“Enough of all this Master stuff, you can call me Dracon,” Master Mazus told Alan as they sat at the dining table. It currently contained a wealth of snacks. There was a charcuterie board, a cheese platter, a tray of various fruits, and a couple of pitchers of liquids. He noticed the Master’s, or Dracon’s, voice had changed somehow. It wasn’t less arrogant, but maybe it was no longer as condescending.
“I know you were expecting to be here much longer, going through various tests and such, but after today there was really no need. To meld two different mana types together at your level would be quite an accomplishment, a one in a million talent, but three is unheard of. You may not realize how impressive that is, but as someone who has been doing this for hundreds of years, believe me it is.”
Alan was nibbling on the various snacks while also pocketing several types of fruit. He really was turning into a hoarder when it came to delicious fruit and their precious seeds. The whole time though he was keeping his eyes on Dracon. Wait, did he say hundreds of years?
“I am sure you got an announcement from the Network that you are now my apprentice. You should know that is not a temporary arrangement. As long as the both of us live you will be my apprentice unless, of course, you manage to pass my class level,” he snorted at that. “We will have some time together here in this dungeon for me to teach you various skills. This opportunity will last for several months. In order to help you decide on what we should explore, I need you to share your status screen.”
“Uhhhh…” was all Alan managed.
Dracon chuckled. “You are right to be wary of such a request, but you should check out your new title if you haven’t yet.”
Alan took a moment to access the title [Apprentice] and another one to read it over.
You have become the apprentice of Dracon Mazus, a skilled practitioner of the magical arts. While he is your master your souls will be connected. This allows the achievements of each to affect the other. A betrayal by either will cause significant damage to their soul.
“What does it mean that our achievements affect each other?” he asked.
“This is a big reason why people take on apprentices. As you grow on your Path you will find that it becomes harder to advance your classes through practice or combat. You will need to accomplish great deeds or achievements. By taking on an apprentice I can earn credit for some of your achievements. The idea being that making you better will make it easier for me to grow.”
“It says that your achievements also affect me?”
“That is a more complicated topic that we will have to get into later, but suffice it to say the apprentice gets benefits beyond the teaching. You also might have noticed that our souls are actually linked now. Betraying you would be like betraying a part of myself. And since I gain more the greater you become, it is safe for you to share your status screen without fear of treachery.”
Alan still wasn’t sure, but on the other hand, this man was so much more powerful than him that it wouldn’t really matter either way if he wanted to cause him harm. It also seemed that Dracon had some ability to read at least part of his status anyway. Alan hadn’t seriously checked his own status in a while, he had mostly focused on his skills, so he also took a moment to look it over as he shared the screen with his new mentor.
Alan Taylor
Race: Human [W]
Class:
Fighter (78%) Quartz
Guardian (60%) Quartz
Healer (85%) Quartz
Hunter (53%) Quartz
Mage (91%) Quartz
Rogue (92%) Quartz
Scholar (71%) Quartz
Seeker (70%) Quartz
Health: 194 (19/hour)
Stamina: 178 (36/minute)
Mana: 182 (18/minute)
Dungeon Points: 980
Stats:
Strength: 16
Dexterity: 18
Perception: 13
Focus: 14
Intelligence: 17
Wisdom: 18
Constitution: 14
Spirit: 11
Skills:
Aura Reading: 60, Blunt Weapons: 25, Cooking: 6, Daggers: 45, Dodging: 21, First Aid: 20, Harvesting: 10, Herbology: 10, Identify: 16, Mana Drawing: 15, Mana Enhancement: 6, Mana Handling: 90, Mining: 3, Running: 26, Sneak: 11, Swords: 3, Tracking: 20, Two Weapon Fighting: 38, Unarmed Combat: 18
Titles: [Apprentice], [Top Recruit]
Talents:
Fighter: Fury, Parry
Guardian: Hammer Blow, Taunt
Healer: Mend
Hunter: 6th Sense, Charm Animal
Mage: Earth Mover, Light Spinner, Water Weaver
Rogue: Quick Hands, Stealth
Scholar: Understanding
Seeker: Sensitivity
Spells: Cone of Steam (Uncommon), Conjure Water (Epic), Fire Bolt (Rare), Gust (common), Minor Healing (common), Light Bolt (Uncommon), Light (common), Prismatic Orb (Epic), Stone Spear (Uncommon)
He had made gains in several of his classes, mage being an obvious one. In fact it was now his second highest class. Seeker and scholar had also improved a lot. Several of his skills had gone up, aura reading and mana handling being the two biggest. However, mana drawing and enhancement had also increased as well as his running and sneaking skills. Perhaps that training with Simon had helped after all.
