Polaris Dark - Chapter I

The blinding white light ebbs off into a soft whiteness that allows me to open my eyes. A Window pops up, indicating the start of the tutorial. Of course, for some reason , it does not turn out quite the way I except it to...

Welcome to the tutorial, where you can work out all the kinks and stiffness of your VR experience! First of all we will start the movement pa...*zzt* ...*zzt*

Error!

Loading Error!

Retrying data packet load... 3... 2... 1...

Loading Failure...

Retrying using backup data... 3... 2... 1...

Loading backup success...

Initiating... 3... 2... 1...

I know that the RE Full-Dive Capsule and game should not have caused an error. I am not concerned with my own well-being as if the system is truly experiencing an error, it would have force-stopped and enter safe mode automatically before allowing me to get out of the capsule. It looks like the message is a part of the tutorial somehow and I guess I'll just see what will happen.

The whiteness fades away slowly, giving me time to adjust to the new setting...

...Oh my...

What appeared from the whiteness caused me to squint my eyes. Before I was able to discern what my surroundings were like, I felt like I was hit by the JR bullet train or something because a gasp of pain escaped my lips while my ears are ringing from whatever that happened.

I seem to be lying down on the ground at the moment so I rest there for a while, waiting for the blurriness in my eyes and ringing in my ears to subside as well as the feeling of being front-ended by a train. When most of my senses are back to normal, I life my upper body to a half-sitting position and taking in the chaos that surrounded me:

Dead bodies lay strewn on the ground as if they were decorating the floor with ex-living flesh. Blood and gore are everywhere, nearly coating the entire ground with their dark and crimson glory. The resounding din of the clashing between thousands, if not millions of metal is deafening. Shouts, yells and screams harmonize with the clashing of metal to metal, creating the sound of what most people fear: the sound of war.

Everywhere I look is full of death and decay, both the freshly killed and the older ones that died a while back. I can see a dark forest to the northeast of my position and a looming grey fort far off to the west. At this point, I can finally check myself to see what is going on.

It seems that I am wearing a modified, female version of a segmented armor cuirass that is covered in black soot and some blood and grime. The silver gleaming beneath all the soot and blood makes me wonder if I was in Ancient Rome instead of the virtual game world. Underneath the cuirass is a woolen tunic dyed in a dull orange color. The blood that splattered on to the visible portions made it seem red instead of orange. Looking down, I see that I am also wearing studded leather sandals as well as a mid-length armored skirt that reaches to the middle of my thighs, with a pair of leather shorts underneath the skirt. Both were as grimy and as bloody as the cuirass.

Seeing a rather clean silver shield nearby, I look into the mirror-like front and see that I was in my normal Kitsune Form; with my long white hair flowing down and furry ears on top of my head. Apparently, the dirt, blood and soot can never win against the cleanliness of my hair and face in here. I can feel my tail from underneath me as I am half-sitting, half-lying on top of it. I also note that I have a sheath strapped to my left hip, where a sword is resting secured and ready to be used. It also seems I can't change to my human form at the moment as this window comes up every time I try to will it to happen:

You cannot change your form at this moment

While musing a little, I suddenly hear a tenor, masculine voice from behind.

"Hey! You okay girl?"

I turn my head around to face the speaker. It seems the "character" I took over in this battle is familiar with this voice and so the action was automatic instead of requiring me to move. The man that just spoke a moment ago holds his gloved hand out to me.

It's the character I... my direct superior; Squad Commander Liam. How do I know this? Well, there's a window tag (otherwise, just a small window that displays little information) that shows the name of the soldier I now face. The name tag is in yellow, indicating that Liam here is a character important in a... quest?

*Ding*

Story Quest: War of the Three Kingdoms Difficulty: C-3x Tier: Great War Escape the Battlefield

During a reconnaissance mission, your squad ran into a full-out ambush by the enemy to take Fort Rhelion. The fort was decimated with a prepared meteor spell used by the enemy. Your squad was hit by the edge of the meteor spell and is currently scattered. Your heroic attempt at protecting your squad commander caused you much pain, but in the end, it saved him from death by flying shrapnel from the explosion. The remnant of the noble forces in Rhelion still stand strong, fighting away from the fort to cover your squad's escape to report the ambush and the meteor spell the enemy used. Go with your squad commander and escape this battlefield before the ally remnant forces are overrun and your escape is cut off.

Quest Objectives

- Escape the Battlefield

- You must survive

Quest Failure Conditions

- You die

Bonus Objectives

- Find and rendezvous with the second reconnaissance squad nearby

- Find and rescue surviving comrades and escape

- ???

This quest is mandatory and is automatically accepted

Oh, there we go. But why is the mission level so high... I quickly throw that question out as my rational processing already figured it out. The character I am currently playing as - I am pretty sure I took over the original soldier's existence - is probably around the level of the quest I am doing now. I try to will the status window to open but it doesn't work, most likely it's not available right now.

Status Information not available at the moment

Figures.

Before I did the full dive, I read a few basic terms from the manual and the quest difficulty of "C" is for players around level 100. At this time, most regular professions already have a Job advancement quest available. the "3" of this quest's difficulty means that this quests is an "Escape" type quest. The "x" after the "3" means that this quest is substantially harder than other regular quests with the same difficulty. It is not up to the standard of the next level - for example, C to B, or B to A - so it is not placed as such.

