I

Sun was well named. He wore gilded armor that reflected the light from the candles he was using for the illumination of his work. His desk was of a better quality than the other furniture she’d seen, like it had been made by a master craftsman rather than built in situ.

“Yes?” Sun asked while he shuffled some papers away inside the desk.

“Can I sit down?”

“Sure.”

“So what do I owe the pleasure of this meeting?” he asked once she was seated on the floor.

“Sun, right?”

He nodded.

“I’ve come to bargain.”

“A deal, you say. Well, what is it you are offering, and what do you want?”

“Let’s start with what I want, and then we’ll figure out what makes us both happy. I want access to your dungeon.”

“Do you now? That’s a lot to ask, you know.”

“I know that well enough. The first thing I have to offer is continued access to the dungeon near the human towns.”

“We already have a deal with the human towns about that, for a quarter of the time. How can you negate that deal all on your own?”

“Well, I was never bound by that deal, and it’s technically my dungeon now. Before you think I’m trying to blackmail you into submission, I am not. That is just the first thing on offer. It is better to negotiate from a position of strength, is it not?”

The forseli had a sour expression.

“So you’re trying to complete the System’s Quest for control of the dungeons, then. It’s a little early for this to happen since you had to do it on your own, but am I right in assuming this is your first?”

Eva shook her head and then smiled.

“It’s the third.”

Sun said something in his tongue that she guessed was some colorful expression.

“Only level 21 and already halfway done? That’s really something! Tell me, where are the other two?”

“South of here.”

He paused to look through a notebook on his desk.

“So were you the one who did something to the landwalkers?”

“Yes. They killed a friend of mine, so burned their town to the ground. Stole their dungeon right out from under their noses.”

Eva laughed. Sun smiled.

“Ah. Then I believe I have a way in which we can come to an agreement. It will have to be done using special paper to create a System Contract to bind both of us to our word.

“First, as you said, we would like continued access to the quarter day we have at the human dungeon. Second, we will allow you to control our dungeon for the Quest, so long as you do not restrict our access to it in any way. Doing so would void the agreement, the penalty of which would be to cede the dungeon to me. Finally, you will assist, to the best of your abilities, to defend us from the remaining landwalkers and the omyeskadi to our north.

“Do you have anything you want to add?”

“I’d like to ask you a few questions about the System, Tutorial, and all of that. I heard that information was given to the towns, but I was not there. Also, I’d like to add that I will fulfill these obligations only as long as I can escape an unwinnable encounter and that these obligations end as soon as those groups are dealt with or the Tutorial ends, whichever comes first.”

“Those are reasonable,” Sun decided. “Here, take a look at this paper and sign it if you agree with what is written. The System will translate for you as it is a System Contract.”

Though it surprised her how it had been created near-instantly, Eva read it over. As Sun said, the System translated the words for her into its usual box. The information presented was what they had agreed upon, with her suggestions added. Seeing no issue with it, she signed her name and handed it back to Sun, who did the same.

System Contract created between Eva Greene and Sun

The box appeared as soon as he had finished signing. She found that if she wanted to, she could make the agreement pop up any time to look over it. She mentally shoved the notice out of her vision.

“So, what is it you wanted to know?”

“Well, first, I wanted to know how you speak so well. It’s like you don’t have any accent!”

“All forseli who came to the Tutorial have a particular Skill—and before you ask, it’s considered rude to ask what Skills someone has. Even if they branch at each tier, depending on what you choose, just knowing the Skill means knowing what the Skill can do, as well as how to counter it.

“At any rate, I have a higher tier version of the Skill than is typical. I spent a week learning one of your many languages. Because of the way the System works, it will translate what I say into whichever language you speak as long as it’s one of the languages of your species. It takes most of my kin around half a year to learn a language well enough to sound like I do now. As it stands, they’ll sound a little rough for a while.”

“That makes sense. So what can you tell me about the System and the Tutorial? I saw you had a stone building up and running in under two weeks, which is absolutely crazy in my experience.”

“You know how you came into the Tutorial with what you were wearing or carrying?”

Eva nodded.

“It’s the same for us as well. Most of us carried large backpacks with the tools and materials we’d need for the first few days. Add onto that some forseli had trained sSills that would be useful in building a town, and that’s how you get a fully functional town in under a week.”

“That’s, wow.”

Sun smiled.

“It is. There are restrictions that apply, such as everything being Basic▲.”

“That’s very interesting,” Eva thought.

“I can see the wheels turning in your mind. What are you thinking?”

“I’d rather keep my secrets a secret. You seem like a swell guy, but they’re safer when only one person knows about them.”

“Fair. So, as you’ve probably guessed by now, the Tutorial is just an excuse for some invaders to slaughter or enslave whatever species is in control of the planet before the System comes. In this case, humans. Now I say some because others, like us forseli, are there to make connections, make shards, or go on an adventure.

“Getting into the Tutorial is an expensive endeavor. First, that species needs to be part of the System and it needs to have won the fight for supremacy that follows their Tutorial. Then they need to bid on any number of slots they want. In each Tutorial instance—of which there are several million in your case—there are six slots, three of which are given to the native species, leaving three to be purchased.

“Once you have your little slice of the pie, you need to start by controlling your dungeon. Six slots, six dungeons. An enterprising conqueror, or very lucky native, might aim to control all of them for a special reward—I won’t spoil the surprise on that one, only to say that it is worthwhile. However, most are content to skirmish with each other while building their strength for the important fight to come.”

