System Jazz

So this dude can dish out more damage with a single strike than all my HP.

He's supposed to be a trainer but won't pull his punches.

And with the stunned status effect, the character won't move at all.

Is it possible to die in the tutorial?

Someone's about to find out.

"Hahaha, brat, it's not enough to hold that shield, you got to put it between you and this mace. Here, take this vial, it's a healing potion."

Tank hollers.

The stun wears off once he offers the item, and a system message pops up with the explanation.

[If the combat ends with both participant's agreement, the status effects also disappear. The Trainer stopped his attacks, allowing you to recover.]

[Attacking other players within Blessed Settlements like this village will summon Guardian Angels. Unless it's a consensual duel they will arrive within 5 and 10 seconds.]

That Wroddit article also mentioned them.

They don't prevent attacks, only avenge the victims, often too late to save them.

While they kill the attackers, the loot would still drop and a different character could pick it up.

This is what they called suicide ganking.

[Offenders also incur a security penalty. After repeated offenses, they can no longer enter Blessed Settlements, making them safer. Security status takes effort to repair, so avoid these penalties. You can find the list of Blessed Settlements in your journal.]

Instead of angels, stars circle over my head after that swing, yet this training is consensual.

The game says he's not a player either as if AI could act like this.

They'd taken over the world already if they could, and it's not his crazy strength, it's how he adapts to the situation.

And there is a journal too?

Let's open it while chugging down the potion.

It shows the current quests and an event log including the earlier death.

It has a list of lore-related stuff already explored, yet Tank is impatient.

Once the green syrup disappears, he raises his arm.

"All right, let's try again, Noob. Try to use your shield and not the armor."

He instructs, leaving no chance to prepare for the impact.

The window at least disappears on its own so I can focus on the desperate defense.

"That's more like it, keep it up."

One swing after the other, this wooden shield won't last long under his relentless attacks.

He changes the angle too, and won't bash against it to make life easier.

The durability bar is already yellow, even with the item's 5 Res.

This guy is a monster.

"At least let me enjoy the taste of that potion." The plea doesn't affect him.

It's a shame because it was pretty nice, like honey with a hint of sourness.

It revitalized the avatar, both healing the wound and easing the exhaustion.

[You don't have automated defenses enabled. The item's stats add up to enhance your movements and increase your speed, but they won't fight in your place. If you don't let your guard down, practice will aid you more than stacking stats in manual combat.]

Well, I'm focusing on this fight with everything I've got, so good to know.

It means even the best items are useless against an ambush, or if the player goes AFK.

If only there were a way to distract this dude.

Tank won't stop until the shield breaks and then he laughs.

"Not bad. See? You got your shit together after a single hit and blocked all the rest."

He praises the desperate attempt to keep the character alive.

"Now you know the basics of how to land a hit, and how important is the defense. Let's move on to archery next."

[Tutorial: Follow Tank's instructions. Importance: N/A. Difficulty: Easyest. Progress: 2/5, Reward: 500 Exp. Part One: Fencing. Part Two: Archery. Part Three: Crafting (Skipped, Premium only). Part Four: Health. Part Five: Taking Quests and Exploration.]

That's it?

It doesn't seem like he taught anything, rather, he gave a beating.

Well, there's no time to complain.

The main quest is not progressing, and this takes longer than expected.

He waves the same way the arrow on the minimap points, and there's a table with a training weapon.

[Government Issued Quest: Reach Level 10 within 3 days. Importance: Utmost. Difficulty: Average. Progress: 1/10, Exp to next level: 63/100. (50/72 hours left).]

Yeah, holy shit, let's speed this up.

This tutorial took two in-game days and we only finished the first part.

Where did that extra fifty Exp came from?

With the bow in hand, the stat card opens up to reveal, it's a +1 Training Bow.

If the median is one, that's pretty weak.

[Ranged weapons don't do direct damage only enhance the projectiles they fire. If you look at the Training Arrows on the table, they each do between 1 and 3, so they are +2. The bow's +1 adds 0 or 2 to this value. So the total will be between 1 and 5.]

Okay, so it's not enough to shoot premium ammo from a shitty bow or crappy arrows from an excellent one.

The results will be best if both are of good quality.

Or, for weak enemies use cheap arrows, and keep the good ones for the boss.

The Wroddit article encouraged making them for clans and alliances.

Again, crafting is off the table for now, and so is this weapon, as it moves into the inventory.

A target lights up, and Tank urges to shoot.

It's the first attempt with something like this.

It's not like I'm a famous fighter, but everyone can swing around a stick and pretend it's a sword.

These don't operate like firearms, whether it's an FPS game or the real world.

The trainer rubs his forehead when the first few arrows won't even reach the target.

"Oh boy, who thought you'd be worse at this than in melee?"

Tank slams the table after the third miss.

"It's hard to believe you survived this long in the world. Your stance is wrong, the way you hold that thing is terrible, and you must pull that string a lot more."

"Well shit, I didn't survive. And not everyone is born with medieval tools in their hands, dude."

Snapping at him makes me feel a little better.

"You're supposed to be a trainer, so why don't you teach it how things get done? I don't need to work this hard for your insults."

"You're right, Noob. Teaching your kind wouldn't be worth the challenge if you knew everything. So here is how it's done, watch and learn."

He pulls out a similar bow from thin air, picks up an arrow, and nails the target at the first attempt.

It's a bullseye, and he repeats it twice with confidence, yet he's upset when he hears me clap, barking like a bulldog.

"Don't look at the target, Noob, you idiot! Watch me and learn how to shoot. The stance, the technique, everything."

He demands, and he's not afraid to hurl insults.

Again. It's not what you'd expect from an AI.

It's not a complaint though, I like his vibes.

The polite and formal AI assistants could chase anyone out of this world.

This guy has a no-nonsense attitude, and it's worth listening to his Jazz.

He picks up the subtle cues too, and responds in kind.

If it's the product of the game's developers, this is quite something.

If he's a real dude I want to make a new friend.