With everyone packed and ready, though only three of them had more than content expressions on their faces, that being Jack and his new party members, the group of eight departed the cave, leaving behind few traces of anyone ever having camped there for any period of time. And, as though welcoming their emergence after a prolonged and merciless downpour, a few groups of frogmops crawled out of the lake itself.

  "Their legs taste like chicken, if you did not know. Since I still have quite the backup stored in my own storage, feel free to go after them with priority. My group will focus on cover and take care of goblins and hobs, should any appear. Do ask for assistance if needed though, would hate to see heavy wounds so early in our path to that village I have been told about." Jack spoke calmly, turning more to the side, already noticing a group of goblins rushing over, clearly aware of a possible emergence of frogmops from the lake after such heavy rain and aiming for a chance at a feast, only to find other, soft looking creatures, nay- humans, already present and fighting, rousing their desires a level higher still.

  Kenji and Kaede assisted their former group, and while everyone was doing their best to score kills on the frogmops, the backline were also paying attention to Jack, wanting to evaluate his actual combat prowess as well. They knew he had stats, provided by the gear he wore, but if he was a simple brute with muscles for brain it was only a question of time until he endangers both Kaede and Kenji, and Izumi had claimed that it was not something she would allow. She might have made mistakes not stopping Hanzo when she should have, but she would be damned if she willingly allowed Kenji and Kaede to be misled by an act of seemingly kindness. And while Izumi herself was focused on the frogmops, Emi and Chiyo could track Jack.

  "Holy shit!" Emi exclaimed when she saw the first contact between Jack and the approaching pack of goblins. He twirled his halberd above his head as if he had trained with the weapon for years, then slashed out in a half moon arc, splitting the incoming goblins in pieces, blood and viscera slashing in all directions. To make matters even more impressive, he followed the weapons inertia, spinning it around himself and adding more to the acceleration of his swing, becoming a living meat grinder. It mattered not, be it flesh, bone or the crude shield or armor that the green shits wore, it all split apart in the wake of his brutal slashes.

  "Is that what strength over 10 is capable off in the tutorial?" Emi shuddered at the thought of facing against him the first time they entered that cave during that downpour. 'Lucky he was no triggerhappy murder hobo.' she sighed in relief, eyeing Chiyo for her reaction, though the other girl seemed to share her thoughts as well, much to the formers surprise. She tended to be the airhead, who rushed to dumb conclusions, only to be saved by the level headed Chiyo. What did it say about their situation when they both had the same thought? Kenji and Kaede also seemed different, but none of them had any new equipment. If anything, it seemed that being in Jack's party alone had raised their level of confidence, allowing the duo to react faster and make better decisions overall, though both still acted in a measured manner, not overreaching or becoming arrogant. Just what would two extra attribute points, especially if they allowed for limit breaks, meaning getting them past ten? A scary and exciting thought at the same time she had to admit.

  By the time youngsters dealt with frogmops, three smaller groups of five or so creatures in each, Jack had dispatched a few dozen goblins and a couple of hobs, the rest running away in sheer terror. There was only so much stupidity one could expect from the green shits. Even for them, there had to be a moment when self preservation trumped whatever frenzy they sunk into. Much of the credit for his results though were attributed to his gear, not skill, since it looked like it was all brute force overwhelming the incoming monsters. Were the creatures smarter, Jack would have struggled much more than he did, or so Hanzo believed. 'If only I had the same level of gear, I could do better.' he told himself, grinding his teeth in anger. Unfortunately for the delinquant, Jack was more than aware of all the glares he received and was simply waiting for the fool to overstep, signing his own death warrant. The tutorial was the only place he felt like he could fully let go and go wild as all of his accomplishments would be attributed to the stat difference from the gear he could make as a Virtuoso.

  "I am going to show this just once, so pay attention people!" Jack called out as he walked back towards the group, stopping at the nearest corpse of a frogmop and drawing a knife from his spatial storage. "This is the most efficient way to collect the legs, the rest is not good for consumption." he spoke as he grabbed one leg by the ankle and lifted it, pointing the knife at the joint near the creatures trunk. With precise motion he cut off the leg at there, pointing out a few things of note as he did so. Then, he did the same at the knee, taking only the upper leg part as a consumable.

  "That's about it. Get to harvesting if you want some nice and tasty chicken, though I suppose in this case they would be called frog legs. Should be much better than whatever you were eating." he shuddered a bit at the recollection of their food. "Perish the thought." he shook his head walking over to the goblins he had slain.