They sat in silence for several minutes while Dracon perused the information. Alan took the opportunity to stash some more fruit and to have a drink of something that smelled like orange juice. It tasted similar but had a tartness that he didn’t expect.
“You must have had some interesting opportunities to gain all of those skills and classes. I am not surprised to see aura reading and mana handling since you managed to create your own spells, but I am impressed to see mana enhancement. That makes for some interesting possibilities in your future.”
“Is it rare to have eight classes?” Alan already had an idea of what the answer was, but it was a way of testing his new mentor.
“Rare is a relative term. I have met others over the years who have also obtained all eight starting classes, and they were usually also from recently integrated worlds like you. However, even in that smaller group I would say fewer than one in a billion have managed it.”
“That sounds pretty rare to me,” he responded.
“The universe we live in contains millions of worlds, many of which have trillions of individuals. However, combine that with your mana skills and you are truly a once in a generation talent. I expect great things from you, and not just because it will help me break through to Jade. Now, I have seen the results of your experiences, but I would like to hear more about those events themselves. Please, tell me about your past and your time here in the tutorial before coming to me.”
It took several hours for Alan to get through everything. Dracon kept interrupting with clarifying questions as he went. He didn’t seem too interested in his time as a Green Beret, but he was fascinated by his work as a doctor.
“I think this explains some things about how you achieved what you have. Since you grew up outside of the Network, it uses your early experiences to develop the basis of your Path. Please continue.”
His time with the Space Security Force was also not of great interest to his mentor, other than the fact that their planet had reached the stars before being integrated. Apparently this was well past the norm. Most planets were somewhere between a medieval and early industrial age when they were integrated.
“Tell me more about the beast you fought as a test to get into the tutorial.”
“It was called an octospatium. It looked like what we call an octopus. It had many tentacles and a large bulbous body. The thing ended up blowing itself up when it tore apart the station's engine module,” Alan paused before he thought to ask. “Why was it so powerful? It was only listed as a level 1 creature. Since then I have fought and beaten creatures at higher levels that were nowhere near as tough. If it hadn’t blown itself up I would never have been able to kill it.”
“You were very lucky there. You have to understand that there are several ways to measure the strength of a creature, and by that I mean a being without a soul. The level is simply one of them, and often the least important. The biggest thing is the evolution of its race. You might’ve noticed your race is listed as W for white. That is the lowest level possible. My race is G for green, which is a not insignificant achievement if I do say so myself.”
Alan already knew some of this about race evolutions, but he was getting a lot of details that he hadn’t.
“The creatures you have fought in the tutorial were almost definitely white as well. An Octospatium, however, is a red beast. It is only one step above white, but that is a huge difference for someone just starting out. I am surprised the Network would give you such a challenge as there should have been no way for you to beat it. However, it provides another clue to your talent with aura reading. Octospatium live in space and travel between worlds looking for prey. They hunt by tracking energy traces back to their source. That is probably why it went after the engine of your station. Getting credit for that kill added some of its achievements to your own, which might have improved your potential when it came to energy sensitivity.”
He paused here to have a drink himself and snack on some grapes. It was several seconds before he spoke up again.
“I won’t mind returning to my own world where the food is a little more impressive. Those pancakes in the morning are pretty tasty though. Anyway, please continue with your story.”
The fact that Alan was alone in his tutorial was a source of amusement for his mentor. On the other hand he was hanging on every word when Alan described his first experiences with sensing his own aura and then smoothing out the flows.
“As you grow you will start to be able to tell the difference in the parts of your aura. Those main pathways you described are common to all humans, but the smaller pathways correspond to different attributes. They provide a connection between your aura’s increased energy flow and the body’s ability to turn that energy into action. By having all eight classes you have a huge leg up since others will have to use treasures to improve some of their stats to keep their aura balanced. The treasures are not as effective as natural growth and they usually end up with at least a ten percent loss of attributes per point. This means not only will they probably have somewhat fewer points in many stats, each of those points will be less effective as well. Some may have achievements like the one you described to improve them so it will vary greatly by person. However, few will be able to match your pure stats as you grow.”
He shared the rest of his tale and Dracon finally sat back to ponder all he had heard. Taking a cue from his mentor, Alan also leaned back and sipped some more of his juice to wet his parched throat. Finally Dracon shook himself and then spoke up.