I shake my head and come up with a response to the commander that should fit with the story.

"Sorry sir," I began in a pained voice, "I feel like I got hit by several siege rams and then run over by a run away horse-drawn wagon. Good enough to go though."

I groan then grab on to his hand. As he pulls me up, I take a good look at him. Liam's equipment is mostly the same as my own (in a male... or regular version) with several additional armor plates and a decorative stripe that indicates his post as a Squad Commander. Liam's short brown hair really complements his chocolate brown eyes, making him look sharper and more dignified than he seems.

"Girl, you truly amaze me you know? First, you were able to detect the meteor's summoning, then you tackle me away from the blast and took the brunt of the explosive shock wave for me and now, you can still get up though looking like you'll die in a second. I owe you one for saving me."

Liam compliments me on my tenacity and pets my head. Hm... it seems that being a Kitsune gives me a bit of a liking to be petted or patted on the head. However, with the quest and the ally forces slowly being pushed back, I cannot enjoy this new sensation for long. I sigh and then speak out to Liam.

"Li-err, squad commander, although I do enjoy the attention, we best be getting out of this area before the enemy breaks through the remaining Rhelion forces."

"Indeed you're right. We'll figure out something after we get out of here."

Liam pauses for a moment after responding.

"Right," he starts, "we should also try finding our team as well as meeting up with the next patrol that is supposed to be coming here. The forest should provide us with some cover, let's try escaping through it."

I nod and with that, the both of us start heading towards the forest at a quick, but non-rushed pace. As we navigate through the body-strewn battleground, we finally come across the other four of our small reconnaissance squad members. They all wear the same equipment that I am currently wearing and look as haggard and tired as me. The four of them are my apparent team members and we are all best friends from the soldier's academy days. Ah... so whenever I come across people or places that the original person that I took over have seen or interacted with, I also gain their memories of them as well.

The shorter brown haired, tawny eyed man is Riley Henson, the scout within our group. Excluding myself, Riley is the shortest of us, standing at 162.6cm (5'4"). However, he is also the fastest; owing to his agility-based fighting style as well as his painfully methodical but effective way of training his speed. Riley is a regular commoner that had been a thief when he was a kid. The captain of the guard caught him multiple times but each time got harder and harder. The last time Riley was caught, the captain offered to take him under his wing, seeing his potential to become a scout.

The next of the squad is another male, this time with dirty blond hair that is tied into a small ponytail. He is the tallest, standing at 172.7cm (5'8"). His eyes are a light blue and suits his look very well. Blondie here is Soren Elligar, who is our squad's heavy-hitter, dealing damage like no other in our team. Soren is the son of a blacksmith family that has quite the reputation for making durable and strong weapons. Naturally, Soren is stronger and more durable than others of the same age but without the conditioning of helping out in the forge.

Our third teammate is Mia Lockhart; a slender girl with purplish-black hair held back with a white hairband and emerald green eyes. Mia is an aspiring swordswoman from a minor noble family that stands at 165.1cm (5'5"). Unlike the other nobles, Mia is not arrogant to commoners and treat them as she would like to be treated. Although she would've been relocated to becoming a rear guard captain if she wanted to, Mia wanted to go from the bottom up and earn her place in army. So here she is, a part of my team.

The last member of our squad is is the second tallest, a man with short, light-brown hair and dark brown eyes. His name is Rielle Merverish, another regular commoner similar to Riley. However, unlike Riley, Rielle is similar to Mia, however; his self-taught swordsmanship is much different than Mia's. While Mia uses her family's Phoenix Flower style - which is a reflex-orientated swordplay style that requires high flexibility with moderate speed and strength to evade and counter attack - Rielle's personal style uses precision and nimble steps that target the opponent's weaknesses and damages their strengths.

"Alright, now that we are in the forest, we should be able to move faster without attracting too much attention."

Liam tells us to move a bit quicker now that we are mostly hidden by the tall trees in the forest. We move as quietly and as quickly as we can through the dense trees with the five of us following our squad commander. We do not speak and quickly traverse through half of the forest when we were ambushed...

An enemy soldier wearing the opposing Kingdom's uniform and armor suddenly jumped out behind a tree to my left with his sword in motion, swinging directly right at me. Surprised, I do what most people would do when you do not have fighting experience: I freeze. I watch in horror as the enemy soldier's sword swung closer and closer to my neck...

...and time suddenly slows down and stops. Everything around is now in gray-scale, with the enemy soldier frozen in mid swing and still in the air while my teammates and squad commander are also in the same way, though their heads are in the midst of turning towards the enemy soldier. My body was frozen, except my head.

Tutorial 1: Combat Tactics Difficulty: N/A Tier: N/A Combat Movement

You have been ambushed! Well, we already think you would know how to move around in this world as you needed to move during the character creation area. Let's see what you can do here... Think about "start" to restart the time.

Tutorial Objectives

- Counter the ambush using suggested methods

- Avoiding ambush attacks

Tutorial Failure Conditions

- You get hit

- You die

Bonus Objectives

- ???

