NOVEL WEB Chapter 23 Home Sweet Home
The next two days passed quietly. There was no education session nor did we get a hum to wake us in the morning. The change in my routine put me on edge but there was nothing to do. I even went to the plaza just in case there was some sort of secret meeting that we weren't told about. There was nothing. I returned to my apartment and went straight back to cultivating. The two days of near-nonstop progress were just enough to push me to level 22. After I factored in one of my spirit stones. The points went into Perception this time. After leveling up it became harder to motivate myself to keep going. The lack of fire under my ass was draining especially since I should be in first place. I devoted some time to meditating on both of my tao and thought I was making progress. Thankfully day thirty brought about something interesting.
I woke up to the morning hum and got myself dressed. I managed to store the chairs, bed, and the cultivation mat. When the System didn't blow me up I assumed that it was okay. It was a bit amusing to watch the massive items dissolve into light and go into the bag. Despite all the magical spells the bag somehow felt the most magical. I gave the room another scan to make sure there was nothing important getting left behind. After that, I stepped out into the hall. As soon as the door closed it melted into the wall. The liquid metal reminded me a bit of the Terminator and sure enough, when I tried I couldn't open it. "Guess that means I officially got to get the fuck out." I chuckled to myself before making my way down to the plaza.
I watched more and more people file in and a pretty big problem revealed itself. There was a clear delineation between the two groups. Some people looked either scared, skittish, or vacant. These people still wore old earth clothes. Most of which were in tatters to the point that they looked a bit like video game NPCs. They had given up after the first three quests and then must have hidden somewhere or let others deal with the rest. The bigger problem was the other group. They looked like a weird collection of Larpers. They all wore robes and armor of various types including full plate, chain mail, leather, and a few I didn't recognize. These people all gave off an oppressive weight. At first, I thought that they were letting their killing intent flow off of them but it wasn't quite right. It was more like they had closed a door but didn't seal up the edges. Which let some passively leak out.
I didn't like the idea of a strict hierarchy like that especially now that there was likely no more rule of law but there wasn't much for me to do. My aura had increased by an order of magnitude now that I had gained two tao. If I unleashed it here I wasn't sure what would happen. I also wasn't sure if that's what I wanted. It didn't feel right to just go around intimidating everyone or in some cases threatening to kill them. Of course, I would have to cross that bridge eventually. Especially if I wanted to use my hub. I also noticed a few interesting weapons. There were the usual fantasy weapons, bows, swords, shields e.t.c as well as more unique ones like Glaives. One person had a strange weapon that had a circular blade with a handle. It was small enough so I assumed it was held in one hand but I couldn't tell how you would fight with it. It kind of looked like it was supposed to be a punching weapon. I was pulled out of my thoughts when the voice of the System filled my head.
Congratulations on Completing The Tutorial Trial. Final Grade is being calculated.
Grade Earned: S: Final Tutorial Ranking: 1 Final Tutorial Reward Improved. Reward Distribution has begun.
Final Reward: Pinnacle Title, System Hub upgraded.
System Credit Totals have now been provided.
So that's how it works. I couldn't help but grin at my ranking. It was one thing to know it intellectually and another to see it officially. I was the best person on the entire planet who took part in the tutorial. I looked around and was pretty sure that everyone had received a similar message. Some people were thrilled while others looked completely uninterested. I pulled up my title screen to review my newest.
Pinnacle. Reward: Be the Highest Performer in The Tutorial of your World. Reward: Luck +5, Luck +20% Potency of all Attributes +5%
Well, that will do it. I chuckled to myself as I reviewed the title. That was a massive boost to my luck. To the point where it was now my second-best Attribute. I still wasn't sure how effective it was but since I got the points for free who was I to complain? Next, I turned my attention to the rest of my status screen, and what I saw almost made me shed a tear.
