[Your first challenge is about to start. Please be careful as your life is at risk.]

[Start by selecting your weapon.]

As soon as I stepped in the fourth room, the genderless voice of the tower sounded to my ears. A dozen of cold weapons floated in front of my eyes.

‘I don’t remember the tutorial very well, but I do remember having to choose a weapon after receiving basic training with instructors.’

“Things are finally going to get interesting. Human, do you need any advice on choosing a weapon?”

I glanced at the source of the voice and smirked. It was the annoying fairy, once again trying to swindle some points out of my pocket. “No thanks.”

And without hesitation, I grabbed onto the wooden staff. I did not spare a glance at the sword I took in my previous life. Just like for the spells, there were no official limits to the number of weapons I could grab. However, taking more than one was very unpractical, even if it was just a small dagger. The weapons did not come with any storage item and needed to hold at all times. The blades had no sheath and the other weapons were all quite heavy since they were made of metal.

This was the main reason behind my choice.

Practicality!

The following challenges were not going to be limited to simply facing certain enemies. The weapons themselves did not have any stats or magical effects; they were basic weapons. And as a result, I decided to choose a simple wooden staff. It was a rather light weapon that could double down as a walking stick.

Furthermore, because of the situation on the upper floors, a wooden weapon was more valuable than a metallic one.

[You have selected the wooden staff.]

[Your first task is about to begin.]

[Task 1: Defeat the goblin]

I closed my eyes as I felt my surrounding change. I hated watching the scene transitions taking place in the rooms; I would always feel dizzy by the swirling colours.

‘Defeat the goblin… Does that mean there is only one goblin? My memories of the tutorial are quite blurry, but I do remember that the monsters were not that strong.’

‘However, my situation is different this time. I chose the Healing element, not the Fire element. Hopefully, the difficulty of these battles will take my element into account.’

When I opened my eyes, I found myself staring at a large tree. I was in a forest, surrounded by trees, bushes, and even small animals running away from me. I was momentarily blinded by the bright light shining through the foliage.

‘What a realistic illusion. It does smell just like a real forest. I can even hear the rustling of leaves and the cries of the animals.’

I closed my eyes and enjoyed this moment. I was not worried at all by the presence of a goblin in the forest. A goblin was a weak creature. It had an iconic green skin and was generally as tall and strong as a child.

‘Alright. Enough time wasted.’

The forest felt peaceful and I wanted nothing more than to sit down and take a nap. Unfortunately, now was not the time for that. Holding onto the wooden staff, I carefully observed my surroundings.

I was not given any direction and knew I simply had to wait for the goblin to show up. Fortunately, it did not take long for me to notice the green-skinned creature stepping out of a nearby bush. He was short and ugly, holding onto a sharp stone hatchet.

“Ghrrh”

The goblin groaned threateningly and raised his hatchet.

I rolled my eyes and sighed. I don’t remember how I reacted in my past life but this time, the goblin did not represent much of a threat to me. In fact, he seemed weak and pitiful.

“I’ll take you out of your misery.”

Without further ado, I lunged toward the goblin and swung my staff. The staff gave me a much larger range of attack, allowing me to keep a safe distance from the goblin. It smashed against the goblin’s head, sending his whole body flying. The goblin crashed into a large tree and died instantly. It did not even have time to scream or fight back.

I stood in the middle of the clearing, unfazed by the death of the creature. It all went as I expected.

[Task 1 completed. A new task will be issued.]

[Task 2: Walk 500m North]

‘Just like I expected. The next task is to enter the forest where I will probably encounter more goblins…’

I placed my wooden staff over my shoulder and turned my attention to the goblin’s corpse. There was one more thing I needed to do before leaving. I did not have any storage item to take the goblin’s body with me; it could be sold for one mana stone at the cities. However, there was one part of the goblin’s body that I could use right now: his mana stone.

Every living being of the tower held a mana stone somewhere on their body; even I who was now a resident of the tower had a mana stone. It was the very reason I could use magic.

I did not have a blade to properly dissect the goblin and therefore, the only method I could use was to smash the goblin’s head until the mana stone in its brain would fall out.

The task was gruesome but eventually, I saw the familiar cold bead rolling out of the goblin’s skull. It was covered with a green musky fluid. I felt repulsed by it. Nevertheless, I grabbed the mana stone and tossed it in my pants’ pocket.

‘I will need to find a river or something consuming the mana stone.’

“Levi. You’re still here?” For the first time since the start of the tutorial, I called for the fairy myself. I knew he hasn’t left me; he was not allowed to.

The fairy immediately appeared to my side. “Yes, human. Did you call my name?” He seemed pleasantly surprised.

“Yes. Which direction is North?”

The fairy’s eyes lit up. An opportunity finally presented itself, the d*mn human was not omnipotent after all and still needed his help to get the correct direction.

“The North direction? I can, of course, help you find your way through the forest but as I said before, there is a small fee I would have to ask you for my help.” Levi excitedly rubbed his hands; he was salivating at the fees he could charge to give me the correct direction.

To that, I simply shook my head. “Nevermind, I will find out the correct direction by myself.” And so, without further ado, I chose a random direction and disappeared behind the dense bushes.

The fairy froze in place and watched my disappearing back in disbelief. He quickly caught up with me and spoke anxiously. “What are you doing? Are you not worried about picking the wrong direction? Your task is to head North. How irresponsible can you be to pick a random direction because of your pride!”

I chuckled. “It’s fine. Eventually, I will end up at the appointed location. There is no time limit to this task.”

“There is no time limit but what about the dangerous creatures lying in wait in the forest. If you choose a random path, you may end up in one of their lairs. The tutorial is meant to adapt newbies like you to the harsh reality of the tower. However, it is only true if you follow the instructions. If you step out of bounds, you will be exposed to a lot more danger than you can handle.”

The fairy kept speaking next to my ears. “Look at the odds; only one direction is the correct one. Are you willing to gamble your life over just a few points? I did not even set a price for the information yet; we can discuss it. How about a measly fifty points?”

Levi spoke with a calm and rightful expression. He looked at me pitifully as if he was lending a hand. However, I knew better and would not be fooled.

“First of all, my most precious possession right now is this wooden staff and it is not even worth one point. How do you expect me to pay you back fifty points afterward?”

“Second, when did I ever say that I wanted to head North? I asked you for the correct direction to precisely avoid going there. Why would I want to leave this perfect training ground? I would rather roam around and look for goblins and other monsters to harvest their mana stone. Using your own words, the odds are in my favour, aren’t they?” I smirked as I watched Levi’s confidence crumble.

“…”

The fairy found himself unable to retort. “You… Are you really planning to hunt down the monsters here?”

“Of course. Why wouldn’t I? This is a rare opportunity to hunt weak monsters. Furthermore, maybe I will find a treasure hiding in this forest. The tutorial has no rules.”

“… Why did I become the guide of such an unconventional human? Could you not just act normally and pay the consultation fees like everyone else?”