Chapter 56: The last 30 days

After walking at a leisurely place for around two hours Ethan couldn’t shake the feeling that something was missing or rather someone. The familiar weight on his shoulders or around his staff, the soothing connection between them that shared not only their thoughts but also their feelings, their personalities. It was like a constant dance between two equal partners. It was built on companionship, respect and reverence for each other. A connection that formed a golden thread between them so even now he could vaguely feel the direction she was in.

With a sigh he grabbed his staff tighter and continued on his way, for now Ethan kept a distance between him and the mountains, he already pictured the last fight against the monster and how he narrowly avoided death while jumping through a portal out of the tutorial, well a man could dream about a fantastical ending to this whole shitshow of a so called tutorial.

During his walk he encounters some interesting things that make him pause in fascination. Like a monkey with six arms and two legs that hung on a branch, but even that was almost normal to Ethan. The fun part was that it moved by cartwheeling along the branches, using each hand to give itself a little push, the speed it managed to build up was impressive.

After he continued on his way he had an easy smile on his face, there were not only things out to kill him in the jungle after all. The question he asked himself later was if he had encountered the next creatures if he hadn’t thought that. Jumping over a root he stepped on to some..crunchy, the ground moved suddenly from left to right, up and down. The movement accompanied by loud hissing noises. When Ethan managed to jump from the…thing without breaking his neck he swung around and threw a quick [Identify] towards the thing.

[Root Walker - Level 43]
[The Root Walker is a large centipede, typically measuring several meters in length. Its body is segmented and covered in a thick, dark chitinous exoskeleton. Numerous pairs of robust legs are used for locomotion, allowing it to move efficiently through dense vegetation and soil. The head features a pair of large, venomous fangs used for subduing prey. Attacks are characterized by rapid strikes from the head and the application of venom.]Ethan shivered, disgust creeping into his mind, he hated bugs and while centipedes were not that bad, at least not as bad as cockroaches, he still hated them. In his run down apartment he had to fight off all kinds of bugs and he shuddered at the memories, to his misfortune these memories won’t get repressed by the system. He would never forget the moment when a cockroach crawled over his mouth or how he found one in his meal after running to the toilet to wash his hands.

Lifting his staff he launched multiple ice spikes into the beast, the carapace was resilient and multiple spikes ricochet or just broke apart. It was like hitting his head against a wall. While some managed to get through, sneaking into the slim cracks between each segment. The centipede tried to attack him but it was still half asleep and the ice spikes inside of it limited its movement.

Ethan sidestepped it a second time while forming a large hammer on the top of his staff, forming the sides into curved points that would bundle the force of a hit. While he was no strength class he still could manipulate his ice, swinging the improvised hammer around as he waited for the next attack.

The centipede ran circles around, multiple gaping wounds from the projectiles in its carapace. Purple blood seeped from those holes and it looked already worse for wear. Ethan turned with it, his eyes focused on the head of the beast. The hammer in both hands he waited, the bug moved between some trees and did a sharp right turn, using the trunk of a tree as a ramp to not lose momentum, barreling towards him with impressive speed. Ethan tightened the grab on his staff and swung it towards the insect’s head, using his magic to push the hammer forward with an icy wind while pulling the head of the hammer along.

A crack sounded out followed by a wet squelch that came from the insect. The tip of Ethan’s hammer hit the thing straight between its big black compound eyes. He was showered in purple blood and had to close one eye while the surprisingly warm liquid dripped from his forehead down his face. He pulled the hammer from the thing's face and the block of ice fell off as a pile of snow.

Smiling Ethan twirled his staff and continued to walk, sadly for him he didn’t come far. Angry hissing erupted all around them as he saw multiple centipedes approach him. Almost all of them were even bigger than the one he killed.

“Oh…huh…I killed their child? Shit..”

He cracked his neck and got ready for the second round.