Name Amari Jackson
Level 22
Class [1-Epic]Psionic Paragon
Species [2]Human
Affiliation Earth
Manual [1]Ethereal Codex(22%)
Titles Beloved by Tao, Big Game, Chosen, First to Ten, Leader of the Pack, Monstersbane, Overlord Slayer, Overpowered, Perfect 100, Prime Hunter, Tutorial, Voyager,
Limited Titles Pinnacle
Tao Strand of Adamance — Comprehension: Low, Strand of Lucidity — Comprehension: Low
Agility 114 (Increase:65%. Potency:120%)
Constitution 124 (Increase:65%. Potency:120%)
Intelligence 122 (Increase:70%. Potency:120%)
Luck 135 (Increase:85%. Potency:120%)
Perception 120 (Increase:65%. Potency:120%)
Strength 101 (Increase:65%. Potency:120%)
Wisdom 229 (Increase:75%. Potency:120%)
Free Points
System Credits [1] 3,000,000
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I had three million credits. I assumed that money was somewhat similar to earths which should mean that I was quite wealthy. Still had nothing to spend it on but as far as I was concerned that's a problem for the future. I might be able to buy more healing pills. I reviewed everything one more time before closing the screen. We still hadn't been told what to expect for today besides that we were going home so I wasn't sure—Before I could finish the thought the voice of the System returned.
The Tutorial Protocol has ended. Return to Planet Earth Initiated
The countdown has been initiated
I took one last look around as the timer hit zero. I wasn't sure how I felt about this place. It was technically a prison and we were technically forced to fight monsters. It had also been a place where I had changed. Whether it was emotionally, mentally, or physically I went through a metamorphosis. I wasn't sure if the changes were good. My thoughts were interrupted as darkness consumed the world around me. I felt the System pull me away and took a deep breath. I had no idea why I could breathe here nor did I know where here was. It was a fundamentally different feeling to my portal spell and I had a feeling the System was much better at it than I was.
When the darkness faded I found myself standing in a city. At first, I thought the System had lied to us and that we were sent to a new quest location. It wasn't until I realized the city went on as far as I could see in every direction that it hit me. This was Earth. There were corpses in every direction most of them were human but there were monstrous-looking dogs and bugs as well. The city's skyline was dominated by a skyscraper that stood like a finger reaching for the heavens. The more I saw the less it made sense. I couldn't tell where in the world we were. Some of the buildings had signs in English while others were in Arabic or Spanish. It was like the System had shuffled the planet. A cold chill ran down my spine at the thought. The System had seemed powerful but to transform an entire planet in a way that didn't make any sense?
"Where the hell are we?" A middle-aged man holding a spear in one hand and a bronze shield in the other said as he looked around.
"Does anyone see anything they recognize?" A young man clutching a strange-looking tome called out while looking around with a mixture of confusion and fear.
It was then that I realized I wasn't alone. It looked like our tutorial group arrived in the same place. I tried to find anything that seemed familiar but there was nothing. Even the buildings were wrong. One looked like an apartment building had been cut in half and then a motel had been attached to it. Leaving more than half the building exposed to the air. The strangest part was that it all worked. The buildings seemed stable as if they had always been like that. The whole scene had a weird surrealism to it. I tore my eyes away from it and focused on what was going on around me. The group had already started to split off which was fine as far as I was concerned. I still hadn't decided how I felt about forming a group. I did want to try and find Ajani and Tyrone.
I had moved through the crowd in search of the brothers for several minutes before I noticed a strange problem. The sensation was hard for me to put my finger on. It was a bit like I had been breathing fresh air before but now it was filled with pollution. It wasn't until I started rotating my cultivation technique that I realized what was going on. The energy here sucked. It was like I had been fine dining before and now I was eating fast food. The more I pulled in the worse it got. The worse the impurities got. Thankfully it didn't seem to hurt me so I pushed it to the back of my mind. It took me another five minutes before I finally found them. Now that I could see them up close they had both transformed since the start of the tutorial. Ajani had a pair of short swords connected to a chain that was tied to his wrists. Each blade was dark black with a wavy pattern. It almost made them look like heat mirages.
Tyrone was no less impressive. He had a bow that reminded me of a snake hung over its shoulder. Staring at it made me think of Medusa or a basilisk as if it would lung out and bite me. "Hey. Glad to see the tutorial treated you both well."
Ajani was the first to reply. "Ahh big man. We were wondering if you would survive the final quest. So what level did you end up at?"
I smiled and willed my screen to the duo. My smile turned into a shit-eating grin when their eyes bugged out. "Pretty good right? I hoped to make it to level 25 but had some problems with the last battle."
"I knew you would do something impressive but that's a bit ridiculous. I thought we were doing pretty well for ourselves. I am level 15 and Ajani is at 17."