-

I take a look around by moving my head. Three blinking red lines appear in my sight, each of them is a suggested method to deal with this ambush. The first one has a red line connecting to my sword sheath and aiming slanted upward at an angle. From physics and mathematics lessons from school, I can see that the angle of the sword draw will knock away the enemy's sword and cause him to barrel into me. Not the best idea, but it works out as my squad mates are here as well.

The second red line is directs my left foot into a spin kick that will connect with the enemy's sword wielding hand and knock the sword away before he crashes into me. I don't think that this is a good idea since I will be off balance as well once he falls on to me from his jump.

The third line recommends that I do a sidestep that would cause the enemy to completely miss his sword swing. However, this may cause Mia who is directly behind me to get knocked over from the enemy missed attack. Since Mia is behind me, I should not let someone who can take initiative after an ambush be hit.

All three methods are rather sketchy as they have problems. Each choice reduces my chance of being injured but has downsides that can reduce our combat efficiency. Taking this into account, I notice that there is another, much better way to deal with this enemy than the three suggested methods.

I "start" time again and instead of following one of the three methods, I unsheathe my sword and make my body fall as low as possible to the ground - making the enemy miss his intention to cut off my head - before lunging forward with my feet in a burst of speed. I bring my sword to the side just before the lunge and slash from left to right, dealing immense damage from the inertia of my lunge as well as his momentum from his attack. I nearly bisected him from his waist with that sword cut.

As the momentum of the enemy is slowed and deflected by my counter attack, Mia shifts her body to the left to avoid the enemy while dealing another slash to his neck, decapitating him for good measure. Everyone in the squad stops and raises their vigilance and carefully observes the area.

"I know that you are there," Liam suddenly calls out, "no use hiding and trying for an ambush."

Thirteen enemy soldiers appear from behind trees, bushes and one of and start laughing. Several of them are staring lecherously at Mia and I do not think they want to just take us on a romantic date. The enemy soldier with the slightly more lavish equipment sneers and just tells us up front to surrender and that they have more than double our numbers.

Being seventeen years old and knowing what might... no, what WILL happen if women get caught by the enemy during a war - especially when we are currently in a historical-type world where the there is no U.N. to adopt the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1820. This resolution disallows the use of sexual violence as a tool of war and that "rape and other forms of sexual violence are to be considered as war crimes." It is on the level of "crimes against humanity" and is seen similar to "genocide".

Basically this means that females could potentially be harmed more so than males. I doubt the game will actually do so to a player but Mia is definitely not one. After seeing the realistic style of this game world, I will not abandon people in this virtual reality as they are living just the same as us, even though they're created from data.

However, when the five of us are about to fight, several arrows come shooting out of the bushes from the left and fly straight towards the six of us causing us to get surprised yet again. Most of the arrows head towards Liam as he is the decorated soldier in this area. Even Liam is shocked and he was nearly skewered by five headed towards him... if I had not automatically tackled him down to the ground. The others were fine as the arrows were not concentrated on them. The four of them had recovered from the shock the quickest due to my automatic move and had dove out of the way.

"Damn! Let's get out of here," Liam yelled out, "Signal 1, form 2 now!"

A formation code for escaping in a manner that will allow us to escape and meet up by splitting off. Liam quickly gets to his feet as the enemy soldiers advance reckless to try to stop us from escaping. The other four has already left the area and as Liam was about to leave as well, he took a look at me and his eyes widened in horror: I had been hit by three of the arrows meant for him a moment ago.

That was not my plan at all, but I do want to try my best to save the rest of them due to my personality as well as the memories I've gotten from playing as this character in the time of war. I gasp in pain as I lay face-down on the ground with one arrow piercing my left arm, one in my left leg and another penetrating through the armor in my back.

"G-Get out of here. commander, just leave. Y-You need to go, don't waste this time..."

I manage to speak loudly enough for Liam to hear and with tears in his eyes, he turns his head away and rush off as quickly as possible as a new set of flying arrows whistle past him.

The enemy commander laughs coldly.

"Soldiers, don't let a single of them escape. Kill them all... ah, leave the other girl alive so we can have some more fun... GET TO IT! Razzal, Darson, you two stay here and bring this exotic beast girl to the leader. You may touch her but do not go too far; remember that the leader has a particular taste and if you ruin it for him, your lives are forfeit in the most painful way."

I internally shiver from his speech and turn my head slightly towards the enemy. It appears that the two enemy soldiers named Razzal and Darson flinched when the commander of this group mentioned their "leader". As the two soldiers came over to my body, my already wavering consciousness faded away and my eyes closed, turning light into darkness.

.........

......

...

Tutorial path divergence detected, recalculating tutorial quest path. Maturity Rating content lock disabled. Full game content has been applied.

Unknown Area - Dungeon

...ow...

Darkness.

....what...?

Oh... my eyes are closed.

I slowly wake up and open my eyes. So I was captured by the enemy after helping the rest of my squad and squad commander escape. I really hope that all of them escaped unharmed... even though it has only been an hour or so with them, I felt like I knew them forever due to the memories of the original character here.

