Octavius leaned against a tree as he watched Ava practice advancing and retreating with her spear. While he watched her, he reviewed what Ava had told him about the Sanctuary.

Sanctuary was essentially a massive refugee camp. It held a population of just under four thousand people, more than half of the tutorial's current survivors. Every adult in Sanctuary was assigned a job in return for food, water, and a safe space to sleep.

The jobs included hunters, foragers, caregiver, builders, and many other possible professions. If someone was incapable of a physical task, they could help watch the kids. On the other side, if someone was mentally infirm, they could still help with basic manual labor. There weren’t many people who couldn’t do any jobs due to the fact that those people didn't survive long enough to make it to Sanctuary.

A Frenchman named Louis ran the Sanctuary. Louis was the mayor of some town in France and had some experience leading large groups of people. Below the mayor, there was a council of the most senior or experienced members of each main job designation. A police officer called James ran the hunters, and a Chinese bureaucrat named Li ran the job distributions. Ava had named a few other section leaders, but apparently, those two were the most important.

As a whole, Sanctuary was doing rather well for itself. It was effortless for hunters to bring in lower-level beasts to eat, and the foragers always found enough food. With the health potions and natural regeneration, injuries were minimal.

The Sanctuary itself was a mostly cleared area of land. Within the boundaries, the undergrowth and smaller trees were all removed. They used animal skins tied to the larger trees along with woven branches for housing and had a wooden border wall. That surprised Octavius, though perhaps it was obvious that some people came to the tutorial with axes and even chainsaws.

The wall was guarded by hunters to prevent beast attacks, but most of the area around the Sanctuary was cleared of dangerous beasts regularly.

As Ava pivoted on a heel and thrust forward, Octavius considered what to do next. He wanted to look around the Sanctuary but didn’t want to join. The Sanctuary was getting along fine without him, and he had realized that the true freedom he had gained in the tutorial was something that he had been searching for his entire life.

He decided to sneak into the Sanctuary that night to see it for himself. After that, he would continue on his adventure, perhaps look for more dungeons.

Just as the light from the sun began to turn orange, Ava stopped her practice and turned to him.

“It’s getting late. Are you going to come to the Sanctuary tonight?” she asked.

“Yes, though I don’t think I'll stay the whole night. Just sneak in for a look around,” he responded. He had learned that Ava approved of the Sanctuary as a whole but didn’t feel any allegiance to it. He guessed that she wouldn’t feel the need to stop him from sneaking in as long as he wasn’t going to go on a killing spree once inside.

He was proven correct when she said, “Ok, I can lead you to where you can sneak in and out. There is a spot just to the side of one of the entrances that can’t be seen by any guards. I use it to sneak some particularly good parts of beasts in and out - Hey! Don't judge me! Sometimes I get hungry even after I get my portion of food. There's a difference between enough food to be healthy and enough food to grow stronger.”

Octavius smirked at her as he stood. “I wasn’t judging you,” he said, “When do you want to leave?”

She spoke after she finished her drink, “We should leave now if we want to get a fire going well enough to eat dinner before it gets too dark to see what we are doing.”

“We?” he asked. He was planning on eating later on after he snuck back out of the Sanctuary.

She smiled at him, “Yes, we, old man. I know for a fact that you haven’t eaten since midday, and scaly over there has more than enough meat for the both of us.” She gestured over her shoulder at the dead lizard that Octavius had field dressed to eat later.

Octavius grinned back, “Old man, is it? Kids these days have no respect for their elders.”

They both laughed before packing their things and tied the lizard’s body to a long stick for easy carrying. They set off through the woods, Ava leading him towards her secret entrance.

The sun cast long shadows as the two of them crept down a well-hidden path. Ava led him between trees and around bushes. They carried the large stick between them. The lizard’s body, tied to the stick, swayed slightly with each step.

After a half-hour, Ava held up a fist. Octavius’s first instinct was to freeze in place, but he quickly realized she was just emulating some tv show when she put down the stick and turned to him. It wasn’t hard for someone with his perception to hear the general sounds of people that had been growing as they neared Sanctuary.

“Ok, we are nearly there. You wait here. I can get in and grab an extra set of furs for you. You’d stick out like a sore thumb with that outfit,” she whispered.

When she turned away towards the Sanctuary, Octavius grabbed her wrist softly. “Wait,” he said quietly, “I can sneak in just fine. You only have to show me where to get in. Once we are inside, I'll follow you from out of sight until you reach a place where we can’t be seen.”

She looked at him as if he were crazy, “I don’t care how badass you are; you can’t sneak into the middle of Sanctuary while giving people a chance to use identify on you.”

He grinned at her, “Just watch me. Let’s go.”

She turned back towards the lizard and lifted it onto her shoulders, muttering to herself constantly. Octavius could just make out what she was saying about him but chose to ignore it.

A hundred feet later, they came to the barrier wall. Though Octavius thought it would be more appropriate to call it a fence. It was made entirely of wood. There were three-foot-tall posts driven into the ground every half dozen feet, with two rows of branches spanning the distance between each post.

