A tutorial? The entity had never tried such a thing, never knowing it had access to such a thing to begin with. Not an entirely surprising ordeal, however, seeing as that access had possibly only been granted a few moments before. Not that the being had any way to truly know, not able to yet travel back in time and check. Not that it even knew how to check but still.

A tutorial was an experience granted to learn. The entity could understand as much without any issues, the word itself perhaps being new but the meaning behind such having been ingrained into the entity for a very long time. It had desired some like it the moment it had understood knowledge, understood that it could be shared, and was this not such a dream come to life? Understandably, there had never been an expectation of it being in… this fashion, yet it wasn’t like the entity truly had known what fashion it would have been regardless. The world was big and wide, and the being was only on a single point within it. Expecting to know everything from the first step was the pinnacle of weakness, overestimations likely to flow out of it without pause.

But… how would it know when it could think of itself as wise? When would it understand enough to understand that it understood? Was understanding even something that could be comprehended? The nature of it was an understanding of self. The entity tried to see if it could, yet such a line of ideas simply became a recursion, the thoughts looping to the same things again and again. Any manipulations would easily lead the line of thought astray, yet the original path would always be taken the moment that the manipulations ended. For now, the idea around it was without any true answers.

Going away from meaningless musings, the entity focused back on the weird sensation it had felt just a few moments before. It was entirely sure how it was meant to bring it back, not even sure if the original activation of the sensation had been caused by itself or an outside influence. Therefore, it just mentally rested, showing off a desire to know more and just hoping that-

Tutorial:

As a [Dungeon-Core], your goal is to survive, adapt, and overcome any obstacles sent your way. Through hardship, courage, and danger, you must learn what is needed to live for just a second more. Nothing is out of your hand if you put your mind to it

… it would show itself quickly. The entity was right in that regard, at the very least, the sensation popping up yet again without any pause. Had it simply been waiting on the entity being ready or had the sensation simply been lucky with the timing? A curious question that needed to be tested out soon.

Not in the current moment, however. The entity was much too interested in the content of the sensation, the new words being very interesting. It also told the entity so many new and interesting things. Even those it had already thought of had never been put together in such ways. To survive was always something it knew it had to do, the fundamentals of its mentality having been ingrained with such a fact. The entity had thought itself quick on getting to such a conclusion, but had it actually been another type of learning that had allowed it to know of death and destruction?

Survival was such a curious thing, the topic itself including so many other topics that it was a nightmare to even put into a single concept. There were so many factors, so many influences that the entity had a hard time even trying to figure out where to begin. Instead of futilely doing so, it decided to log the expereince for later and focus on the other parts of the text.

The first part was especially interesting, even if it hadn’t come first in the priorities. The entity had thought of itself as a thought-filled part of the world, yet it seemed that it was more than that. It was a… Dungeon-Core. Granted, the entity had no true idea what that was supposed to mean, it’s instinctual knowledge about the world somehow forgetting to include knowledge about itself. Though, perhaps the [Tutorial] was meant to include that topic? The entity decided it might just have.

However, the entity did do a small change before trying to get ready for another sensation-burst. Instead of calling itself ‘the entity,’ it changed over to ‘the Core.’ It only made sense, after all, to call itself what it was. Everybody was an entity. A group of those were Cores.

Mentally preparing itself, the Core tried to figure out just what point the new sensation came around. It grew tense, ready to snap around the sensation… but nothing came. There was no instant burst ready to send more information. Which was disappointing. Even after a long time spent ready, nothing came for it. Stopping for a moment to think about a new plan, the Core regathered its thoughts. There had to be some secret to the process… It was almost as if the Core had to relax a small bit before-

Tutorial:

[Dungeon-Cores] are only one of many kinds of cores. They are known for their sentience, their versatility, and the larger quantities of power they can gather through their life. You are one with the potential for all these things.

… The Core should have seen that coming. Of course, it was only upon relaxing that the tutorial would show itself. The trigger wasn’t something the Core needed to do. The trigger was what it didn’t need to do. The less it moved, thought, or expended itself, the more the trigger was being pulled for the new window.

There was an instant desire to test out if this new theory was true, yet the Core had an equal desire to wait to do such a thing and instead favour going through the new window of information. As it had guessed, the ‘Dungeon’ part of its designation was more of a separate title, the Core being just that. A ‘Core.’ And what was it the core of? A Dungeon!

Going away from the failed bit of humour, the Core moved back to the information. It would have loved to see what other areas it could have been the core of, yet no such thing was stated. Instead, it gave a description of what it was meant to gain over its life. Power, Flexibility, and the Ability to Think were all included. Already, the Core had gained one of the three, and it was sure that the remaining would be just around the corner. The potential was already more than just apparent when it had gained a third of it all before the [Tutorial] had even been shown to it.

Now, the time had come for another process. The Core wanted to know if it’s theory was correct. Instead of focusing on the sensation that would come, it instead slowed down its thoughts to the point of non-existence. Not that it could truly stop itself from thinking. The Core realized how futile such a task was. It required thought to slow its thoughts. There always needed to be some thought to manipulate the flow, making it impossible to fully stop by itself. Not that it actually needed to, the slowing down more than enough for its own purposes and goals.

Tutorial:

Everything shown to you is designed to help you start out your life and help you take your first steps into the wild. This includes, but is not limited to, an overview of the [System].

While happy that its theory had been proven correct, the Core moved on to more important matters. The sensation had found a name for itself! The [System]. A peculiar way to self-designate, the Core had to think. There were many systems in the world, many parts that had more than a little order to them. Did it truly make sense for only one to be known as the system? The Core thought not. Yet it also knew how little it was able to change it around, so it simply moved on from the newest sensation. The last part had also shown great promise, making the Core desire progress quickly anyway.

