through the air demonstrates the sharpness of the blade. There should be some type of game details right? Sigh. Why have I just accepted this like it''s normal? It really isn''t. Uh... Examine? Silence. Hmm not that... is there no details? Or is it a skill... Russell focuses his eyes directly on the blade, checking every spot of the blade, every aspect. The sharpness, weight, balance, everything. With every ounce of brain power he has access to, Russell examines the blade in his hands. ding Congratulations! Skill "Identify" lvl 1 has been earned! Identify lvl 1: By focusing on an item, the statistics of said item will be shown. Higher tier items require higher skill level. Trainee Dagger Damage + 2 - 3 Passive(s): Basic Trainee. Basic Trainee: As an item created for training, all training of dagger and knife skill levels with the blade is upped by 5%. Wide eyed, Russell reads the dagger''s passive again. Not believing his eyes, he asks Tina. "Tina, why do I feel like some of these shop items are a bit... strong? Is it just the tutorial? Why-" "Ha! Now you see why I''m special. Yes, you are right. I have one of the better Tutorial Shops. How is it, huh? Thankful right? Right? Go ahead, you can sing my praises. Tell all your children about the great Tina! Hahahahaha!" With her hands on her hips, belly laughing, Tina once again begins to go on and on about herself rather than the topic at hand... Well, who cares. If she really does have it better... Doesn''t that mean that I do too? Shit... She won''t rub off on me... right? She isn''t normal.Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. "Uh, Tina... how long is the tutorial?" Finally realizing something important, Russell finally begins to figure out his current situation. After about a minute of talking about herself some more, Tina answers. "Huhuhu. It depends. Time runs different in certain areas of the tutorial zones. You of course won''t notice or be affected by the time difference. On Earth, the combination would last about a month... But the exact time here is unknown to even me. It depends where you are after all.You will just be alerted and sent out within an hour of the alert. Thiry day and night cycles in this clearing if you were to stay here." "So... if I wanted to prepare longer, I go somewhere else? Where would a time difference be?" asked Russell. Watching Tina as she rubs her chin slowly, Russell once again looks at his surroundings. Seeing a bright pink flower, he walks over and stares intently at the flower. With a sniff of the odor coming out of the rose looking flower, information comes into his vision. [Pink Minor Mana Rose] When ground up, can be used in alchemy. Requires Alchemy lvl 1. Alchemy... I didn''t see any non combat skills... I wonder if I could earn the skill. Turning his attention back to Tina, who now has puffed up red cheeks, he starts to listen. "Any of the dungeons. They all have different time differences, some being a thousand times slower, and some being only twice as slow. Of course, no thousand times slower differences will be in the tutorial. You don''t have to worry about those. You also can''t stay there forever. Dungeons have time limits after all. But, you shouldn''t worry about that for now." Dungeons, huh? Narrowing his eyes, staring intently at Tina, he asks one more question that''s been on his mind. "Tina... after this tutorial is over, what happens to you?" Taken aback by the difference in the question that''s about herself, Tina finds herself at a loss for words. She actually examines the youth infront of her. As miserable as he seemed when he got here, he hasn''t paniced. Which doesn''t really make sense. Afterall, his entire world is being combined with a planet, and he''s being introduced to magic. It doesn''t make sense that he hasn''t started freaking out, asking about his family or the like. He''s only asked about simple questions involving the tutorial. His profile tells me he has a family... an average sized family. Yet.. he hasn''t asked about them. Nor about any friends he might have. Weird. Oh well. "Well... typically, interface assistants are in the tutorial to only help out with getting used to the addition of the System. After that... We go back to our own lives after sending you back to your world. In your case, combined world." Thinking, he asks another question "about that... what do you mean combine? Jupiter is bigger than Earth by a fair bit... a lota bit to my knowledge... and it isn''t inhabitable. So will I just die when I return?" "Haha! What do you take the System for? The reason it takes so long is to incorporate the mass, and replicate Earth''s atmosphere with Earth''s Mana core as the base to keep the same Mana density. But, don''t think so much. Not like you are going to be combining planets." Finishing with a slight chuckle, and then a slight change in expression comes across her face, and swiftly leaves. Subtle, but Russell still noticed. Following which, Tina waves