The fence would really only be good at marking the boundaries to the Sanctuary. What made the fence formidable was the sentries. From what Ava told him, pretty much the entire perimeter was guarded 24/7. That was what made this spot so special. Just on the other side of the fence was a massive willow tree.

The leaves of the tree stretched all the way to the ground, making a wall that blocked guards' vision. Just beyond the willow, Octavius could make out a campfire with four people around it.

Ava turned to him and whispered quietly, “Ok, hotshot. I’m going to head to my tent. Follow me if you can, but when you can’t, I’ll meet you back here with a set of furs for you.” With that, she turned and stepped over the fence, one leg at a time.

Once Octavius was sure that she wasn’t looking at him, he slipped his ring of illusion on. It was clear to him that he had plenty of mana for the trip. A camp like this was rather densely packed to reduce the number of perimeter guards. In his estimation, it couldn’t be more than a square mile in size.

He stayed close behind Ava as she spoke to the four people around the fire. She lowered the lizard to the ground, and one of them hacked off one of its hind legs. They shook hands, and Ava continued.

After they passed the group around the campfire, they walked into a small alley formed by two animal hide tents. Past the tents, there was a path cleared of all obstructions. Groups of people walked down the dirt road on either side, and Ava merged seamlessly into the traffic heading right.

Octavius had a difficult time keeping an eye on his guide and weaving between people. He didn’t want to bump into any people and alert them to his presence. As he walked, he made sure to use identify on many of the people they passed. Ava had told him the average level of people in Sanctuary, but he wanted to confirm it for himself.

Muhammad - Human (F) (Lvl 2)

Rudra - Human (F) (Lvl 1)

Jennifer - Human (F) (Lvl 2)

…

Noah - Human (F) (Lvl 2)

He already understood academically that the tutorial took people from all over, but it was surreal to see it in person. Some people came in groups, while others came alone. The tutorial didn’t just pick up ten thousand people from the East Coast, but ten thousand people from the world.

In Octavius’s time in the army, he had seen some diverse places, but this was something else. The fact that everyone could communicate helped to break down barriers between groups. There were likely many clashes between different cultures, but the Sanctuary seemed to be largely peaceful.

He wondered what this would do to geopolitics after the tutorial was over. It was an interesting idea, but Octavius had seen far too much to believe that it would turn the world into some hippy love fest. No, with the governments shattered, the strongest and most influential will amass followers and power. Hell, his mother would probably have a small army of high-level fighters at her beck and call a week after the tutorial was over.

He discarded those thoughts and focused on trailing Ava. He hadn’t thought about his mother since before the tutorial started, and that was the correct amount of thought devoted to her in his book.

As they moved closer and closer to the center of the camp, the tents grew larger and levels grew lower. Most people in this area were level 1, only broken up by a few level 3 or 4 people. This area was also the first spot he had seen any children. Two of them, young boys, chased each other straight through the foot traffic on the path before disappearing into a makeshift pavilion.

The way that the Sanctuary was laid out was clear to him. There were the fit and able in the outer ring, followed by the young and old. Then I guess the inner ring holds the strongest people, and maybe food storage and the like.

He passed two more level 7s walking towards the edge of the Sanctuary before Ava hooked a left turn. Octavius grumbled in his mind. He stood frozen in the middle of the road for a few seconds. Then, a short break in the traffic allowed him to dash through and onto the side path.

This path was narrow and mostly empty. There were tents on either side, and he saw a few people sitting outside them. To his right, a man who looked to be in his seventies deftly sewed two hides together using what Octavius guessed was plant fibers.

Barely a hundred feet onto this new path, Ava turned right and ducked through an animal skin hanging between two trees. Octavius considered for a moment before inching between the skin and the tree trunk. He gripped the swaying edge of the hide to stop it from giving away his position before turning and looking around.

He was in a square clearing with trees at all four corners. Between each tree, there were branches woven into walls. They weren’t even close to watertight, but they made the area feel much more private. The only entrance was at one side of the wall behind him, where an extra tree allowed the branches to end and for the animal skin doorway.

In the middle of the clearing, there was a ring of stones with ash in the middle. There were sticks hammered into the ground on either side, most likely to support a spit. A cut off section of a tarp held a few gallons of water in one corner, and a pile of firewood was stacked next to it.

The only other noticeable thing was the tent. It was made of a brown-furred animal's skin suspended in the middle by a stick running horizontally and held up on both ends. It was only large enough for someone much shorter than him to lay down in it, and not much more.

He made sure that she was not facing him and removed the ring. The walk wasn’t long, and he wasn’t even at half mana. When she stood from laying the lizard against one wall, he spoke. “Pretty nice place you got here. Not exactly standard from what I’ve seen,” he said.

She whirled in surprise before staring at him in shocked surprise. “W-what? How are you here?!” she demanded.

He winked at her, playfully, “Ah, a wizard never reveals his tricks.”

Her eyes went wide suddenly. “You can do MAGIC?!?” she all but shouted.

