James’s knees buckled, and he collapsed to the ground. He had finally beaten the final 5th wave, but it had been hard. Ridiculously so. The monster had been a level 50 troll that had almost killed him. James had managed to stab it through the heart right before it would have crushed him, and had thus beaten the second phase of the tutorial. He could finally go on to the real world and experience all it had to offer.

  James had been naive, he could see it now. He had thought himself superior to others simply because he had been at the top of his tutorial. Oh how wrong he had been. He now realized that almost every other player that hadn’t taken the weakest tutorial would be able to soundly whoop him. He probably couldn’t even scratch the stronger ones even if they stood still, and that was with his decently high stats for his level.

  James Buzzler

  Level: 49

  Class: Warrior

  Subclass: Builder

  Titles: None

  Skills: Power Strike (C), Calm mind (D), Parry, (D), Slash (F), Crafting (F)

  Spells: None

  Talent: F

  Potential: F

  Stats:

  Endurance: 5

  Constitution: 26

  Strength: 84

  Dexterity: 44

  Wisdom: 3

  Intelligence: 3

  Free points: 0

  James wouldn’t let this stop him though, and he would forge a new place for himself in what was now his new reality. It may not be as a warrior or a leader, or even a follower, but he would find some way to carve a path for himself. Even if that meant giving up all his skills and fighting power as a fighter and becoming a crafter that could actually affect the world, he would do it.

  All in the name of power.

  James felt something click inside of him, and a notification appeared in front of him, a notification that was very interesting.

  You have been given a unique opportunity! You can give up your class and receive a legendary class of Legendary Craftsman. In doing so, you will lose your current class and all combat related skills, including your skill given from the tutorial. All passive and non combat related skills will be kept and upgraded. Your stats and level will restart, and you can try and rebuild a path for yourself. All in the name of power.

  Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

  ***

  Lars found himself in the middle of a mound of corpses. He despised killing, but he killed all the same, he told himself he was fighting for self defence, but was he really? He was just doing what the system was telling him to do, and he hated that.

  He hated feeling weak, feeling hopeless and knowing that no matter what he did, he was becoming a different person. At the beginning of the tutorial killing had been easy, and he had only found pleasure in the increase in stats and skills. But now, finding himself in the middle of a field of desecrated bodies, he could only mourn what he had lost.

  He wished he could be a better person, a better human. But no matter how hard he tried, he just saw himself as a monster that couldn’t be redeemed. He had killed and killed and killed, with no thought or sadness until now. Did that mean he was becoming a better person? Maybe, but it was doubtful. He was already a sinner.

  As Lars contemplated all he had lost, he found a source of pride from one thing. He was strong. Lars had fought tooth and nail for everything he had, and he was now finally tier two, something that only the player who had entered impossible difficulty and maybe a couple others had achieved.

  He still wished it hadn’t come at such a great cost, but what was everything but not a different kind of cost? No matter what you did in life, no one was perfect, everyone made bad choices that they may or may not regret. But people kept pushing, kept trying, no matter how futile it was. He wished he could help others and not fight only for his own gain at the expense of others, he wished he could do something.

  Wished he could protect.

  Lars turned to upgrade his class, only to find a new notification waiting for him.

  You have struggled on your path to power, always trying to improve yourself and secure a better future for yourself and others. But no matter how hard you try it seems as though you are always lacking. You long to protect others, but find it difficult to protect yourself. You have the opportunity to switch your class [Hunter] to [Paladin of Protection]. In doing so, you give up all your skills that can bring others harm, directly or indirectly, and gain buff and support skills in their place. All skills are equal to or stronger than the replaced skill. All in the name of protection.

  ***

  Lesli collapsed on her bed. Two more waves, and then it was over. She was getting stronger and stronger with every day, delving deeper into the mysteries of magic and its origin, and each day she found herself aching to prove herself. She knew she was strong, but could she be the strongest? Could she push herself and do things that were simply impossible for others?

  She had finally created her first triple S grade spell. It had taken a lot of work, frustration and tears, but she had done it. She was now powerful enough to steamroll the rest of the grove, before being able to exit into the real world.

  She couldn’t wait to meet the other players. She wanted to see how much they had grown, how much more powerful they were then when they had all entered. They had all entered the tutorial as normal humans, but how strong were they now? She believed that no one on earth would be able to kill the majority of them without resorting to nuclear weapons, and for some of them, even that much wouldn’t be able to kill them.

  But it had come at a cost.

  No one who had entered the tutorial was the same person. They had been hardened and become stronger. Not all of them had made it either, and quite a few of them were still in the grove, such as Lesli herself.

  Most of this was speculation, but Lesli doubted she was wrong by much, if at all.

  Afterall, people would do anything for the sake of becoming stronger.

  ***

  Malcolm waited. He had completed the tutorial and subsequent grove easily, and was now waiting to be released on the world. He had become so powerful in the brief time of the tutorial, and he relished every second of it.

  It had come at the cost of retaining his humanity, but who needed that anyway? In return, he was now a tier 3 Fiend, a being that caused mortals and beasts alike to quake and shake in dismay.

  For they knew the end was coming.