Chapter 37 - Sehro's Tutorial (Part One).

The last thing Sehro remembered was feeling his leg break and then waking up a painless sea of black. A blue window hung in the air, much like when Søren had invited him and the others to become citizens of Caisleán, a silly name if you asked him.

Salutations traveler! It appears that you have died while designated as a [Champion of Caisleán] without binding to a restoration point. Would you like to wait for a revivification or experience the Tutorial while you wait? Wait / Tutorial

"Tutorial? Sounds better than waiting." He tried reaching out to touch the window as he had before, but drew his 'arm' back when he couldn't see his hand, arm, or even the rest of his body. He could still feel it as if it was there, but visibly it was gone. "That's weird."

He tried reaching out again and tapping Tutorial and felt the word shift beneath his phantom claw. The void vanished and he found himself standing next to a circular gate covered in symbols he had seen on the Waystone and other places here and there throughout his life. No one he knew could read them and most had just ignored them after their initial curiosity. Bright lights lit up the area around and above him, a spherical chamber with a white walkway leading towards a metal door. A silver metal pillar rose up out of the walkway next to him.

"Let's not tempt the ire of the Gods," Sehro said reverently. His voice echoed in the chamber. A cyan line appeared on the walkway with a circle beneath his feet. A faint pulse of brightness originated from the circle and traveled down the line towards the door.

"Welcome to Gateway, Traveler!" shouted a cheery voice that seemed to come from everywhere around him all at once. The words sounded correct to Sehro, but the Fuerven accent was bland, non-existent.

"Hello?" he called out with hesitation. His scales paled slightly as he crouched on the floor to make himself a smaller target should there be something hostile in the area.

"I am your Guide and will be assisting you during your time on Gateway. Please follow the cyan line to the Skills and Equipment testing area," the cheery voice called out again. The upbeat notes and cheery tone of the voice sounded discordant to Sehro. A grating style of speech not typically found within Fuerven culture.

Sehro stood up slowly and looked down at the cyan line again and watched the pulse of brightness travel away from him towards the door at the end of the walkway. He took a tentative step forward, lifting his right foot and shifting it forward a few inches and then tapped the green line in front of him with his largest talon. Nothing happened. He moved forward to follow the line after a few more moments of waiting. The green circle slid beneath his feet as he walked. Sehro mentally suppressed a fearful instinct to leap away from the circle.

"Please follow the cyan line."

Sehro hissed at the voice, annoyed, but he advanced slightly faster. His scales took on a darker hue than their previous pale color. He edged towards the side of the walkway and peered down into an empty, black void. He felt the spines on the crest of his head vibrate from fear and he returned to the center of the walkway. He approached the door cautiously, taking a step or two and then waiting a moment. A panel to the side of the door shifted from red to cyan and the door opened as he crossed some invisible threshold a pace and a half away from the door.

The room beyond was filled with a mind-boggling array of tools like the one's Søren carried with him and some that he had seen carried by the Scrappers to the north of Home, now called Caisleán. It was curious, but at the time, for no particular reason, he felt like he could trust this Søren who had brought back the grandmother of Torza, the current Speaker for the Water Finders tribe. Now though, the baseless trust in Søren was gone, but replaced with the trust earned from experience. Particularly in battle. Even if he did fail to save me from being eaten, he thought with some amusement as he opened his mouth slightly and let out a long hiss. Sehro stepped into the room and the cyan line vanished into the circle which shrunk into a point of nearly nothing and winked out.

"Please advance to the nearest illuminated table and stand in the cyan circle on the floor," the voice called out everywhere all at once. A table covered with a variety of objects lit up with a faint white glow and a cyan circle appeared on the floor in front of it. Sehro walked over to that table and stood in the circle, which flashed several times.

"What is this place?" he asked out loud.

"Starting assessment..." the voice called out again, ignoring Sehro's question. The circle beneath his feet turned into a column of light that surrounded him. An instinctual need to hide froze him in place as the column of light faded away. "Assessment complete. Traveler is an uncorrupted Fuerven male, 1.56 meters in height and 54.4 kilograms. Current path, [Path of the Hunter (Copper V)]. Notably skilled in ambushes, stealth, and surprise attacks. New path suggested, [Path of the Assassin], an uncommon path. Would you like to switch to this path during the Tutorial? You will be allowed to select your final path before leaving."

"Uh, ok," Sehro said. Don't know what an assassin is, but it seems to be a step up from Hunter. After agreeing to the change, he watched a stream of notifications appear in his chat log and vanish after moving upwards a few lines. Moving too quickly for him to keep up with. After it stopped, he scanned through the last few lines.

SYSTEM > Path transition complete.

SYSTEM > Skill transition complete.

SYSTEM > New skills available for training in your Potential.

[Sehro, Fuerven Assassin (Copper I)] suddenly appeared over his head, distracting him from the chat log. One of his eyes flicked upwards towards the floating words. He tried to grab them with a hand, but his claws passed right through the letters with a subtle and quickly corrected displacement.

"That's disturbing," he said and then he attention was drawn to the table when parts of it lit up to highlight specific items here and there.

The rest of the objects on the table in front of him vanished into the surface as if the table was made of water, leaving behind a powerful looking longbow well suited for his height, arm length, and shape of his hands and claws. Next to it was a belt with twin daggers, curved to sharp points, mimicking the natural shape of the largest talons on his feet. Beside the belt was a bandoleer with a half dozen throwing daggers tucked into stitched sheathes built into the strap. Finally, a jumpsuit like Søren's appeared on the top of the table with a pack of supplies.

"Traveler! Please equip yourself with the starter kit suitable for a primitive culture and proceed to the next room." The cheery voice echoed inside the chamber. Another cyan circle and line appeared beneath Sehro, leading to the opposite side of the room he had entered. With nothing to lose, Sehro picked up the jumpsuit and began putting it on.