****

Like a useless drunk Ethan stumbled through the jungle, his entire body covered in purple, his clothes ripped apart and his hat barely more than a piece of fabric. Killing the centipedes took longer than expected but it was overall not different from his first kill. Their venom, while strong, didn't affect him enough because of his subclass, he was still wondering why it didn’t offer him an immunity skill but it seemed to work just fine, maybe those skills were very rare?

Well he didn’t care, there was some nice experience in those bugs and he had some more stat points to use.

[You killed multiple enemies of varying levels - You gained experience!]
[You killed Elder Root Walker- Level 56 | You gained experience!]

Update You reached Level 32! Stat points allocated! Free points received!

Stats
Strength: 10
Dexterity: 25
Vitality: 56
Wisdom: 239
Intelligence: 239
Perception: 25
Willpower: 110
Free points:12

Finally he had some free points to give, his other stat looked fine for now and while he could use some strength what he really needed was perception, maybe the whole fight could have been avoided if he saw the centipede resting behind that log. Ethan stumbled through the whole tutorial like some idiot until now. It was time to shore up on his weaknesses. Especially since perception could be extremely useful to a magic user, so without regret he put his ten points into perception and the last two to bring his wisdom and intelligence to a nice round number. A few more levels and it would finally look presentable.

Increasing such a low stat was instantly noticeable, his eyes got sharper and his ears felt more sensitive. The whole world seemed to be more detailed and colors got brighter, the world felt less gray now.. Such a feeling was…new, he never had such a rush when increasing his other stats, maybe because it already felt natural to him. Well perception definitely had some noticeable difference.

A stupid grin on his purple face he continued on his way, it was time to find a river to wash off all this muck. During his walk he explored the world with his senses, while his normal senses got an upgrade his magical senses were what interested him the most. He could feel the magic move in the air on a different level, it wasn’t that noticeable, eight points were just a small drop compared to the ocean that were his other stats. It still helped him out, the change he and Nora felt became more noticeable by the minute.

Then it happened, a shift came over the tutorial, it felt like reality took a step to the side and everything moved at the same time. From the land he stood on to the microscopic lifeforms that surrounded him all the time. Something broke and was fused back together, a crack in reality and Ethan knew where he would find it.

A lazy but constant stream of mana switched directions, no longer did it follow the tune of the world but got sucked somewhere. Ethan turned his head, followed the flow of mana and saw it. There over the tallest mountain and bright white crack hung in the air, even looking at it for too long hurt his eyes.

What he saw there was magic of the highest order, something he couldn’t even start to understand. The simple fact that the system could create hundreds if not thousands of realms for a tutorial, it was now opening a gateway back into Ethan’s universe. Who did he know that? Well because a system message appeared with the shift in the mana flow.

*Update* Dear tutorial attendees of the 152nd system integration tutorial.
The tutorial entered its final phase and will last another thirty days. After that you will be transported back into your own universe to the planet, Gaia, formerly earth.
During the final phase of the tutorial the restrictions forced on you will slowly be unlocked so that you can learn how to handle your own body again.
- The need for food and water…restored to 25%!
- The need for sleep…restored to 25%!
- Increased health regeneration…lowered to 75%!

We wish you good luck during the final phase!
Have a happy tutorial!

Update For tutorial attendees that managed to reach the last circle: Conquering the gateway that connects your tutorial to the universe will increase your performance related reward! The gateway is currently unstable and will be accessible in around 25 days!

Time remaining in the tutorial: 29:23:58:16

Ethan was famished, his stomach was sucked against his spine and he turned around. He didn’t care if it was disgusting, he needed food. Stepping back onto the clearing with the dead centipedes he grabbed one segment of their bodies and dug his face into the cold slimy meat. Gulping down bites of slime and flesh.

It was the most disgusting thing he did in his whole life, for another twenty minutes he ravaged their corpses. At some point he froze the meat gently to avoid the slime and blood, wolfing down the insects like some animal.

Finally full he sat down on his ass and had trouble keeping the meat inside his stomach, the hunger was gone but now he had to face the disgust that was directed at himself, but even more so against the system.

“Ugh…fuck you system, there is no way that this is just 25%, I nearly ate an entire centipede!” Ethan grumbled.