Octavius rolled his eyes, “No, I’m a spearman. I don’t get any spells.” In his experience, the best lies weren't lies at all. He liked Ava but didn't know her well enough to truly trust her.

She seemed to lose some of her excitement before grumbling under her breath. While she moved to pile wood into the fireplace, she answered his original question, “This isn’t a standard place. I am a level 7 hunter, not to mention I bribed the old lady that divides up land plots for this section of Sanctuary with a piece of deer. Two weeks ago there was a large influx of people, and food was rationed harshly; it was worth a lot.”

Octavius walked over to the firewood and placed his rucksack where it would be difficult for anyone to see. “Make sense,” he said, “but how did you get the tarp? Did you bring it with you?”

She held a lighter up to a pile of tinder while responding. “The Sanctuary takes what you get from your job, but not what you have otherwise. There is a whole market of the things people brought from Earth. The tarp cost me a few large animal bones from level 5 beasts.”

He considered that for a moment before piling some larger kindling into the fire.

Octavius sighed in contentment. He had just completed his first relaxed meal in a long time. The meal had actual spices in it. The best he had been able to forage for his own meals was some wild garlic. Ava had that, along with salt and some type of peppercorn. It was delicious.

He had asked where the salt was from, hoping for the location of a saltwater spring or the like. She had told him that one of the people in Sanctuary was a native of a primitive tribe from Africa. While not uncontacted, the tribe that the man was from was still largely self-sufficient. The man had shown them how to render certain plants and get the salt minerals from their remains. Ava didn’t know how to do it but knew it was a long process.

That had disappointed Octavius, but he resolved to see if he could sneak into the area where they made the salty substance and see what the process was. It would be worth wasting a day for a good source of salt. Morale was important after all.

Ava and Octavius made small talk as they ate. She spoke about her time at Sanctuary and what she thought the world would be like after the tutorial. Octavius engaged her in a conversation of wild speculation about the origins of the System but didn’t talk about his time in the tutorial with any detail. Neither one of them even mentioned their lives before the tutorial.

They had settled into a comfortable silence when a voice called from outside the doorway, “Hey, Ava, can I come in?”

Her eyes widened as they snapped to Octavius. He calmly stood and walked over to the pile of firewood. Crouching behind it so that the view of anyone in the front half of the clearing was blocked, he motioned for her to respond. She cupped a hand to her mouth and spoke loudly, “Sure, but not for long. I just finished eating and was about to go to sleep.”

Octavius watched through a crack between two logs as the flap parted and a tall, lanky young man came through. He was about Ava’s age and wore more modern clothes. Octavius couldn’t be sure of much more than the boy’s brown hair color in the orange glow of the fire. He used identify as soon as the young man entered.

Oliver - Human (F) (Lvl 1)

His eyebrows rose in surprise. The young man, Oliver, moved to sit in front of the fire directly across from Ava and spoke. “How was your day?” he asked.

Ava responded with an easy tone, “Good, managed to sneak the whole corpse of a level 7 lizard through the barrier.” She gestured towards what was left of it.

The young man frowned in disapproval before saying, “I don’t even understand how you walked all the way here with that and with nobody noticing. But you should stop doing that. It's exactly how governments always fall; people stop listening to the rules and society collapses. The last thing we need now is for the Sanctuary to collapse.”

Ava spoke as if she had heard it all before, “Yeah, yeah. I’m just hungry, and I contribute plenty to the Sanctuary.”

Oliver sighed when he didn’t get whatever reaction he was hoping for. They spoke about inconsequential things for a minute or two before Ava politely kicked him out.

Once the young man was gone, Octavius stood and raised an eyebrow at her. She chuckled and answered the unspoken question. “That was Oliver. We came to the tutorial together. Both of us are friends from university. He’s a history major and works in helping to plan the Sanctuary’s future and advising the council. Terribly afraid of any sort of violence, but he’s a smart guy.”

Octavius nodded, “Seems like a decent enough person.” He started to place his rucksack onto his back. She nodded before speaking up. “You leaving?” she asked.

“Yep, gonna go take a look around the inner portion of the Sanctuary before moving on. Could you give me directions to the place where the salt is made?”

She seemed to consider for a moment. “Are you going anywhere specific? Because if not, is there any chance you could stay around for a couple more days and teach me more about fighting?”

Octavius looked her over, “I’m not going anywhere specific, but if I stay here for a few days, I’ll lose out on a few days of grinding EXP.”

Her mouth fell into a grimace before she brightened. “How about you stay in the area for three days? Every day, you teach me more about spear fighting for a few hours. If you do, I’ll get you all the salt and other spices I can get.”

Now it was Octavius’s turn to consider. He could use the time to practice his skill usage. Not to mention, he really wanted some flavor in his food. He stuck out his hand to shake, “You’ve got a deal. I’ll meet you at the clearing where we met, tomorrow at midday.”

After they shook hands, Octavius exited the walled clearing and slipped on the ring. He turned towards the center of the Sanctuary and set off.