“I think I know which way our training should go, but of course we will have to discuss what you want as well. Before we can get to that though, there is one more trial for you to complete.”
Alan was surprised that he was still shocked by the bait and switch routine. “I thought I completed your tests.”
“Oh, you did. This is not my trial, this is an opportunity for you provided by the tutorial dungeon. Mine was not the only special dungeon spread throughout the disk. There were several for each race. Before you can benefit more from my teachings you must now measure yourself against others who have gained the title apprentice.”
“How is that supposed to work?”
“Shortly you will receive a new quest and be teleported away from here. You will then face them in battle. This is your first chance to earn an achievement for me. I’m counting on you to do well.”
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“Are these others also going to be mages?”
Dracon laughed. “Goodness no. Some may be, but these special dungeons can focus on any of the classes. There are no restrictions on what you can use, so go all out.”
“And when it’s over, what happens then?”
“After you complete it you will be teleported back here and then we can work on making you better. This trial will also give you a chance to see what you need to work on. Our time is just about up. You should go gather your things from your room and prepare yourself. Remember, don’t embarrass me, I’ve got an image to maintain.”
“Of course, I’ll try to die in an inspiring manner.” Alan replied sarcastically.
“That’s all I ask.” Dracon smiled as Alan made his way downstairs. Alan’s improved hearing just caught him whispering “This will be fun to watch.” as he made his way to his room.
He attached his various pouches to his belt and put his daggers back on. Most of his items had been moved to the larger storage in his ring by now, but he kept the corpses of the beasts he still had in his pouch. Unsure of how long he had until the trial started he tried meditating while sitting on his bed. Except for sparring he hadn’t really had to fight in months.
He didn’t know what the trial would look like, but based on his experiences so far he figured it would not be pleasant. He knew it would be a battle, but what would that look like? Was it to first blood or worse yet, to the death?
New Quest: There can be only one
[Now that you have become an apprentice you must demonstrate your worthiness. Best the other humans in combat to advance.]
After reading the message Alan found himself sitting in an underground room. There weren’t any windows of course, but there was just a sense you got from being underground. It was a coolness to the air and an impression of weight all around you. He was perched on a wooden bench against a wall in an octagonal room.
The walls were some kind of fitted stonework, each block was massive though, at least two meters long. They each probably weighed several thousand kilograms. There were a few torches burning around the walls and several wooden support pillars arranged in a circle in the middle of the room. The only exit seemed to be a large wooden door on one wall. It was currently closed so he couldn’t see what was on the other side.
The other walls had benches on them as well. Scanning them he saw four other people. They all looked human and three of them were women with one of them being male. They all had different kinds of equipment on them and he tried to identify them to see if it would work finally. His entire time at the mage tower he had been unable to identify a single thing. To his surprise, it actually gave him information now.
Jason: Human, Rogue, Threat level: medium
The other man was wearing a cloak and had several daggers located around his body. His skin was naturally tanned. He was handsome enough but he had an unusually sharp chin. If he had to guess he would say he was of asian descent. As a rogue he was a dexterity build, but that was Alan’s highest class as well so he felt confident in besting him. He would still have to be careful though because he probably had other classes too. At his level, identify would only list their highest class.
Cassandra: Human, Guardian, Threat level: medium
The first woman he inspected was taller than he was and well muscled. Her hair was shoulder length and a lustrous black color. Her face was rather plain but her eyes spoke of a sharp intelligence. He thought he was probably stronger than she was, but her class would make her tough to hit. She had no armor but did carry a large round shield. It was made of thick wooden boards and banded with a metal rim that was at least ten centimeters wide. It also had a nasty looking metal spike in the center. On her back was a large hammer. The shaft was over a meter long and the head at the end was one large solid piece of iron with two blunt ends.
Lydia: Human, Hunter, Threat level: high
Lydia was holding a wooden bow. It would probably best be described as a shortbow since it was just over a meter in length. She had a quiver of arrows on her hip. She also had a sword located on her back so she probably would also be capable up close. It was hard to tell what kind of sword it was since she was leaning against the wall and his view was blocked. All he could see was the leather wrapped hilt peeking out from behind her almost glowing blonde hair. She also had blue eyes but there was no joy in them, instead it was like looking into the cold eyes of death. She was also the only one who seemed to have any real armor as she was wearing a sleek looking leather chest piece.