"The starter kit jumpsuit is a simple piece of gear that offers little in the way of protection against attacks of any kind. It will self-repair most tears, scratches, or slashes, but major damage may render it inoperable. It can adjust for minor temperature variations, but the effects of extreme hazardous weather will be unaffected."

Sehro paused a moment to listen to the voice and once he realized it was describing the strengths and weaknesses of the jumpsuit he was putting on, he continued. There's something off here. This suit is not primitive at all. Next he picked up the pack similar to Søren's and slung it over his shoulder.

"The starter kit pack for a primitive culture contains an assortment of medicinal salves, bandages, splints, a regenerative canteen, and a week of rations."

A long series of notifications appeared in his chat log as he settled the pack on his back and everything inside was added to his inventory. He picked up the belt next, unclipped it, and then wrapped it around his waist. A pair of sheathed daggers hung from the belt in easy to grab locations on his sides.

"The starter kit daggers are an assassin's primary toolkit in combat. Stealth, poison, and surprise are the hallmarks of an assassin outside of combat. Each dagger does minor to moderate damage with a chance for that damage to be quadrupled as a critical sneak attack should the assassin successfully attack from stealth or an otherwise incapacitated opponent."

Finally he took the bow in both his hands, marveling at the simplicity of the smooth, white features of the bow and the menacing feel of restrained violence waiting to be set free. A simple sight was attached just above a small notch, where the arrow would rest until released. The string hummed with a hearty note when he plucked it with the pad of a finger.

"The starter kit bow is an assassin's primary tool for dealing damage from range in combat and may also be used to provide food and supplies for sustenance and crafting. While in the Tutorial, the starter kit bow will produce its own arrows as the bow is drawn. Once the Tutorial is completed, the Traveler will need to provide their own supply of arrows or materials with which to craft arrows."

Sehro lifted the bow and sighted down his arm and drew the string back smoothly. A shimmering light filled in where the arrow should be and then solidified into a perfect white arrow with a double bladed, wedge shaped broadhead on the end and three equally spaced white feathers for fletching. A small notch on the end fit snugly against the string. He took aim at an empty space on a wall and released the string. The arrow shot forward and splashed into a mist of light that faded away. The wall itself remained unmarked.

"Feels right," he said to himself and followed the cyan line on the floor. The other tables in the chamber melted into the floor and vanished as he passed by. Any wondrous devices on them obviously not meant for him. He continued along the line and entered into a small room with a table, two chairs, and a massive window looking out into a black void dominated by the Devourer and what he assumed was Gaia itself, beneath him. The view was every bit as amazing as Søren had described. Sehro stepped up closer to the window and pressed the end of his nose against the glass and tried to see if he could find Suncatcher Vale down below. A widespread storm of dark grey storm clouds covered much of the view, and even so, from this unusual vantage point, finding a familiar landmark was a fairly difficult task.

"This room is a place for rest and recovery Traveler. Here you will find food, water, and healing supplies should you be wounded in the Training Grounds beyond. If you suffer a mortal wound, you will be translocated and revivified inside the Medical Center. Approach the alcove coreward of the station to acquire food or other supplies as needed. Upspin, you will find the Training Grounds. Downspin, should you desire to try out a different Path, the Armory will serve your needs. Good luck Traveler!"

"Food or training first," Sehro wondered to himself. "I should see what the food is, maybe take some with me just in case." He moved over to the alcove the Guide had mentioned and stepped back when a panel hissed open with barely any sound. A warm scent of freshly baked bread and spiced grub pikwari filled the air around Sehro. He peered into the cubby revealed by the panel and found a plate of honey dipped and oat rolled bread as well a bowl of the spiced grub pikwari inside. The grubs were still wriggling around in the reddish-brown sauce speckled with white seeds.

"Definitely food first," he said breathlessly. He hadn't had spiced grub pikwari since he was hatchling and his mom had taken him with her to a meeting with the Grass Weaver tribe. They primarily subsisted on the thick, white, and meaty grubs that ate the roots of the grasses of the western plains. He took the two dishes and sat at the table, savoring every bite as he watched the storm churn below and the Eyes of the Devourer watched on as well. After he finished his meal, he licked the bowl and plate clean.

Sehro then made his way towards the door leading to the Training Grounds. When he neared the exit, a panel lit up on the wall next to the door.

Training Grounds Scenarios

1. Copper I (Obstacle Course)

2. Copper I (Target Training)

3. Copper I (Active Combat)

4. Increase Rank

5. Decrease Rank

6. Activate Scenario

"Hsss. Obstacle course sounds boring. Don't need target practice. Active combat. Surely I can handle what counts as training for low rank copper." Sehro reached out and tapped the sixth option. The door in front of him slid open to reveal a long curving chamber full of pillars, columns, and other primitive solids. To his right, the wall was a massive curving window and to the left, a solid wall of rough stone.

"Welcome to the Training Grounds, Traveler. The Copper I (Active Combat) scenario is now being loaded. Prepare yourself," announced the Guide. Sehro pulled his bow off his shoulder and settled it into his hands. He then took a simple stance with slightly bowed knees that allowed him to shift direction quickly.

The long chamber shimmered and holograms of light appeared around the shapes scattered around the room, turning into boulders, logs, stumps, bushes, and trees. He could see a familiar foe peeping out from behind a tree. The small bark-skinned creatures were known as Griblins and they were a vicious and destructive pest within Suncatcher Vale. If their growth was left unchecked by the hunters back in Home, the Griblins could deplete an area of wildlife in a matter of weeks. Sehro narrowed his eyes, lifted his bow, and advanced into the room. A feral grin was fixed on his features as his sharp, pointed teeth were revealed by pulled back lips.