her hand and light blue particles begin to form around Russell, energizing him. Feeling the change in his body, Russell examines his status and notices his health and stamina are back to full. "There ya go. An apology for the slap. No more questions for now. How good you do reflects on me ya know? Go do something productive. Don''t pay me any mind, I''m still here for the Tutorial Shop, though." With a snort over the obvious outside intervention towards their conversation, Russell looks around to the nearby trees. Noticing a medium sized tree without any low branches at the south end of the clearing. He makes his way over to the tree. Standing infront of the trunk, taking a shoulder width stance with his left foot in front, dagger in the right hand in a reverse grip, Russell slashes the bark of the tree. - 7 Trees take damage..? Oh well. Don''t die on me tree! Turning his head towards Tina, he notices her slightly raised eyebrow. With a light chuckle, he once more slashes the tree in the same way. - 6 Looking at the damage, Russell once more slashes, this time taking a slight step forward with his left foot towards the tree as he slashes. Adding in some power with his waist and legs. - 8 So it just quantifies the damage done from the slash? Good to know. Checking his stamina, Russell makes a mental note on his one lost stamina. Not sure when he lost it, He slashes again, and again. Changing up his stance, he begins to slash in all directions. He stabs the tree, slashes with different grips, slashes in different directions, spins in a circle to add speed and his whole body to the slash, noting down all the different types of damage he deals. So obviously, more muscle, utiilizing more of my entire body does more damage. Quite helpful to see a quantified version of my power. Looking at his stamina, noting his short breath, he takes a step back from the tree. Seventeen stamina left... short of breath.. will be slight differences, but let''s see how this works. Lowering his body, Russell begins to swiftly run towards the tree. Dagger in his right hand, his right shoulder lowered, he slashes with every ounce of power he has in him as he passes the tree. - 14 A wide smile on his face, Russell checks his stamina. Seeing he lost three stamina from the strike, he raises an eyebrow. Three from just that? I ran for what... two seconds to the tree then a slash as I passed? Why would that be so much? Going back to where he started, Russell does the same move once again. Checking his stamina, he notices it only went down one this time. Why the difference? Obviously I''m not some martial god with no deviations but... could I have replicated some type of skill on the first one? Could have also been that I had more stamina thus more power... Gah, whatever. I''m used to doing things the hard way. Just gotta try, try, and try again. After about an hour more of slashing and resting, Russell gathers his bearings and thinks about his progress. Along with reading his new notifications that came with his practice. Congratulations! Due to repetitive actions and exercise, you have earned the following gains: + 1 strength + 1 agility Now that makes no sense. I mean, I had four strength after my entire life. No reason I gain one from just an hour of work right? Maybe this "System" makes exercise easier. Or maybe it''s this environment that aids exercise. I seem to get my breath back much faster here after working after all. Checking his stamina again, Noting the five out of forty-five, Russell sits in a meditative position and begins to breath in through his nose and out through his nose. Heh. Learned this in yoga class. Thanks Mr... lots of girls in class. Don''t remember his name.. he didn''t teach jack shit anyway. Oh well. After about fifteen minutes of meditating, Russell''s stamina reaches max. Alright. Time to try tha- ding Congratulations! Due to being in a constant meditative position with less than 20% of stamina or health and returning it to full, you have earned the skill Meditation Meditation lvl 1: When in a still state, and focusing on recovery, recovery of stamina and health is faster by 20% With a wide smile, Russell stands up holding his dagger. Glancing at Tina who just so happens to meet his glance, he turns back towards his greatest adversary, the tree. Alright. Let''s try this again, full stamina now. Lowering his body once more, Russell closes his eyes and breathes in, then out. Opening his eyes, he glances at his dagger. Slight marks from all the hits on the tree, but still sharp. Narrowing his eyes, he looks at the trunk of the tree. With a powerful kick off the ground, he charges towards the tree. Lowering his shoulder just slightly, he swings his waist along with his shoulder as he passes straight past the tree. A large gash left on the bark from the slash of the blade, a hardly noticable glow of green encasing the dagger, he comes to a sliding stop. - 17 ding Congratulations! Due to replicating the skill "Charging