Congratulations, you have cleared Stage 1 of the tutorial!

[Inventory] access has been granted at minimum functionality. Improve inventory metrics by spending system credits or through other approved means. Open inventory through mental, verbal, or spiritual command.

+1 Bronze Credit

+Myriad Skills Tome (Epic)

Stage 2 will begin in 5 minutes!

4:59…

Ronan let out a pained sigh. Even though that creature—the Gorzerk—had not truly been his sister, it had been difficult to kill something that looked like her. That spoke like her.

They had been estranged for a few years before the system's arrival, but he had always cared for her. In this crazy world, his crazy existence, he felt as though he owed it to her to try and figure out a way to let her live… Safely probably wasn't an option, but to live however she wanted.

That wouldn't be possible until he found her. When he'd first seen her running out of the smoking escalator, a deep hope he hadn't realised was buried within him had blossomed, only to be cruelly stamped out by the system's machinations. Ronan hated it even more at that moment, but there was nothing he could do except grow strong enough to overwrite its will.

The only way he would be able to do that was to keep fighting; keep beating tutorials and acquiring more skills; cultivate until he reached the boundaries of the cosmos.

He sighed again, a deeper, relieving sound. He sat down against a column of brick that had a metallic gargoyle perched atop its structure. He had five minutes to rest before he was thrown into the next stage of this nightmare and he intended to do little more than rest.

48…

Ronan opened his eyes to stare at the countdown. He'd not really slept, but it had felt good to just lie against the cold, hard brick and achieve a semblance of rest.

Rest was hard to come by, even more difficult given how his current existence was just one series of battles and challenges after another. He only got to rest when he died—and even then there were things to do. Skills to create, enhancements to obtain.

Yet even though I complain about it all, I can't deny that I feel more succinctly alive than I ever did punching numbers into spreadsheets and making rich old people even richer. Getting stronger, finding more skills, cultivating. It's so much bloody fun. He sighed again.

His rest was over. There were two things he needed to do before the next stage began. He had almost a thousand free stat points to assign, and he had an epic myriad skills tome to consume.

Ronan thought about how he usually spent his stats and realised that he wanted to change things up a little. The first stage of the nightmare tutorial hadn't challenged him physically. Clearly it was supposed to be an emotional nightmare, but he had too many resistances to mental manipulation for it to be effective.

His first attempt at the nightmare difficulty and he was already gaming it. That brought a small smirk of satisfaction to his face.

Even so, he realised that he didn't mind dying over and over if he did face something he couldn't physically contend with. Even completing the first stage was enough to add another skill to his repertoire, and rather than a bunch more useless skills, what Ronan really needed was quality. Quality over quantity, so that he might discover even more potent alloys.

His new sub-class and even his race evolution already gave him quite a bit of luck each time he leveled up, but he figured now was as good a time as any to see just how much he could really push things.

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So he put all 993 free stat points into luck. And then he used the myriad skills tome.

[Myriad Skills Tome (Epic)] has been consumed!

You have received the skill [Mark of the Eternal Seeker (Epic)]!

Mark of the Eternal Seeker (Epic): You may mark up to five targets, branding them with a sigil that causes all thrown or fired weapons to naturally seek the target, provided they are within the weapon's original range. Direction is no obstacle, and at this rarity, projectiles may even utilise evasive manoeuvres to seek the target around physical obstructions. (Cost: 400 Mana + 5% Max Stamina)

Ronan read through the skill. He was almost certain that beyond luck influencing the quality of the skill, the system itself influenced its nature, and offered skills, items, and traits that related to things he was already good at, or that he might be good at.

This skill was incredible. He could fire an arrow, throw a knife, or even launch a javelin into the sky, and it would seek a marked target no matter where they were—provided their position was in the original range of his throw or shot. Ronan could throw a javelin really fucking far.

He'd also spent a great deal of the previous two iterations fighting with a bow, a javelin, or conjured spears that he threw at his foes. He had gained the ranged weapons expert skill, the explosion enchantment, and now he had obtained another skill he could use in tandem with them. Not to mention he'd had eagle eye for a long time, yet another skill that enhanced his ranged combat capabilities.

He had a free slot for another branded item, and he needed to start testing his crafting capabilities. He wanted a bow—a powerful one with a similar enchantment to the one that could form arrows from mana. He also wanted a javelin on par with the mythical one he'd had in the last iteration. However, at the moment, he wouldn't be able to craft them himself.

Hopefully all this luck will give me what I want if I'm able to beat stage 2 and get the endless treasury token. Optimistic about what the near future held, Ronan prepared himself as the countdown neared zero.

1…

0…

Good luck, challenger!

The world around him vanished and twisted. He saw the shifting void around him, and for the first time he saw something within its depths. For a fraction of a second, and barely a true glimpse, but Ronan saw.

He fell into a new environment with his mind reeling. He didn't have the words, or even the emotions or thoughts, to describe what he'd just seen. The system is fucking strange. That was all that ran through his head as he readjusted to reality, or whatever the tutorial was.

What it was right now was fire. Endless fire, as though he had stepped into hell. The world around him burned, but through the flames he saw that he was still on Earth, or some semblance of it.

Ronan was no longer in London, but a different city. It might not even be in England anymore, but the architecture was somewhat familiar. European of some flavour.

That didn't matter right now, as he was going to be imminently consumed by the flames if he didn't start moving. Death by fire was supposedly one of the most painful ways to go, and while he could return from death, he still felt the pain that led to that cold embrace. In this case, it would be a blisteringly hot embrace.

He started running down the street, in the opposite direction of the flames. A symphony of agonised screams played in the air, the sound of hundreds of people burning in the blaze.

The flames and the dark smoke that rose from them looked similar to those that had come from the depths of the station in the first stage. The Great Purifier. It seems there is a theme here, but I really don't like it. Ronan tried to observe his surroundings as he ran, but it was difficult without his usual stats.

There were others running with him, but none of them could match his pace. Even without investment, his base agility was far beyond that of the natural human limit.

Leaving them behind to be consumed by the flames was distasteful, but he didn't know how to save them. He couldn't fight a city-sized inferno. Could I?

A flash of pink and red in the corner of his eye was all the warning Ronan had as a woman leapt at him. She had a chipped knife in one hand and she thrust it at his neck, mouth open as she tried to… Oh no you fucking don't!

Before the woman could bite into Ronan's neck he whirled around and held up an arm. The knife bit into his skin, piercing a centimetre and drawing a tiny bead of blood out, before it broke against his flesh. Before shock could consume the woman, Ronan conjured a dagger of his own and stabbed her in the temple.

Usually he went for the heart, but his prudence paid off. The woman screeched and started to fold in on herself, revealing another gorzerk. Damned shapeshifters! And not even the ones I have to deal with on my own planet…

The kill notification chimed, taking him a few levels higher. However, he didn't have time to read it because the momentary distraction had given the flames a chance to catch up. He started to sprint once more, wondering if all he needed to do was kill the shapeshifters to get out of this hell.

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