  "Any rewards for slaying goblins handed out by the village?" he asked, only to receive negative answer from Kenji. "Well, I doubt whatever currency they use here would have mattered on the other side anyways." he shrugged, but still walked by each of his kills, as if checking if they were really dead. What the rest of the group did not see because Jack's body was in the way between them and the corpses was how he stuck his finger in a wound on each corpse to use his matter collection to hollow up the bodies from inside, collecting quite a bit of material, though leaving a few centimeter large outer crust for appearances. Can't let just anybody learn that he had skills that were not quite so recognizable, doubly so when there was a ticking time bomb following you around in the form of a vindictive little delinquant shit.

  Still, as it turned out he was faster in his task than the rest of the group dealing with the thirty or so legs that needed harvesting. It seemed none of them were willing to let go of the chance to procure tasty meat, avoiding the need to sustain themselves on the bland food that the village could provide in exchange for services. So, being the good party member that he was, he corrected both Kenji and Kaede in any mistakes they were making with their own procurement.

  "Hmm, much better, but we will still need you to do this a few more times to get a proper feel for it. Remember, there are many creatures that have certain parts of their bodies that are good for consumption, and there are always joints or muscle fiber differences that will make the process much easier and faster. With enough experience you will eventually learn to recognize that as well, reducing the time and effort spent in dismembering your prey." he nodded in in approval.

  "How do you know so much big brother?" Kenji asked, an additional level of respect growing for the older man.

  "My parents were hunters. You pick up quite a few things growing up in such home. Skinning and butchering is just one of them. Was a bit afraid the knowledge I had would not apply, but it does and to a frightening high level as well. It's as though all these monsters were born to be prey for something. Gotta say, the thought of the predator that existed to hunt them all does send a shiver down one's spine."

  The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  Jack then waited along with Kenji and Kaede for the rest to finish, each person had their own legs to gather. While they waited, he pointed out a few things he had noticed that the other two members of his party could do to improve themselves in combat scenario. Nothing too huge for the moment, a slight change in the way they move around, a few hints on wasted movement and so on. There was little of that though for now, the fight had not lasted for long, nor were they fighting together with their future party members. It was a joint understanding among Jack's party that he would help out with combat during the tutorial since his stats could carry him a great deal, but once on the other side Kenji and Kaede would help him grow as well, since as a crafter he earned a majority of his experience through crafting and for that, materials were necessary. The good thing though was that they would not be hurting too much for money, his stuff promised to sell for a fair amount, likely recuperating not only the cost of the materials used but also possibly earning profit. If successful enough, he might even reach the point where his crafting would bring in a boatload of money, making his process entirely self sufficient. In that case, he would still make gear for the duo when they needed a new piece and they would in turn be his backing and protection. of course, there was a need for more people, but that was a problem to solve later. A step forward at a time.

  "All done?" he asked when it seemed that Izumi and her group was also done with their task and had stored the tasty meat away and receiving a nod of confirmation he glanced at the group as a whole for a split second "You seem to be in good enough condition. let's head back then, shall we?" his voice was calm and collected and he himself seemed like he just had a light workout, barely enough to break a sweat and was ready for more. It was at this moment that Izumi remembered what Emi had said about that necklace of his and how it felt like a defensive one. 'probably increasing his vitality, making his endurance and stamina stronger still. He is one lucky guy.' she thought as she glanced around at the number of monster corpses, a slight twitch in her nose at the smell of blood and death.

  "Let's head out!" she calmly called out, having Chiyo take lead as usual, her scouting shoving it's immense value at this point, allowing the group to avoid as many of monster groups as possible. Jack had stated that it would be best to fight as little as could be don, the two parties were not on the best terms right now and would work quite flawed in case there was the need to. Of course, it was not entirely possible to avoid all the monster groups till they reached the village, so a few fights still happened. Jack did solve that particular issue in a unique way as well, asking them to fight separately, with each group engaging the monsters on a rotating scheme. First it would be his group, second time- Izumi's, then Jack's again and so on and so forth until they reach the village. Of course, if the group in question was too strong the resting group would lend a hand if asked.

  "A perfect plan, no? Both parties earn experience, while also getting used to their new set up." he had argued and as much as it was unpleasant to admit it, Izumi had to agree. There were still changes in the groups that went out to hunt for monsters all the time. Some group chewed off more than they could chew and lost a few members? Once the surviving ones are back, the group disbands, but they are all aware they need to grow stronger, so looking they go for another group to join. Or there might be disputes about the rare few items they acquire, creating a rift and tearing the group apart. Same thing happens with this group as well. And so it went, changing and adjusting. Izumi was sure at the end of the tutorial, no matter how it would look, there would be a few dominant forces already established before they left this place.