Ah... this predicament is going to cause me a lot of trouble. I move my head around, taking a look at the place I am in and also realize that I am currently naked, with nothing on me at all other than a few scant bandages that wrap around my injuries from the arrows. Wait, I thought that the mature content is not going to be unlocked until I reach the age of nineteen... what's going on? Rather than dwell on that right now, I'd best be trying to figure a way to get out.

Hm... so it seems I am chained to the wall by my arms and waist. The metal cuffs around my wrists are tight, but not too tight to hurt me. My arms are lifted above my head, where the chains attach my hand to the wall. All I see are grey stone bricks, some cracked, some a little mossy. There are iron prison bars blocking the opening with a door made of the same material has the iron bars. There are two other demi-human girls, just as naked, chained in here as well. One with curly brown hair and dull, lifeless brown eyes that suggests that it is too late to save her. This one has droopy brown cat-like ears as well as a thin brown tail that isn't moving at all.

The second girl is not as lifeless as the first but is rather frightened. She is a small girl, probably a bit taller than me, that has white rabbit ears and bluish-green eyes. She's trembling in fright, since the dungeon here is not cold at all.

*Ding*

Story Quest: Castle of Ebilon Difficulty: D-5x Tier: Prison Escape the Dungeon

You were injured by the sneak attack when saving your squad commander. Currently, you have been captured and taken to the Castle of Ebilon, the enemy's forward command center. The leader of this castle, Duke Ashton III, is infamous for his exotic tastes in sexual pleasure and enjoyment. If you do not get away, you'll be the next "dish" to be served to the Duke. Get out of here immediately!

Quest Objectives

- Escape the Dungeon

- You must survive

Quest Failure Conditions

- You die

- You are recaptured

Bonus Objectives

- Save the two captives in the room

- Steal the castle's barrier crystal

- ???

This quest is mandatory and is automatically accepted Tutorial Y: Escape Artist Difficulty: N/A Tier: N/A Lock Picking and Stealth

In cases such as this, you should check every possible solution and try to find something to help you escape.

Tutorial Objectives

- Find something that can help you escape

- Escape within 2 hours

Tutorial Failure Conditions

- You attract attention

- 2 hours elapses and the Duke arrives

Bonus Objectives

- ???

-

This... is not good. This is the tutorial and somehow I get thrown into trouble way over my head. I need to find a way to get out of here quick and save these two from such a tragic fate. My ears suddenly twitch as I hear a few voices outside of this room coming closer with each moment. I close my eyes and allow my head to hang limply while calming down my breathing to a sleep-like state.

How do I know how to do this? Let's just say that I have several skills in real life that I have learned that helps me meditate and calming down is one of them. Faking unconsciousness is actually quite similar to meditation state so doing so here works pretty well.

Instead of falling to a meditative state, I extend my hearing, apparently much sharper than normal as I have fox ears, and listen in on the conversation. So there are two people, most likely guards... the one with the tenor, slightly squeaky voice speaks first while the second one with the lower, gruff baritone voice responds.

"... ...know if there are any others out there, but those beast loving scum will all die."

"I hope we are doing the correct thing..."

"What is it with you anyways? Those uncivilized beasts should all be dead or slaves!"

"Okay, okay... You know the Duke is going to be coming down to take his new.... toy right?"

"Heh, that tiny bitch won't last long, she'll break like a twig. I just wish I can get a turn with her or the other two. The previous slaves all died from the brutal methods of the Duke and I do not want to be on the receiving end of the violent beatings."

"There's only the three in the next cell left..."

The last response from the gruff voice man is kind of.. sad?

Looks like this game just got edgier. Now how should I escape...?

The guards pass by the cell holding myself and the two other girls and stopped for a moment, probably to make sure that no one was making a fuss or trying to escape before going back to their patrolling. As their footsteps and voices fade away, I open my eyes and take a look at my hands being chained to the wall above my head. I notice a small crack on each of the the hand cuffs. Looking carefully at the wall behind cuffs, I also note the sharp protrusion that is "coincidentally" placed at an angle that I can strike the cuff on.

I then take a look at the chain wrapped around my waist, under my decent sized breasts (proportionate to my height). They are also cracked and old and will probably fall apart if I strike it with something. I look around again and this time, I see a small sharp rock just beside me. I think I can use it after I get my hands free.

I guess this is still the tutorial then if there are such blatant escape methods and items.

Hm...

When I am sure no other guards are around, I bring my cuffed hands slightly off the wall and then smash the cuff on to the protrusion.

A small tinkle and cracking resounds and the first cuff is split in half. I listen carefully to check if anyone heard it but apparently no one did. The bunny girl with the white hair, similar to my own hair color, twitches as her ears catch the metallic sound but does not respond and still looks frightened. The cat-girl simply looks dead and lifeless.

I wriggle my hand and find that I can get myself out of the cuff and so I adjust the second cuff to the protruding surface of the wall and do it again. Another clinking and cracking sound and the same result occurs. No one cares or no one can hear it to care about that sound. Wriggling my wrists and hands free of the cuffs, I grab the small sharp rock and pry the rusty chain link and it easily gives away, freeing me completely.

Tutorial Y: Escape Artist Complete

I get up and stretch out my limbs a bit and my fox ears flick cutely - not that I know at the moment - as I strain myself to detect any foreign sounds from outside the cell.