“So this Tutorial is one of the unlucky ones where two of the aliens are homicidal assholes.”

“By all accounts, this Tutorial has been a shit show all around. The landwalkers had ridiculous demands when we asked them to back down or keep it somewhat civil, as is common. The omyeskadi killed our envoys on sight—no negotiations.”

Sun shook his head.

“I’m sorry about your friend.”

“Thank you.”

“Was there anything else you wanted to know?”

“I got this unwieldy cauldron as a reward from the System for one of the monster waves, and I have no idea where to begin on making potions.”

“I see. Well, to do it correctly, it’s a Skill. However, there’s a way to make simple potions, even if it is a more expensive way to go about it. Take any edible liquid and use a shard to enhance it.”

“Thanks. I always wondered how the guy made them. Turns out it was dead simple!”

“More expensive, though. Alchemy—the skill—is more involved, but it produces better results without the use of shards.”

“Makes sense. When can I start running the dungeon here in town? And what can you tell me about it?”

“You can go now, if you want. I’ll have to give you a token for the guards to give you access. The dungeon is odd. The inside is filled with enormous rats, while the boss is some kind of ratcatcher. Do you know anything about it? The System uses native culture and folklore to create the monsters we all face.”

Eva shrugged. Without facing the Master boss of the dungeon, she probably wouldn’t be able to guess. Unlike with the gingerbread men and the witch, rats and a ratcatcher didn’t ring a bell.

II

Once she had her token from Sun, Eva headed back to the dungeon. She showed the token to the guards and was waved through. She had to wait her turn to run the Basic▲ version of the dungeon.

Entering the ruins when she got the go ahead, she saw the popup and selected the dungeon difficulty. The inside of the dungeon was fashioned like city blocks. Each room was an intersection with the buildings functioning like walls. Each room had a number of rats—anywhere from three to eight—that were all level 0.

Eva ran through the dungeon quickly, coming to find that the boss room took the form of the main square in front of the city hall. The boss, as Sun had said, was some kind of rat catcher dressed in colorful clothing and wielding a staff. It was an easy fight, and not one she could see any real skills, despite the time she gave the boss to do whatever it could do.

The dungeon was a letdown, for the most part. The only real positive was the increased number of enemies over the usual numbers, which led to a few more shard drops. The level 0 monsters still gave her one experience each, which seemed to be the minimum given for a kill by the System.

Over the next six hours, Eva breezed through the different difficulties of the dungeon. She took a short break for dinner—some kind of nut-based pancake-like creation—before she dove in for the Master✷ run. The previous runs had been enough to get around fifteen stat points and around fifty shards. The lack of monsters at her tier really killed her growth!

The inside of the dungeon changed compared to the first few runs. Instead of being a more modern city, the building now looked like they were plucked from the renaissance. The rats were large and easy to kill with a couple Fireballs. Now that they were an even level 20—and in her tier—the experience they provided was significant when measured over an entire dungeon run. Just completing up to the boss was enough for 25 stat points!

Eva Observed★ the boss as soon as she entered the square. Unlike its previous iterations, this version of the boss carried a flute in addition to the staff it had used as a weapon before. The Pied Piper, as the boss was named, was level 25. She knew the name immediately, but was not familiar with the story behind it. She didn’t know what to expect from the boss.

Eva Charged★ the Pied Piper. He deftly Dodged her, which was surprising since she expected to have a significant edge over the boss in terms of stats. She swung her fire Infused★ shortsword at him, only managing to singe his clothing. It seemed that their deftness was similar. She caught a retaliatory strike of his staff against her shield, barely feeling it. Her status showed barely a dozen health lost. The boss’ strength wasn’t up to snuff at all. She realized that he had a rather skewed distribution compared to hers.

Seeing how she was going to have trouble connecting with her foe, Eva decided to switch tactics. Instead of Charging★ into his face to beat him down in melee, she would maintain a gap just enough not to get hit by her own Fireball★ while at the same time, being close enough not to miss when she shot it at him. She had plenty of mana to dump into Fireballs★. Despite the Pied Piper’s speed being high, the blast area of the Fireballs★ would be enough to catch it even if the main charge of it missed.

Eighteen Fireballs★ later, the boss was hanging by just a thread. His clothes had been burned and blasted away, leaving him in his charred birthday suit. Eva was curious to see what he would do next, but not so curious that she wouldn’t just finish him off if given the chance.

Her slight hesitation was enough for the boss to jump back and play his flute. In from the streets that led to the main square came a legion of rats that bounced to the music as if he was controlling them. Eva decided she was going to have none of that. The rats would be a pain to kill and kite while her mana slowly trickled back in. She could drink a mana potion or two and finish it off, but on the other hand, the boss was easy enough that she shouldn’t need to waste what was at least a little precious for a more pressing time.

She Charged★ the boss and Feinted▲ like she was going to pull the same attack she had the first time. Predictably, the Pied Piper Dodged her fake strike and fell for the real one, which Pierced★ his head and ended the fight. As soon as she did, the rats dispersed as if they had not existed in the first place. She picked up her reward from the boss—a couple Journeyman Shards★—and exited the dungeon intent on getting permission to use the dungeon for training for a day.

Unclaimed Dungeon Conquered

As the owner, you can now set rules for this dungeon

Quest Updated: Own all the dungeons in the Tutorial. 4/6 owned