Brighid: Human, Healer, Threat level: low
The last woman was wearing what he would describe as a monk’s robe. It was made from what looked like a type of brown hemp with a large cloth belt. She was holding a staff in her hand that was taller than she was. Her hair was ginger red and her skin was pale and freckled. Just like Lydia her eyes were blue, but her’s sparkled with humor and life. As a healer he didn’t think she would bring much offense to the competition, but again she could have another class that made her a danger. The low threat level was reassuring.
He took a moment to see himself from their eyes. He was wearing the same tunic and pants that his mentor had given him months ago, but at least they were clean and only showed slight signs of wear. The same leather belt was around his waist that they were all given at the start but he had several pouches and his two daggers attached to it. His body was well muscled but he was probably shorter than everyone but Brighid. He didn’t know what their threat levels said about him, but visually they may be discounting him.
It was less than a minute before their mutual study was interrupted. The door to the room opened and they could see a dirt and gravel ramp extending upwards. There was also bright light coming from that direction suggesting it led to the surface. Standing in the door was an unremarkable human man with tousled hair and dirt on much of his exposed skin. His shirt was loose on his body and the white color showed several stains. His eyes briefly took them in before he started reading from a paper in his hands.
“Welcome to the Warrior’s Arena. Today you will be participating in a battle royal fight to the death.” There was a gasp from Cassandra and some of the others shifted uncomfortably in their seats. “The winner will be healed up and will then have the opportunity to compete in a four way fight with the champions from the other three races. Whoever is standing at the end will win the grand prize and a glorious title. Any questions?”
Everyone’s hand but Lydia’s shot into the air. She looked eager for the first time since Alan had seen her.
Their visitor continued without even looking up at them, “No questions, great. You’re up in two minutes, no fighting till you are announced in the arena. Oh, if anyone chooses not to fight, the guards will kill you where you stand.”
Well that was just great. Not that Alan had really expected anything different, but these were his fellow humans. It didn’t make sense to kill them, they would be needed in the competition in later tiers. He was a little excited at the prospect of seeing what the other races looked like, though. If he made it past this round.
Cassandra tried to ask a question “Can someone surrender if…”
“No talking either, your fight is almost up,” the attendant interrupted.
Alan was glad he wasn’t on the receiving end of that glare from Cassandra. He was pretty sure that if that guy was up there she would crush his head without a second thought. Moments later he signaled them to stand and head up the ramp. As soon as Alan stepped out of the door he was inundated with the scent of unwashed bodies and blood.
At the top of the ramp they were greeted with a huge arena. The floor of the stadium was in the shape of an oval and over a hundred meters long and maybe fifty wide. The floor was the same dirt and gravel mixture as the ramp, but it also had been stained by massive quantities of blood and other bodily fluids. Surrounding the fighting area of the arena was a brown stone wall that was at least four meters high. Above that were rows upon rows of long benches. It looked like a soccer stadium. There were some nicer sections where there was a special platform containing seats, almost like luxury boxes, scattered around.
His high perception allowed him to pick out his mentor in one of the boxes. When Alan saw him he scowled, but Dracon smiled and waved his hand. This was apparently a great time for him while Alan was facing possible death. That thought made him refocus on his opponents.
There was no chance of them all refusing to fight. Not only had they been told they would be killed if they did, but Lydia had looked way too eager when they were told it was to the death for her to just give up. She was also the one whose threat level was the highest. Between the toughness he received from his guardian class and his high strength and dexterity from his fighter and rogue classes he felt that he could probably take her at close range. However, he didn’t have a great way of defending against her bow. His movements during the upcoming fight would need to be constant and erratic. It would be much harder to hit him if he didn’t move in predictable lines.
Cassandra seemed like a more physically dangerous foe than Jason, but he had been training against Simon who also used strength and a heavy weapon against him. The shield would make this interesting, though. He wondered how well she could really use that hammer with one hand.
Other than Lydia, Jason was his next biggest concern. In a one on one duel he thought that he could beat Jason nine times out of ten, but in a larger melee he would have to watch out for him. As a rogue he probably excelled at quick and lethal strikes, especially if you had your back to him.
They found themselves standing in a circle facing each other. They were about six meters apart so there would be no sudden strikes when the fight began, other than maybe Lydia. Now that he thought about it, Jason had multiple small daggers on him so he may be able to throw them accurately. His planning was interrupted by a voice booming out over the stadium.
“Ladies and Menfolk, today you are in for a treat. We have representatives from a newly integrated planet whose warriors are still in the early stages of their tutorial disk!” This was greeted with loud cheers.