I around the cell and see the bunny girl staring at me, her jaws dropped and eyes wide in disbelief and shock. I definitely know what she's thinking right now: 'How in the world did you get free...?!'

The cat-girl does not respond.

Taking note of the situation I check every spot of the cell and find a small metal object. I facepalm in exasperation to see something so blatant. I pick up the metal object and a window appears.

Item Acquired: Unknown Metal Object

Oh really, you don't think I know this already? Ah, wait a minute, this is a part of the tutorial right?

The world turns grey scale again and everything but my head and eyes freeze.

*Ding*

Tutorial Y: Identification Difficulty: N/A Tier: N/A Basic Item Appraisal

When picking up unknown items, you can try to identify the object you have picked up. Of course, the basic identification command can only identify items of Common (white name) and Poor (light grey name) rarity rating. Anything above common rating must be identified using the Identification Scroll or have the skill of the appropriate level. Strange Poor and Common quality items can potentially be unidentifiable by the basic identification command and will require specialists or the skill of the appropriate level.

Tutorial Objectives

- Identify the Unknown Metal Object

Tutorial Failure Conditions

- N/A

Bonus Objectives

- N/A

-

I see, I didn't know there would be a basic identification command we can use without the skill. Looks like I was a little too hasty on thinking I would know about such a basic item. Items in this world are rated on their rarity from Poor all the way to the pinnacle of rarity: Divine, or God-Like. I'll have to go check the game's glossary to find out what each rank consists and the approximate cost of such items.

Holding the metal object in my hand I activate the command:

The world returns back to normal and a window pops up.

*Ding*

Item Acquired: Fragile Lock Pick Rarity Common Level Req. 1

A rather ordinary lock pick used to manipulate the components of a lock without the actual key. This lock pick looks like it is going to break with a single use. This lock pick can be used in tandem with other instruments to perform more specialized tasks.

Information:

- Lock Pick Use: 1/1

Uses:

- Lock Pick the Door

- ???

There's another ??? on the details of use. This game has lot of hidden objectives and routes you can take. Well, I'll have to see what I can do about the door lock first. I quietly creep up to the iron bar door and take a look outside. Checking for and not finding anyone coming over in this direction, I try the iron bar door and... it opens.

"..."

Can someone tell me why no one remembers to lock the doors? Or.. wait, there was that guy that sounded a little sad about what happens to us... did he?

I slowly open the door and poke my head out a bit to check the hallway of the dungeon. Listening without the echo of the wall in front of me, I can hear faint noises off to the right of the cell. Looks like that is the way to out of the dungeon. Scanning to the left and right with my sight, I nod to myself as I prepare to escape this place.

First things first... I walk back to the other two girls that are still chained up and take a look at their cuff locks and chains. Going up to the bunny girl's set of chains and cuffs, I examine the general quality of the chains and lock, hoping they were old and cracked. Nope, these are new and sturdy ones, unlike the ones placed on me. The bunny girl did not say a word but stare at me in awe now. I study then study and prod at the lock mechanism before I get up again. I grimace as it looks like I will have to go steal the prison keys to open them. I speak up softly to the bunny girl, comforting her a little.

"Hey, I'll be back for you two. I need to go find the key to these cuffs. Yours can't be broken that easily so I'll need to open them with the key. Don't worry, I will not abandon you two."

The girl's eyes widen even more and her facial features start softening and her eyes glisten with tears. She stutters a bit in a soft, nearly inaudible voice.

"T-Thank y-you..."

I smile and my silver tail sways a bit. I pat her head a for a moment and she closes her eyes in bliss.

"Alright, I'll be back as soon as I find the keys."

I quickly race out the cell and turn right, towards the faint sounds in the in the distant. Passing a perpendicular hallway entrance, I arrive fairly quickly at the staircase leading up to the main castle. I flatten my self against the wall beside the stairway as I detect someone... no, three people coming down the staircase. One of three coming down the staircase seems to be struggling; I can clearly hear the muffled screams of the person, a girl, through some sort of cloth with enhanced hearing while the other two footsteps are much heavier.

Can I take down the two of them and help the possibly captured or kidnapped girl? As the footsteps come closer, I tense up and hold my breath. No, I will not be able to take down two grown men even if they are carrying someone right now.

I start calming myself down I wait until the two men passes my position with the tightly bound-up captive that has a thick tail of brown fur before I quietly run up the stairs without a sound. The men do not even notice a shadow disappear up the stairs.

I hope that they don't notice someone missing from the...

...

Well, if they did notice, there would be shouting right now. Maybe they went into the perpendicular hallway of cells instead. At the top of the staircase, I sneak a peek from behind a pillar and note the one man in here, sitting at a table facing the opposite way. I can hear the scratching sound of a quill pen writing on parchment. Perfect. If it is only one person then I can probably take him down without being discovered.

At that moment, I hear two footsteps coming from down the stairway. Oh crap, I forgot about the two soldiers that carried the struggling girl down to the dungeon. I sneak into the room quietly and hide behind a bookshelf, hoping for the best. As I listen to the sounds in the area with my fox ears flicking once in a while due to the very scratchy sound of the quill and parchment. The two soldiers pass by and exit the room without a clue of a break out. I strain my ears to check for any other people and find no one else nearby.]