Slash" to above 90%, you have earned the skill "P. Charging Slash" P. Charging Slash lvl 1: A personal creation of the skill "Charging Slash". Due to being personally created, the skill is slightly better and easier to level compared to it''s base version. Charge towards a target, striking with the power of your entire body. Damage + 6 - 10. Speed and damage scale with skill level. Congratulations! You are the 423rd person on your planet to create a personal skill. Awarding the title: Personal Perfectionist Personal Perfectionist: Speed in the ability to level up all skills increased by 10%. Creating personal skills is now 5% easier. Night falls Minutes had passed until Russell was able to snap out of his daze. Staring at the notification he recieved, Russell begins to laugh. Tears welling up in his eyes. Ha... 423rd huh... Haha... ha.. hahahah! I''ve done something.. it might not be one of those first titles but... I started later than everyone else. Yet, 423rd? Out of billions? Huuu.... Taking a deep breath, Russell closes out of the notification. Looking down at his dagger, he smiles. Personal skills... I got one in only an hour... what would happen if I do this all day? Tightening his grip on the handle, he backs up to test out his new skill. Wait. How do I use a skill...? Just go through the motions? Trial and error I guess. I hope I don''t have to say it out loud... "Huu... here goes nothing." Gripping his dagger, Russell once again charges at the tree. With a slash that contains every ounce of power within his body, he slides the dagger straight into the bark of the tree. Continuing past the trunk, something forces him to an abrupt stop. A piercing pain in his right arm as he slams into the grass. Fuck! What the hell? - 18 Shut it System. Holding his throbbing arm, he looks towards the tree. Sure enough, he finds his dagger lodged into the trunk of his target. Getting back to his feet, he walks and grabs hold of the handle of his dagger with his left hand. With a tug, the dagger barely moves. Narrowing his eyes, he pulls harder. Only after minutes of pulling and wiggling does the blade finally come free. I just got my ass kicked by a damn tree. Taking a peek at Tina, her hand covering her mouth and tears coming down her eyes, his face sports a nasty scowl. Spitting a little blood out of his mouth onto the ground, Russell walks back into the clearing. "You... pff.. You lost to a tree. Bahahaha!" "Shut it." after snapping at Tina, Russell sits down and begins meditating. Thirty minutes later, he checks his HP to make sure it''s back to full. Standing up with a groan, he checks his arm and notes that the pain is gone, just slight throbbing now. Then he checks on his skills. Meditation lvl 1: 38% P. Charging Slash lvl 1: 11% Well, at least if I hurt myself there is still a plus side to it. If repitition works this well, that title boost along with the dagger bonus will add up quite a lot. Taking a bite out of the cracker rations he bought from the shop followed by some light stretching, he picks up his dagger once more. Looking over at Tina, he taps his chin, noticing some slight stubble that has started making it''s appearance. "Tina... if I want to get some levels... do I have to head out to kill something? I still have 0% even after all of that..." With a slight groan, Tina flys over and takes a squat in the grass. Sighing, she starts her explanation. "Basically, yes. When you kill a monster, the System siphons the life force into you from the corpse. Which would be experience. Of course, there are also other ways. For example, if you were to create an item. The System would gather the surrounding Mana and turn that into experience as well, the amount depending on the quality of said item." Crafting huh.. I did want to try out alchemy sometime. Sounds much easier than going out and killing something... I have hunted before, but that''s different from a monster. And if there are things like goblins that resemble humans? Do I have it in me to kill something like that? Shit. "So, what abou-" "Get to level 10." says Tina after cutting off Russell. "You get class options at level 10. That was your question right?" "..." After a few minutes of ugly silence, Russell walks back to the tree and takes a fighting stance. If I''m truly going to be fighting, I have to be prepared. With a light bang, another gash is left in the tree. Smiling, he begins his grind. *** After about six hours, when night begins to descend, Russell plops face first into the ground. Rolling onto his back minutes later, he looks into the sky. Sparkling stars, a full moon accompanied by a smaller, slightly dimmer one. Further proving that where he is, is most definitely not on Earth. After a little longer of gazing at the stars, he checks on his notifications.Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. Congratulations! Due to repetitive actions and exercise, you have earned the following gains: + 2 Strength + 1 Agility + 1 Endurance Level 2 in Meditation! Level 3 in Meditation! Level 2 in P. Charging Slash! Level 4 in Meditation! Level 3 in P. Charging Slash! Level 4 in P. Charging Slash! 