I nodded and figured they were probably in the upper portion of humanity. So there shouldn't be anyone within two to five levels of me. Which meant that no one on earth could close in on my attribute gap. Not unless they had gained a similar amount of titles. "Good, good I am going to search for a place to form my settlement. Do you want to join me?" The duo looked at each other and a slight awkwardness fell on our shoulders. I could tell there was something they wanted to say. "If you aren't interested it's alright."
"It's not that. We need to go and look for our family. We aren't sure if any of them were cultivators and well if this" He gestured to the carnage around us. "Is there any evidence that the world is a dangerous place right now? If the offer still stands after we find them then we wouldn't mind joining." Ajani spoke and Tyrone nodded along.
"Right, that's fine with me. The offer still stands. I am planning on going to that tower in the distance." I waved a hand in that direction. "Assuming that it's a spot that works you can find me there. If not I will try to leave some kind of message there. Either way, you are always welcome to join me. I am going to need some strong people to follow me." Both brothers let out a sigh of relief before nodding.
"Let's see if we can catch up to your level by then." We sat and talked for a little while before most of the tutorial participants left. It was hard to know exactly what time it was but it was starting to get dark so we decided to leave it at. I waited for them to disappear down a side street before I left. Now that I was alone the ruined city felt much more ominous. The shadows seemed deeper and the buildings almost seemed to be looking at me. There was something I wanted to test now that I wasn't inside the tutorial though and this was as good a time as any. I pushed energy into the sigil for Apportation. Once the portal fully formed I stepped through.
I stepped out again about one hundred feet down the street. I did a couple more tests and discovered that was the limit. I could go in any direction I chose including straight up though if I did nothing would keep me from falling straight down. Which was important to know. Infusing my tao into the spell didn't make much of a difference. The tao of lucidity made the portal seem more "real" but as far as I could tell that didn't do anything. Adamance wouldn't even enter the sigil. The mental restoration effect wasn't as useful as it seemed. It wouldn't recover enough of my mental energy to pay for the spell but it did make me feel better.
I figured it would be more useful if I were teleporting other people. I was just about to set off again for real when a black blur shot toward me. The lack of a danger warning caused me to freeze. The blur slammed into me a second later. Once the initial shock passed I unleashed Psychic Blast. The indigo light illuminated the street and a small trickle of energy entered me. I stared at the animal that attacked me. It was some kind of mutated rat with thick black fur and dark grey claws. The whole thing was the size of a Doberman with beady red eyes. "What the fuck is that?" I knelt next to it partly expecting it to jump up at me. When nothing happened I kicked it.
The beast was dead which didn't explain the unease I felt. The whole attack felt off to me. My eyes widened as it finally dawned on me. Not only was the creature pathetically weak but I got barely any energy from the kill. If I had to guess I would put the beast around level three or so but the energy it gave was half that. Had the tutorial given us more energy? Or were these monsters worth less energy? I pulled up my status screen and sighed. I barely got any credits for the kill which made me think that Earth monsters were worse than the tutorial. I would have to kill millions of these things to get the kind of money I have now. I hoped that meant the prices of things would be similarly low. I looked around for a few more rats to kill and confirmed that it wasn't a one-off. The monsters were weak when compared to the first three quests and were nothing compared to the things I fought toward the end.
It would take me a massive amount of slaughter to gain even one level if the average monster was as strong as these rats. On the bright side that meant my level lead was guaranteed. If someone could kill that many rats in a short amount of time they would already be stronger than me. I made a mental note to find a place with stronger monsters as I decided to conserve my energy. I broke out into a sprint. I grinned as I pushed past the speed of an Olympic-level sprinter without breaking a sweat. It was hard to know if my speed could be compared to a car but I was faster than any human could have hoped to reach. Several rats tried to attack me but none of them were fast enough. I ran for another few hours before I started to find familiar landmarks. I turned and sprinted down a side street and leaped over a burned-out car. The further I went the more American the streets became. My heart beat in excitement as I moved closer and closer. Just as I began to worry about finding somewhere to sleep I stepped into the quad. My university had seen better days but it was still here. A complex storm of emotions formed in the pit of my stomach. The lawn where I spent seven long years was in ruins. Patches were either torn up or covered in blood. Trees were broken and destroyed. Corpses were everywhere. Both students and professors had fallen. My home was gone.