All these soldiers should be of the same rank or close since they are wearing the standard soldier's gear of a dull grey mail (chain mail) with dark brown leather pants.

Alright, let's go....

*Ding*

Tutorial Y: Ambush Difficulty: N/A Tier: N/A Planning an Ambush

You have to be prepared to respond to ambushes the enemy uses against you. You also have to be prepared to launch ambushes against the enemy whenever possible to inflict the maximum damage without getting yourself or your allies hurt. Try your hand at different methods to take down this soldier without being detected or hurt.

Tutorial Objectives

- Take down the soldier doing paperwork

Tutorial Failure Conditions

- Get detected by the soldier

- Get caught by the soldier

Bonus Objectives

- N/A

-

The world dims and turns into grey scale after the window closes. Several small windows pop up with suggestions of what I can do. The last window tells me to try anything else that may work.

Looking around and carefully checking what I can use, I see a sheathed dagger on the table the soldier is work on. That will not help so I ignore it and check the other object that catches my eye: a spool of metal wire sitting on a small desk behind the soldier. Great, I think I can use that as a garrote wire.

Checking the surroundings for any other sounds, I sneak to the small desk and grab the spool of wire. I then set the the basic identification on automatic.

*Ding!*

Item Acquired: Spool of Thick Wire Rarity Common Level Req. 1 A spool of wire that is made of metal. Most likely iron or an alloy of iron. It has a variety of uses, with its main role as a material to craft other items and equipment, This wire is thicker than most and is used mainly to craft larger tools.

Information:

- Material

I think this will work. I may not be trained as an assassin or something similar in real life but I have extensive knowledge in the field of human biology and physics from the courses I took from school. I pinpoint where the soldier's neck is the weakest and carefully unwind a portion of the wire before wrapping it around my hands several times to reduce the pressure on them when I pull. I'll only need to get this soldier unconscious since it really doesn't make sense to kill him when I can get some information out of him later on.

Creeping up on the unsuspecting soldier, I instantly lunge forward and pull the wire over his head and around his neck, causing him to almost yelp in surprise but is cut off by the thick wire around his neck. I brace against the chair while pulling the wire, stopping him from trying to relax and go with the flow and escape. I feel and listen to him thrashing around and slowly weaken as he cannot breathe then finally lose consciousness. Holding the wire around his neck for approximately two seconds more, I then release the wire but keep it with me in case I may have a use for it.

I put my ear close to his nose and mouth to check his breathing. Good, he's still breathing. I then search his pockets as well as the table cabinet drawers for anything useful and find a few things that could help me.

Tutorial Y: Ambush Complete

While listening to my surroundings to make sure no one comes in here while I'm searching the place, I find a couple rolls of bandage and a small pouch so I take them.

*Ding!*

Item Acquired: Small Leather Pouch Rarity Common Level Req. 1 A small leather pouch on a string to be carried around the waist on a belt or similar. It can carry small and light objects up to 2 kg as long as the object is not sharp enough to cut through the pouch.

Information:

- Bag (Pouch) Item Acquired: Fine Cloth Bandage Rarity Uncommon Level Req. 1 Treated and sanitized, these rolls of cloth serve as bandages to cover up and protect injuries from being agitated or hurt further. These are rather high quality and are more flexible than regular cloth bandages, allowing for better mobility when used on joint regions.

Information:

- First Aid Item

- Fine Quality

Reduces HP loss from status ailment by 60% You have acquired Fine Cloth Bandage x5

I wrap two of the bandages around my breasts and groin area to cover up a little even if it is just bandages. After I scour the entire room while keeping vigilance and bring along several useful items, including a set of keys that I assume are for the dungeon. I place the potion vials into the second leather pouch to protect them from being demolished. I hold on to the keys so that they do not make a sound while checking if there is clothing that fits me and not hinder my movement.

You have acquired Small Leather Pouch You have acquired Small Dagger You have acquired Set of Iron Keys You have acquired Potion x3

Looks like there is no clothing here that fits me. Opening the last drawer in the room that I have not opened, I find something that surprises me. I take it out and carefully examine it. Turns out it is labeled and so I can read its name.

*Ding!*

Item Acquired: Panacea Rarity Rare Level Req. 1 A powerful cure for any status ailment. The Panacea is a light blue potion that glows slightly and tastes a bit like citrus fruits. As long as it is not a status ailment that is above Tier 4, this item will be able to cure anything from diseases to poisons. The Panacea does not work on magical debuffs and special ailments.

Information:

- Potion

- Status Ailment Recovery

Cures all status ailments up to Tier 4, excluding special ailments and non-physical ailments

This is not bad, but since I found it here, this means that there may be something or someone I need to use it on. I slip it into the pouch with the potion vials and then craft a makeshift belt with a piece of rope I found on the top of the desk and leave it around my waist, tying to the two leather pouches to the rope. I use the rest of the rope to tie up the unconscious soldier to the chair.. I also gag him with one of the bandage rolls wrapped around his mouth many times so that he cannot make a noise.

I then drag the chair and soldier behind the bookshelf I was at before. No one is going to look behind the bookshelf at this angle. Hopefully he'll be out for at least 2 more hours. I quickly head down the stairs again...