“First up we have five humans who were each deemed worthy by their mentors.” More cheers and then five people, including his own mentor, stood up on their platforms which were scattered around the stadium and moved forward raising their hands in the air.
“Now is the time to find out who we think is the most worthy. The rules are simple: fight, and don’t die. If you die, you lose!” This was a bloodthirsty crowd and the thunderous cheers rolled over them on the arena floor. A chant of “fight, fight, fight” started up until the voice called out again.
“And now, without any further ado, warriors, let your battle begin!”
Alan’s first move was a quick dash to his left. At the same time he raised his hand toward Lydia and sent a prismatic orb her way. It exploded in her face and she yelled in fright as she was temporarily blinded. However, at the same time she had knocked an arrow and shot it at Alan. Luckily she had shot where Alan had been standing, and not where he was now. She hadn’t expected him to react faster than her. The arrow went skittering across the ground.
There was a shout from the other side of the circle. Jason, the rogue, had chosen to begin by throwing a dagger at Brighid who was next to him. Luckily for her she had started moving so instead of hitting her in the heart it instead cut into her lung. It could still end up being a fatal injury, but as a healer she could treat it once she got the knife out.
Unfortunately Jason wasn’t going to give her that opportunity as he followed up his throw by dashing over and throwing another knife at her. This one she managed to deflect with her staff so she must have some talent with it. Not to be put off he took a larger dagger out and began slashing at her.
Meanwhile Cassandra used Lydia’s momentary blindness to move in on her. However, Lydia’s disablement only lasted about two seconds. Her perception was high enough to overcome the blinding effect rather quickly. She tried to shoot another arrow, this time at Cassandra, but she took it on her shield. Cassandra was indeed holding her hammer in one hand and her shield in the other. It remained to be seen how well she could wield the heavy weapon.
Alan was left alone at the moment. He wasn’t sure what he should do. He could back away and let them pick each other off and then descend on the victors, or he could try and help the weaker fighters take out the stronger. He made his decision when Jason managed to get another hit on the healer. She was obviously struggling with the knife still embedded in her chest as she tried to spin her staff and keep him off of her. This time he snuck past her parry and sliced her right forearm.
Brighid released her staff with the wounded hand and started to backpedal. Jason made to advance and finish her off but a prismatic orb burst in front of him as he stepped forward and he fell flat on his face in his disorientation. Brighid used the breathing room to pull the knife out of her chest and cast some kind of healing spell.
He probably should have let Jason finish her off, but something about the pointy chinned rogue gave Alan an uneasy feeling and he didn’t want to have to worry about him later. He still held back from getting into the two fights letting the others do the dirty work. Lydia had taken out her sword. It was a scimitar but much nicer than the one he had picked up from the kobolds, it gleamed in the sunlight and the edge looked free of any notches. She was fast and so far was able to avoid the devastating swings of Cassandra’s hammer. The guardian’s strength was truly impressive as she twirled that thing around. Maybe she was stronger than him after all.
Jason was up again, but now that the redhead could use both her hands and move without slicing up her lungs she was showing why staff wielders should not be taken lightly. She parried a thrust and then brought one of the tips of her staff down on Jason’s knife hand and he cried out in agony, dropping his weapon. A second blow tapped him on the head and he collapsed unconscious.
Alan waited to see what she would do next, but she seemed content staying where she was and continuing to heal. She had not finished off Jason, but he wouldn’t be getting up any time soon. Alan decided it was time to move into the fight between the other two women.
Lydia was having no luck getting a blow through Cassandra’s defense. Even with her flashing scimitar the shield and hammer were keeping her back, and she was getting frustrated by her failure to draw blood. She either had to break off her own attack to defend against the hammer or the larger woman just took it on her shield. Alan decided to try and get behind Cassandra, figuring he could step into her place against Lydia after he took her down without having to deal with the hunter’s bow. It wasn’t very chivalrous, but only one of them was going to make it out of here alive. The excuse sounded lame even as he thought it.
However, it wasn’t to be anyway, as Cassandra must have sensed him approaching and she took her eyes off of Lydia to assess the new threat. It only caused her hammer to drift slightly off line but that was enough for the bloodthirsty blonde. She brought her scimitar up and struck down at Cassandra’s arm. He could hear it scrape across the bone from meters away.