80% towards acquiring the Personal Skill: ??? Clenching his fists, Russell feels the new found strength flowing through his body. From this, I can tell that my strength has nearly doubled from when I first got here. Not sure about speed. Which obviously, makes no sense. After all, I''ve only spent about half a day working out, gaining those skill levels. It must be what Tina said about the System awarding me with Mana from the atmosphere. That is the only way that I can think of anyway. Which is quite worrisome.. if this "System" can give it to me so easily... it can take it right back can''t it? I mean... as bad as the thought is.. can I really do anything about it? I should just be happy. That''s all I can do for now. That new personal skill has been stuck at 80% for the past two hours. I thought it was that Dagger/Knife Mastery... it still could, but it hasn''t gone up no matter what I did. Maybe it needs something else if that''s what it is. Anyway, I wonder what the level ups did for my skills. Meditation lvl 4: When in a still state, and focusing on recovery, recovery of stamina and health is faster by 24.5% P. Charging Slash lvl 4: A personal creation of the skill "Charging Slash". Due to being personally created, the skill is slightly better and easier to level compared to it''s base version. Damage + 7 - 12. Stamina usage varies So an extra 1.5% regen per level for Meditation and... up two maximum bonus and up one on the minimum for Charging Slash''s damage? Oh well. Not too bad. Closing out of his skills, Russell focuses on himself to check up on his status. Russell Hansen Level: 1 Class: None Subclass: None Title(s): Survivor, Personal Perfectionist HP: 38/40 MP: 30/30 SP: 18/60 Stats Strength: 7 Agility: 9 Endurance: 6 Vitality: 8 Intelligence: 5 Wisdom: 7 Luck: 0 Free Points: 0 Skill(s): Survive, Meditation, P. Charging Slash Spell(s): None It really just looks like a bunch of numbers. Not sure what they mean yet... Stamina went up by fifteen... while agility went up by three... so maybe five total per agility? But strength went up as well so I don''t know... Endurance went up one, while health also went up by five... So that could be it as well. Gah. Just a jumble of numbers. With a nice and long yawn, Russell looks over at Tina who is currently curled up in a clump of flowers. Smiling, he once more looks up towards the sky. Closing his eyes, he starts to focus on feeling the slight breeze flow over his skin, while listening to the slight sounds of crickets. Maybe this isn''t so bad. I wonder what those two are doing right now. That stupid athlete of a brother of mine, Sam, probably got a personal skill too... just knowing how my life has gone he''s probably 422nd... sigh. Sis probably got one too. Who knows I guess. They should be fine. I will focus on myself first. Hopefully I''m not too far away from them when I get out of here too... I did drive a few miles away from my house and with the planet combination... that could very well be thousands of miles away now. Screw it. I will find my way eventually. Finishing off the last of his thoughts, Russell''s consciousness slowly drifts off into the night. *** *Hooowwwwllll* Eyes shooting open, Russell scrambles to his feet. Looking around in the darkness, he sees a small glint in the grass. Picking up his dagger, he peers into theblack thatsurroundshim. Goosebumps covering his entire body, his breathing staggered, he focuses on the sound of his surroundings. The light breeze from when he fell asleep gone, the crickets silent, replaced by the stillness of night. The hell was that? A wolf? The fuck? This is a tutorial right..? They wouldn''t come attack the clearing. Right? Speaking of which... what kind of tutorial starts in a clearing anyway? Shouldn''t it be a starter town? Shit, why do I think this now? Where''s Tina anyway? Peeking through narrowed eyes in the darkness, Russell checks the flower patch Tina was in previously. Not seeing anything through the dark, he creeps over. After the longest minute of his life, he reaches the flowers. He examines the area. No Tina. Just flowers. "...Tina?" After waiting around in the silence with no answer for a few minutes, he once more looks towards the tree line surrounding him. Eyes finally adjusting to the lack of light, he looks toward the tree he practiced with earlier. Minutes of silence go by, with nothing happening. Peeking at his dagger and seeing the sharpness of the blade, he makes his way towards the treeline. After a minute of creeping tothe tree, he looks back towards the clearing. With a deep breath, tightening his grip on his dagger, he turns back to the forest. With silent steps, he walks into the darkness. Life and Death An unknown amount of time had passed since Russell had stepped into the woods. The dark of night surrounding