--- --- --- Forty-Five Minutes Later--- --- ---

Right now, I am standing in front of a secret door that the bunny girl, Rena Laos stumbled upon a moment ago. After I rescued the ex-frightened bunny girl, lifeless cat-girl and the freshly caught dog-girl that turned out to be a princess of a far off nation not a part of the war. Yeah, this kingdom is going to get attacked on two sides now that they've kidnapped the princess of another nation. It turned out that the dog-eared princess was given... forcefully given a paralysis drug to stop her from struggling after reaching the cell and the panacea was perfect here.

Rena was brought in a few hours before I arrived, she was taken while she was gathering some herbs in the forest my squad and I were in before my capture. It was about thirty or so minutes after getting abducted the attack on Fort Rhelion.

The nekomimi girl - Anna Enstone is still very timid and lifeless from her the abuse she suffered for over four days of being chained there. She did not look like she had been abused as the Duke ordered his men to clean her up after every "session" he had with her. At least the she is complying with my instructions so that we can all escape without causing an accident.

Princess Calia Cino Verandas is the girl that was kidnapped by the Duke's soldiers a while ago. She's a dog demi-human from the Kingdom of Haven where humans and demi-humans live in peace, similar to the kingdom - Kingdom I fought for. The differences between Haven and ours is that Haven royalty, nobles and majority of the population are demi-human while our kingdom is the vice-versa. Well, this doggy princess has lovely auburn curls that reach below her shoulders with pretty brown eyes. She was also the only girl here that was not stripped before chained to the wall.

Anyways, after we've acquainted ourselves, we escaped the dungeons with no one any wiser as we all have enhanced senses. Rena supported Anna all the way and the cat-girl started to warm up a little to us. We were able to avoid most of the guards while taking down and hiding several them, taking some of their equipment away to use. After traversing several hallways and rooms, we are currently at this hidden doorway that Rena had stumbled upon a moment ago when she tripped over a switch that was under a carpet.

Both Rena and Anna have their feminine bits covered up by four rolls of the cloth bandage I gave to the two of them. Rena the bunny-girl had and still is supporting Anna as she had been sexually abused to the point where she cannot walk properly. Princess Calia is standing here quietly, waiting on my instruction since I seem to make good decisions at all times. I think I'm just lucky.

"So," I say, "should we go in?"

"I say we should, there may something that the miserable pig of a Duke wants to hide if there is a hidden door here."

The princess responds in a fairly dignified but non-arrogant voice. Being forcefully humbled by kidnappers does quite a number on your ego and pride.

Rena nods while Anna just tilts her head slightly. I notice that Anna's eyes seem to have a bit of fire in them now, like the thought of finding incriminating and/or useful information to turn this castle and the entire kingdom into one hundred percent oceanfront property.

We head into the dark corridor of the hidden doorway and the entrance closes behind us, leaving us in a dimly lit hallway that leads to an old wooden door. We slowly walk to the door and open it, staying vigilant just in case there are people here. However, our vigilance was for naught: the room here is empty of people, just bookshelves, a couple of desks with ink wells, quills and parchment. There are also several cabinents as well as a large, dusty mirror on the left side, hanging on the stone brick wall.

The four of us search this place for anything useful and information about the kingdom. Anna is still supported by Rena and it looks like the cat-girl here is able to read a bit so she's the one looking through the documents while Rena helps her stand. Rena comes from a lower class family that makes a living by gathering and selling herbs and so she never learned to read. Calia is able to read as she's literally royalty. I'm able to read because the language here is written in Japanese to my eyes... most likely because this is the tutorial and we can't have a tutorial not make sense to the user.

Hm... I wonder how many people actually started and completed the tutorial? From the game forums, it seems everyone just skipped the tutorial since there is no mention of a this "epic" tutorial that gives you the instructions during the scenario here.

Pushing away those thoughts, I continue searching this room and come across a locked box in a hidden panel under one of the desks. There we go, something that is locked... this may be important. I carefully pick the box up and place it on the table. I bring the lock-pick I still carried and tried the lock a couple of times. After a few moments, I hear the click of the lock being disengaged and a snap.

Fragile Lock Pick has been broken. You have lost the item, Fragile Lock Pick

I place the half a pick on the table, pry the other half out from the lock and also place it on the table. I then open the box and take out several items, including a document on secret dealings and blackmarket operations on kidnapping girls from Haven and two other kingdoms. Now the Kingdom of Haven will have to act against this transgression. Not only have these idiots crossed the line with black market operations outside of their kingdom, they even kidnapped the Princess of another country just to satisfy the Duke's exotic tastes in pleasure.

Looks like this Duke is a heavy supporter of the kingdom to have the royalty give him such... expensive benefits. I scan the documents and find myself appalled at the terrible things done in order to take the kidnapped girls to this castle. Two of the documents even depicted some things that the Duke plans on doing to the girl taken here... it's too explicit for me to even try to finish reading.

There is a list of how many girls have been taken here and I could see more than a hundred over the course of two years. This is just disgusting and depraved, I clench my fist in anger but keep it in check to avoid alerting anyone (even though we are probably in a sound-proof, isolated area, better safe than sorry).