  'If they are smart, whoever is waiting for us on the other side, they will try to figure out who the leaders of those groups are and go through them to get their hands on the most promising emerging talents.' she already calculated how it all should unfold and came to a rather obvious truth. 'Jack is creating his own force while he still has the power to do so, likely planning to then coats on their hard work on the other side.' A fair conclusion if Jack was mere Virtuoso, but even if that was the case, how was that bad? It was an exchange of services. Jack would provide the much needed leg up during their early stages of development and would reap the benefits when they reach their full potential. How was what he doing any different than an investor funding a startup company that eventually turns into a global megacorporation, returning his investment hundred or thousand times over, doing so in perpetuity.

  And Jack had the capital to do so too. Add to that his calm and seemingly friendly persona, if a little quirky, he was poised to get his claws on most talent in this tutorial zone, assuming he could recognize them. 'I could play that angle.' Izumi immediately realized, an immaculate plan forming in her head as the group walked through the forest, led by Chiyo back to the village. They still had almost half a day's walk ahead of them, so Izumi had plenty of time to finish off her plan.

  'You have your ways and I have mine.' she thought, the final few pieces of her plan settling in as the group left the forest, walking out on a rather large sized plain, a wooden wall like structure, surrounded by numerous plots of some sort of grain plant in various states of development.

  "I am guessing there are at least a few groups that do nothing but patrol surrounding area, killing whatever monsters they encounter, earning a fee from the village for doing so?" Jack asked as they walked the field, getting closer and closer to the village.

  "Yes. There are two groups who are responsible for that. They have to do fairly little too, since the rest of the groups are also killing whatever monsters they encounter to or from the village."

  "It is also a skill to recognize an opportunity when it presents itself. The leaders of those groups simply seized it first. I need to have a talk with them sooner rather than later, so point them out if you notice them." he smiled and explained when he noticed the confusion on Kenji's face. "What's with that weird look kiddo. We need information. The 'town guards' so to call them," Jack air quoted "would have the more than most. What I need is the direction most monster parties come from as well as the frequency that they appear with. We need to figure out how to proceed once I have the full picture. Trust me on this kid, life experience is one hell of an advantage in a situation like this."

  "Understand this Kenji" Jack patted the younger man's shoulder with a smile on his face "Everything I do is either is a part of some greater design, with me trying to figure it out, or just my insanity manifesting. Either way, you want to see it play out." he grinned, barely suppressing his own mad laughter forming at this own joke. It was a well placed one, or so he himself believed.

  "That was not funny." Kaede complained, though a small smile did adorn her face. Clearly she had found the action humorous.

  "Gotta have moments like these where we can. The road ahead will be harsh no doubt." Jack sighed and pointed out the obvious. "Smile and laugh where you can, and grab onto the opportunities presented to you."

  "We will!" exclaimed Kenji, his hand intertwined with Kaede's who walked on the other side.

  "Thought do be careful for the time being." Jack whispered as he leaned in closer so only Kaede and Kenji could hear him. "I will see what I can do with the herbs available around here so you two can enjoy yourselves without worrying about dire consequences. Give me a few days yea?"

  The two youths immediately went beet red as they understood what he was talking about, their eyes locked on the ground, though drifting in their partners direction often, only to quickly shy away back to the moving patches of dirt beneath their feet. Still, there was the slightest of head nods from Kenji to make sure the duo understood and would 'behave' for the time being.

  "That's all I ask. Just a bit of time. It's just a matter of mixing the right things together. Big brother got this!" Jack exclaimed with a grin on his face as they finally reached the villages gate that was still open with a couple of guards flanking them.

  Jack Raja(?)

  Age- 27

  Species- human(?)

  Level- 8

  Class- Twin aspect of Creation and Destruction(EX)

  Stats unassigned: +10

  Attributes:

  Strength- 17 (9+7+1)

  Vitality- 16 (7+7+2)

  Dexterity- 11 (5+6)

  Intelligence-7

  Spirit- 25 (20+5)

  Skills- Wisdom of Creation and destruction(EX), Choice of the creator(EX), Eyes of procurer(EX), Matter storage(EX), Arukain language(C)

  Spells- temporary spatial storage (shrinking)

  Titles(unlocked): The real Monster, Big Game Hunter, The brilliant rookie, The insane Solo.