Tutorial:

The [System] is a part of every sentient being and is able to help empower all equally. Only a mortal's own determination limits how much they will grow with it. One of the ways you can see your own growth is through the use of the [Status Screen]

Empower. Such a strong word. The Core was happy to know it was a part of those that it affected. The part of all being granted it equally was understandable, though it wouldn’t have minded being a part of more than just that. Being more equal than others truly wouldn’t have hurt, at least.

Determination for growth was something the Core had in leaps and bounds, though it did not know how it stood when compared to other beings. It actually knew very little of what it was when compared to them. Was it smart? Was it dumb? The Core had no way to know yet, but it hoped that something would show itself soon that would allow it to. The [Status Screen] might have had the desired qualities to it.

A burst of sensation came and with it was more than a single sight.

Character Screen

Name:

-

Gender:

-

Level:

1

Class:

Core

Race:

Core

Title:

-

Health:

110/110

H-Regen:

0.1/sec

Mana:

110/110

M-Regen:

0.1/sec

Stamina:

-/-

S-Regen:

0/sec

Basic Stats

Strength:

-

Wisdom:

10

Vitality:

10

Intelligence:

10

Dexterity:

-

Willpower:

10

Tutorial:

The [Status Screen] is divided into several categories, all of which can be manipulated to the desire of each mortal should they desire such.

… That was a lot of information. The Core looked through it briefly, yet had trouble figuring out larger parts of it. The name was blank, first of all. That made sense since the Core didn’t have anything else it called itself by. Gender was… something the Core didn’t understand the meaning of, so it moved on. Level? Class? Neither made sense without context, and that context just wasn’t there for the Core to have. The race was obvious enough, though, the Core having gotten that partly explained to it a bit before.

Health, Mana, and the empty Stamina were all peculiar to see, a numerical value next to the first two but not the latter. Health was something needed for survival, so it made sense that the Core had it. Mana was a blank, however, so it didn’t make sense to the Core. Stamina? That was for movement, the idea of movement easy to understand. That part had somehow not escaped the instinctual information, though the Core didn’t truly understand why it knew about it even when it couldn’t use it itself. The lack of numbers was with many questions attached, many of which the Core had trouble hoping would be answered soon.

The basic stats section was hard. Strength, Vitality, and Dexterity were all descriptions for physical traits, yet the Core only had access to one of the three. No questions would have been made at that point if none or all of the Physical stats had been available, but why was only one of the stats present? The Core just couldn’t figure it out. The Mental stats, however, were in full swing, all three being shown prominently. Wisdom, Intelligence, Willpower… it all made enough sense for the Core to not question it. Wisdom was the ability to comprehend, Intelligence was the ability to comprehend things faster, and Willpower was the ability to not give up when the Core had trouble comprehending something. Certainly not the most complicated thing in the world.

The very last part about manipulating the [Status Screen] was something the Core would save for later, not sure what would be the optimal layout. For now, it would trust the standard. Having done all it could to understand the [Status Screen], the Core was satisfied with moving on.

Tutorial:

Should you have a curiosity to delve more into the [Status Screen], focusing on any aspect of it will grant you more information.

Well, there was certainly one being in the universe that would have appreciated being told such, before it put the end on the status screen. The Core felt a small bit disgruntled as it went back to focus on the [Status Screen] for the second time, even if there had only truly been a need to do it once.

The first thing that the Core wanted to know something about was obvious.

Health

Health is an indicator for your HP or Health Points. The more Health you have, the healthier you are. Health is calculated through the Vitality stat and other minor factors

The Core had a better understanding of just what Health was meant to be from that, though there were some questions it still had left. Why was it calculated through Vitality? What other factors were there? Who chose the name? The Core tried to focus on parts inside the extended information but that showed nothing new. With only a mental sigh, the Core was forced to move on to Mana. Maybe that would show something better.

Mana

The amount of Mana you have is represented by your MP or Mana Points. The more Mana you have, the clearer your thoughts are. Mana is calculated through the Wisdom stat and other minor factors

… There was a minor yet constant desire to smash its own thoughts into pieces, the screen being about as useless as it could be. The new information about how Wisdom impacted the Mana was good to know, but the Core still didn’t truly understand just what Mana did or was. Yet asking questions into empty space would do nothing, so it just moved on without too much of a comment.

The Core briefly thought about checking out Stamina as well, but it knew that it would likely hold the same format. And since it wasn’t a factor in its own actions, it likely used one of the stats it didn’t have access to.

…

But Curiosity was always a bane for those who had time to spare.

Stamina

Stamina is an indicator for your SP or Stamina Points. The more Stamina you have, the more refreshed your body is. Stamina is calculated through the Dexterity stat and other minor factors

And nothing was gained, other than the deciding stat being revealed. The Core wasn’t exactly sure what it had been thinking. But, there was nothing to truly do but simply move on to the next part.

Strength

Strength is an indicator of how strong you are. The more strength you have, the more you can lift, carry, and hold. Strength can be upgraded through available [Stat-Points]

Dexterity

Dexterity is an indicator of how nimble you are. The more Dexterity you have, the more you can throw, balance, and dodge. Dexterity can be upgraded through available [Stat-Points]

The Core hadn’t wanted to really waste time, so it simply focused on both. The pattern had already been seen, and it simply wanted to check out if anything more was revealed. And other than the fact that there might have been some stats that couldn’t be upgraded with [Stat-Points], the Core hadn’t truly learned too much. It had already known the descriptions of the various stats.

They all focused on how the Core’s body could move with power, elegance, or some third thing. Everything was about movement. Since the Core didn’t have access to such stats, was it to be expected that… the Core couldn’t move? How horrifying a thought that was.

Moving on, the Core was sure that the [Tutorial] had more tales to tell. It needed to.