I then check on the other items and discover three memory crystals - small blue cards made of a special magic crystal that allows the 3-D recording of the area surrounding the crystal for a maximum of three hours - labelled with "Arya #1, Arya #2 and Luna #3". Since I do not have magic as this "character", I will not be able to view it. I do not think I would even want to see whatever depravity has been recorded here....

There is also a large marble that sparkles with yellow and red light. This is...

"Oh! Oh! That's a Mass Transfer Marble!"

The Princess exclaims at the marble in happiness while the other two look a little confused. I am slightly confused as well but I can understand the gist of the name "Mass Transfer".

"At least keep your voice down Calia," I retort, "We might still be in hearing range if we are not careful."

"Oops! Sorry, teehee~" Calia cutely apologizes while giggling.

Anyways, if I am right, then the reason for Calia's excitement is that this marble is some sort of teleportation item so I go ask Calia about this to see if I am right or not.

"Calia... I'm guessing that this marble will be able to teleport us somewhere?"

"Yep!" Calia responds, "We can use this to transfer us to Haven's royal teleporter with my magic signature!"

Apparently no one took Calia's pendant hanging around her neck and she's holding it out right now.

Calia then explains that a the Mass Transfer Marble is capable of transferring up to 10 people near each other to an activated Teleportation Device. The Teleportation Device is a large machine that can be found in major cities and towns and is the best transportation method to travel between cities. Normally, it is fairly expensive and you must have visited the teleporter in that region before being able to teleport to that particular one.

Teleportation Crystals are extremely rare as they could not be made by people and can only be found in dungeon raids, dropped by crystal-type mobs as well as finding them in treasure chests. A Mass Transfer Marble is literally ten of those crystals, meaning it is rare even for royalty.

This Duke is really something to have something like this hidden here.

Rena comes over while supporting Anna, holding several crystal cards with labels that have female names on them. There was one with Anna's name on it and I just couldn't hold all my tears back and a few fell from my eyes. This is the worst... even if this is just a game to someone like me, this is just too harsh of a world. Anna hobbles over to me, surprising Rena and holds me. Rena, Anna and Calia are all similar in height to me and so I reciprocate, embracing her as well.

"Y-You're much stronger than me," I tell the cat-girl while stuttering a little, "I would never be able to stay so strong after such... treatment."

Anna simply hugs me gently and then after another moment of heartwarming cuddles, we separate and I wipe my eyes a a little.

"Thank you... I needed that. Now, have we gotten every incriminating evidence with us?"

Everyone nodded as I picked up the documents I left on the desk, the memory crystals, and the list of the missing girls.

"Alright Calia, please activate the marble and do the transfer. Get closer and hold on to Calia for the marble to lock on to us as well."

Everyone obeyed and soon the room filled with a ringing sound and bright light. Soon, the light reaches blinding white and I shut my eyes in discomfort.

As the light fades, I open my eyes and realize everything is black.

What happened?

*Ding!*

> Sequence Complete. Tutorial Secret Ending Reached.

> Calculating Total Completion Percentage...

...

...

...

... Calculations Complete.

> 92.5% Completion.

> The last 7.5% cannot be completed due to hidden route...

> 7.5% of progress now removed due to hidden route.

...

...

__________________________

> Congratulations! You are the very first player to complete the Tutorial!

> Congratulations! You are the very first player to complete a Hidden Route of the Tutorial!

> Congratulations! You are the very first player to arrive at the True Ending of the Tutorial!

All tutorial achievements are recorded and will be calculated for bonuses...

That was extremely exhilarating yet disturbing. Containing so many realistic factors and ideas, it even shows the world at its ugliest moment... it looks like I'll have a lot of things to discover in this "game" where the world looks more like a parallel universe instead of a game.

*Ding!*

Calculations Complete! You have acquired the Title: You have acquired the Title: You have acquired the Title: For being the first player to complete the tutorial, you have acquired the spell: Summon Loremaster's Tome For being the first player to deviate from the normal tutorial route, you have acquired the item: Loremaster's Staff For being the first player to discover the True Ending of the tutorial, you have acquired the Special Ability: Sacrifice For completing the tutorial, you will receive this set of equipment that is tuned to your gender to start your journey

Explorer's Set:

- Explorer's Hat

- Explorer's Blouse

- Explorer's Jacket

- Explorer's Skirt

- Explorer's Socks

- Explorer's Boots

- Explorer's Dagger

...Oh boy, and I thought I could just have a good time in the game and not worry about being strong or anything. All of this sounds overpowered but this game doesn't seem to have a problem with things like that. I guess I'll find out what they are after I'm actually in the game.

I must have been in this game for several hours with a tutorial like this... I go and check the system time and my mind just stops. What? Even though I've been in the tutorial for this long, it was only ten minutes in real life time? I thought that the game runs at a time speed of 4:1, where 4 hours pass in the game where it has only been 1 hour in reality... ah, maybe it's because of the tutorial.

*Ding*

You are now ready for the world of Ascendancy! We will transfer you to your designated spawn point in 10 seconds.

10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4...

Well, since I've only played for ten minutes in real life I guess I'll get started in the real game.

3!

2!

1!

Welcome to Ascenancy and please have fun~

The world flashes into kaleidoscope of colors.

{{Non-Proof Read Version}}