him from all sides. The only sound being his breath and footsteps. With a quick slash at a nearby tree marking his way back, he continues on. By now, his vision has at least adapted to being able to see a little bit of the surroundings. Giant trees at all sides, a hard forest floor. What am I even doing out here. He thought, before a rustle came from a nearby brush. Freezing up, he turns to face the noise. Dagger in hand, he waits. Time ticks by, and the rustling only gets louder. Taking a step back out of instinct, he steps on a few dead leaves with a crunch. Cold sweat on his forehead, vision shaky, he stares at the brush. Skidding out comes the culprit, a prickly looking grey rabbit with crimson eyes sitting on its hind legs, reaching up to about a meter in height. [Spiky Rabbit lvl 2] Panicing, Russell backs away slowly, dagger primed at the thing. The fuck you mean level two? It''s the size of a damn golden retreiver! Gulping down his saliva, the staring contest continues. A minute goes by, followed by another. The rabbit starts to rock back and forth, then falls onto all fours. Russell takes one step back, and right as his foot is about to land for the second, the rabbit''s hind legs lower, and in an instant launches straight towards Russell bearing its teeth. Turning around, Russell runs towards a nearby tree, rabbit in tow. Looking back, he sees the rabbit only a meter away from him. Gritting his teeth, he dives to the side behind the tree. Sliding passed, the rabbit trys to swipe at his back as it passes. Its claw catches his back leaving a gash, barely missing his spine. Taking a deep breath, he gets back to his feet. But the rabbit doesn''t give him time to think as it leaps straight towards him. Quickly sidestepping, he dodges the swipe. Slamming his eyes shut, he slashes his dagger towards the rabbit. An unhindered slash through the air meaning he missed, he opens his eyes to see another swipe coming straight towards his face. Lifting his left arm to block the strike leaves him with three nasty gashes on his forearm, the rabbits barbed claws sinking into his skin. He focuses on the beast, and slashes towardsitseyes. With a squeal, the rabbit rips its claws out from Russell''s arms and backs off. A deep cut through its right eye shows Russell that he hit his target. Blood dripping from his arm, Russell lowers his body. His face pale, he throws himself at the animal. Not to be out done, the rabbit once more charges to meet him, its left eye glaring at Russell. It swipes straight towards his eyes to get its payback. Cocking his shoulder back, Russell meets the claws with his Charging Slash. As the rabbit staggers from the contact, Russell shakes it off and takes his chance. With everything he has, he slashes straight across the throat of the beast with little resistance. Barely staying on his feet, he watches as the rabbit falls to the ground, choking on its own blood. Light headed, he leans to the side and emptys his stomach, then turns back to face the rabbit. His face drained of color, he rips off his left sleeve and wraps it around his arm as he continues to watch closely, dagger at the ready. Only after minutes pass does he feel a rush of energy enter his body and he recieves a notification. [Spiky Rabbit lvl 2] has been slain! 16% experience gained! 16% bonus experience for level gap of [1]! 32% total experience gained! Level 5 in P. Charging Slash! 86% towards acquiring the Personal Skill: ??? Letting his dagger fall out of his hand, hefalls to the ground. Taking deep breaths, he retrieves a small bottle of water from his pocket that came with the rations. Taking a swig, he crawls towards a nearby tree. *Howl* "Shit!" Scrambling towards his dagger, he picks it up. Turning the opposite way of the sound, he limps away with every bit of power that remains in his body. Lacking the energy to get far enough, he looks around to find anywhere to hide. Seeing a bush that would allow him to crawl under, he makes his way over. Lowering himself down, he goes under. Still in view of the body of the rabbit, cursing, he watches with bated breath. Some thirty seconds later, out from the darkness comes a beast with razor sharp teeth, black fur, and long, slim limbs to support its enourmous threemeter long frame. "Aaaooooooo!"screeches the beast. Out from the abyss the black beast came from, come three smaller, about two meters in length each, slightly lighter versions of the monster. Russell quietly focuses his attention on the bigger beast, followed by the other three.