The heavy hammer fell out of her grip and she turned back to bring her shield up in defense. It was too late as Lydia spun like a whirlwind and sliced through her neck. Cassandra’s head went flying across the arena and rolled for several meters before coming to a stop. Her collapsing body was between Alan and Lydia and she used that barrier to quickly move away from him and take out her bow.
He could try and chase her down but all the while she would be shooting back at him. Instead he used his best offensive spell. Pooling the largest amount of mana he could he sent a raging ball of fire after her. It wasn’t as big as the one Valori had created, but when it struck Lydia’s back the flames erupted and set her shirt on fire where it was sticking out from under her armor. It also set her hair on fire and screaming she dove to the ground and tried to roll around to put the flames out.
Alan drew both of his daggers and made his way over to finish her off. He never made it. Instead he felt a piercing agony as a knife blade cut into one of his kidneys. His vision went white and he almost fell to the ground but managed through sheer will to keep his feet. Spinning around he found Jason holding a bloody knife.
Apparently he hadn’t been unconscious for that long and had actually managed to surprise Brighid while she was watching the others and slit her throat. He then ran and backstabbed Alan while he was focused on the burning blonde.
Somehow Alan had managed to hold onto both of his blades through the unexpected attack and lowered himself into a fighting stance. He cast minor heal as Jason suddenly seemed unsure of himself. This was where Alan had all of the advantages. His years of military and martial arts training had prepared him for this exact scenario. One on one, hand to hand against a person, not a stupid goat. Finally he could do his thing.
Knife fights can drag out or be over in a moment. There are many schools of thought on how to win in close like this. They can mostly be broken down into two groups. One group is the exsanguinators, who bleed you out with a thousand cuts. The other is the brawlers. They get in quick and try to deal more damage than they take and end the fight quickly. Alan was of the latter type.
Both of Alan’s knives were bigger than the small throwing knife that Jason was using. He simply charged at him, keeping both blades in front of his chest. Jason tried to force him to back off by thrusting forward but Alan simply cut downwards with his seax slicing into his attacker’s arm. His mind made the connection that Jason was using his non broken hand to attack at the same time he drove the pugio, held in his own off hand, into Jason’s heart.
Alan’s torso was still showing yellow so he cast another healing spell before turning to see how Lydia was doing. She had managed to put the fire out but her hair was gone and the skin on her head was burned and patches of it were melted. She would have been considered a beauty before but now she looked like a female version of the merc with a mouth.
“You bastard, you’ll die for this,” she yelled as she advanced on him with her scimitar raised above her head. He could see her bow on the ground. His fire bolt must have singed the string enough that it broke.
He had faith that he could take her in a close fight but didn’t want to deal with any surprises she might have. The short fight with Jason had reminded him of why killing up close was harder to deal with emotionally. Instead he sent another fully charged fire bolt her way. The flames engulfed her and the heat on her already burned face must have been agonizing. Thankfully she only screamed for a few seconds before she collapsed and lay motionless.
Achievement earned: Are you not entertained?
[You have killed a fellow competitor in an Arena match. It may not have felt good, but it didn’t feel bad, did it? Critical hits are slightly more effective]
Quest Update: There can be only one
[You have emerged as the last survivor of the human champions. Your next step is to eliminate the survivors for the other races. Reward: Title {Gladiator} and an opal Dimachaerus class stone.]
As Alan stood there surveying the people who had died he suddenly could hear the audience again. When the fight started his mind had pushed the crowd noise into the background so he could focus on the combat. Now that it was over he could hear the screaming and stomping of their feet. Once again the announcer’s voice cut over the din.
“May I present to you our champion, Alan Taylor!”
He was in a daze as he allowed himself to be guided down the ramp and back into his waiting area. There was a healer there but they found he had already taken care of his own wound. He didn’t even notice when they left, he just sat slumped against the wall, not even using a bench, just sitting on the floor.
This was not the first time he had killed someone. It wasn’t even the first time he killed someone face to face. But those had been missions. There had been a purpose, a legitimate reason or goal. What was the purpose here? These people could have been his allies, but because the Network said so he had killed two of his fellow humans himself.
The worst part was, he knew he would do it again. He hadn’t really had a choice, the only thing he could have done was give up and let the others kill him. That wasn’t an option for Alan. Not only did he like living, but he knew that he could be a major part in helping his whole world overcome this hellish ‘tutorial.’
He knew all of this. His brain realized why it was necessary. His heart understood that he had no choice. But some part of him, maybe it was his soul, took comfort in the twin tracks of tears that were running down his face.