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. [Dark Dire Wolf lvl ???] [Adolescent Dire Wolf lvl 8] [Adolescent Dire Wolf lvl 9] [Adolescent Dire Wolf lvl 8] Putting his hand over his mouth to try and make assmall amount of noise as possible as he''s drenched in cold sweat, Russell watches as the dark dire wolf beckons the other three to the corpse. With a quick sniff each, they begin to feast.Looking away with disgust, he checks on the dark wolf.There he finds himself staring into the pure black eyes of the beast. It looks over to the other wolves, then begins to make its way over towards a patch of blood left behind by Russell. Taking a lick of the blood, the monster''s ears perk up and peers directly in the direction of his escape. Making its way over, a black fog emerges around the beast. Nearby grass wilting in an instant, trees dying at a rate visible to the naked eye. Body shaking, Russell finds himself crawling backwards further into the bush in the off chance he might not be discovered.You''ll be fine. You''ll be fine.He tells himself. The wolf stops. Its eyes taking in all of the surroundings, its vision stops on the bush. The beast''s mouth curls up in what could be nothing other than the deadliest smile Russell had ever seen. Feeling a warmth come from his lower body, he uses everything he has to get himself out of the back of the bush. With a snarl, the beast clearly showing its disdain to the human, it approaches with a slow and steady pace. Every step it makes shaking Russell''s very being.Russell quickly shoves himself out of the back of the bush, ignoring the scratches he recieves from the protruding brances. He only has one thing on his mind at this point. Run. Turning around, he does just that. His legs carrying him away as fast as they can carry him not even sparing another glance for the monster, he makes a run for it deeper into the woods. Seeing the little human attempt to escape, the beast turns to the slightly larger wolf of the other three. With a low growl to communicate its intentions, it turns back to Russell. Its eyes turning to crescents in amusement, the beast makes alazy swipe with its razor sharp claws in his direction. The fog that had been surrounding the monster converges in the direction of the swipe. Yawning, the wolf watches on as the fog makes its way over. Russell, not hindered in the slightest by his exhaustion as adrenaline takes over, continues to run oblivious to all direction and sense. He just wants to escape with his life, nothing else matters to him at this point in time. Exitting into a larger clearing past the trees a few trees, he finds himself face to face with a rock face blocking his escape. Looking around in a panic for any lifeline he can find, he finds nothing that can save him. He smashes his fist directly into the rock blocking him. With the sound of breaking bones and tears rolling down his face, he turns around. The second he does, something crashes into his gut. His ribs shattered, his lungs punctured, he crashes into the rock face. Critical Damage Taken Skill: Survivor activates Warning! Healing required.It is recommended that you find your way to the nearest safe zone as soon as possible! With ringing ears and tears of blood streaming down his face, Russell looks forward and finds thesilhouette of the dire wolf. With what sounds likethechuckle of a hyena, the beast comes into full vision. The darkness seemingly converging itself happily around the massive wolf creating more of the thick fog from earlier. Attempting to stand, Russell finds himself completely paralyzed and unable to move. The tears of blood stopping, he looks on at the monster with a smile on his face. With what looks like his resignation to death, the wolf sends the fog to swallow him completely. As the fog flys towards him, Russell looks on and removes his smile. Opening his mouth with all his power, he says one very audible word. "Yes." *** With a flash, a white light swallows Russell before the darkness does. The wolf noticing its dark fog being blocked out by the intrusivewhite light, it summons back its attack. Being slightly wary of the light that can block its fog, the dire wolf takes a few steps back, but prepares for another attack at the slightest deviation from the light. After waiting for a little over a minute, the light abruptly disappears. Left behind by the light is a shimmering rift that distorts the very air around it. Narrowing its eyes, the wolf attempts to see past the rift. All itis able to make out is a slight crack in the rock wallabout two meters in height and a meter in diamater. Noticing that its human prey is no where to be seen, the wolfshoots out the fog that surrounds itself directly towards therift with a fiery fury. As its dark fog comes into contact with therift,it abruptly dissipates into the nothingness. Not a speck of proof that there was even contact between the two. Enraged, the wolf charges towards the fog. Its dark fog encasing its claws, the beast slashestowards the shimmering rift. As the claws make contact, the wolf instantly rebounds straight back to where it came. The wolflanding with a crash, it shoots back to its feet. Staring at dead at the rift, the beast then lets loose a howl thatdemonstratesevery bit of anger that now exists within itself. As the howl ends, silencedescends upon the darkness. With a huff, the dire wolf lays down, glaring towards the rift.