Alex plunged the dagger downwards and was already celebrating the flood of essence he would get. In the last moment, the beast turned in its sleep and instead of ramming the weapon through its jugular, he stabbed it in its neck. Panicked, Alex tried to pull it back to attack again, but the weapon was stuck fast in the spine.

The animal yowled, woken so roughly. It quickly stood up and Alex took a step back. But the youth quickly caught himself again, summoned another dagger and used [Eviscerate]. The beast looked dumbly at the teenager, but then it gurgled weakly and sank back down. His panicked attack was successful and he had stabbed the gigantic wolf through its muzzle. Apparently he had hit something vital. A system message confirmed the kill.

You have slain: Wolf (Lvl 8)

You have earned 35 coins.

You have earned 880 unrefined Essence.

‘I hope nothing heard us…but damn, being an assassin is awesome, I could get used to that.’ Alex pinged his [gravitydomain] but apart from his friends, he didn’t notice anything new. Especially no big, hairy wolves. He quickly climbed the tree and collected the essence seed of Lightning. His friends would go nuts, when they see the rarity. Alex grinned. He couldn’t wait to give it to them, but he decided to wait. Better to get the other seed first. Then they could decide or discuss who would get what.

“I am back,” he whispered to Lin. “Let’s get the other seed. I don’t know what will happen if you take one right now. Maybe nothing, maybe it hurts and you’ll scream…” He knew Jane would ask him about the seed right at the moment. She wasn’t the most patient of their small group.

Soon they left the forest and moonlight shone down their path. Finally able to see again, Alex laughed, “The second should be much easier, It’s in the old park.” Suddenly a system message blocked their field of view.

Congratulation for completing the tutorial. The first month was surely hard, but you have made it. Unfortunately, while many beasts were slain, your actions didn’t stop the corruption and greed, pride, sloth and hate still wander and are increasing. Therefore the council is forced to implement the “Mystical creatures” pack, to extract more corruption. The council hopes you will continue in your endeavours and clean your worldcore.

Alex sighed. He knew he shouldn’t have said that. The teenager wasn’t sure what that meant for them, but he drove his friends forward. Lin limped a bit and fell back, so Alex went to his side and got Lins arm on his shoulders. As long as his [gravitydomain] didn’t alert him of anything, he could help his friend.

Some time later, the forest long behind the group, they entered the park. “I buried it near the statue. You won’t believe from where I’ve got that seed…” Alex debated whether to tell his friends the story, but decided to wait until one of them took the seed.

The group crept to the broken statue and Alex could see the head laying on the floor. Something was digging there. ‘Oh no, you don’t!’ The youth sprinted forwards, to stop whatever that beast was doing but he was to late. It grabbed the earth seed in both it’s tiny hands and it’s glow illuminated it’s greedy face. At once, the marten swallowed the essence seed down.

“Fuck!” yelled Alex, he summoned his dagger and swiped it at the glowing beast. The seed was transforming it somehow, but even if it was lost, Alex would get his due. The animal shivered, but didn’t or couldn’t move until the transformation was complete. Alex used it’s moment of weakness and stabbed down repeatedly.

You have slain: Marten (Lvl 6)

You have earned 22 coins.

You have earned 630 unrefined Essence.

The youth wasn’t a fan of field dressing, but this time he began cutting immediately. Hopefully the beast hadn’t consumed the essence seed yet. “What happened? I just saw something glowing,” Lin asked. “The damn beast ate your essence seed. I didn’t know they could do that…” Alex answered astonished. “Maybe it hast something to do with the new system message?” Jane suggested.

Hands bloody and deep in it’s innards, Alex finally felt a tiny but hard pebble. A system message confirmed his findings.

Congratulation, you have found: Seed of Earth (C).

Error: Seed of Earth (C) is incompatible. Seed of Shadow (M) already in use. No catalyst found.

“Pfft, that could have gone worse. Does anybody have some water?” Alex grinned. They quickly cleaned the seed and Alex took the lead again. They had to get to the shop, survive the night and hopefully Jane and Lin would get awesome classes, so they could fight together.

Two times the group had to evade nightly prowlers. Alex didn’t want to risk a fight as long as it wasn’t necessary. It could bait other predators and his two friends were more or less defenceless. His domain led them easily through the city, and finally they stood in front of the closed shop.

“Should we knock, or wait here?” Jane asked. “Last time, he opened when I knocked. Though I suggest we sleep here and wait out the night. At least we’ll get a few hours and you’re refreshed when you take your seeds,” Alex answered. “Why can’t we take them now?” Lin asked. There was some repressed anger in his voice, but the teenager didn’t react. “I want to know, if you can get healed by the seed. It could help your bad foot,” Alex sighed.

“You’re right…sorry…I just…I want what you have. The power to defend myself, to do something and stop being a useless baggage,” Lin got quieter and quieter with every word. Apparently his injury and disability weighed heavier on him than Alex thought. “You’ll get there Lin. A few hours more won’t change much and if we’re lucky, your foot will be healed,” Janine consoled her boyfriend.

The group sat down and leaned against the shop. Alex knew from his earlier experience, that they probably wouldn’t be disturbed here, but he still kept a watchful eye. Jane and Lin took their sleeping bags out and made a small nest. The night was surprisingly warm, so they didn’t need to wrap themselves up. Alex watched his friends. He was at peace. He had his two friends with him, a way to make them stronger and they got out of Jones’s tyrannical camp.

Silently the youth grinned, his future looked much better than a few days ago. Light snoring got him to laugh. Lin was already knocked out and it looked like Janine would follow soon after. He promised to stay awake. He was probably the most rested, as he hadn’t had much action in his cell during the last few days.

The group was woken by a loud bleating laugh. “Good morning beautifuls, had a good sleep?” Janine startled and sat up immediately. Lin let out a quiet shriek and Alex snorted. He had woken a few moments earlier, when he heard movement in the shop.

“Hey Gat-,” Alex began, but was interrupted by Janine, “What are you? How? What?…” “I am Gatex,” the Faun answered and lit the freshly stuffed pipe. He took a deep breath and sweet, aromatic smoke spread. “The shopkeeper of this part of the city. I sell equipment, magical and mundane. Bad hunters get their food here and good sell their spoils. If you need information, I am your man,” Gatex stopped for a moment and grinned, “Or Faun. Welcome to my shop.”

Alex laughed, “How long did you think about this pitch?” Gatex grinned and took another drag of his pipe. “Yeah, he’s the shopkeep. A bit pricey, but we’ll manage hopefully,” Alex thought the last word. He didn’t want to spread a bad mood. He presented both essence seeds to the Faun and he bend forwards.

“Splendid. Two new seeds. Do you want to sell them? With your friends without one?” Alex shook his head and answered, “No, but we need information. If you use an essence seed, will you get healed?” Gatex looked at his friends and understanding appeared in his face. “Sadly not. At least not in the way you want to. It heals cuts and flesh wounds, but can't do much for bones or the complex problem you seem to have. There are Skills which can heal your wrongly fused foot, but the seed alone won’t do much. I am sorry.” He turned to Lin.

The teenager nodded dejectedly. Alex slapped his back, trying to cheer his friend up. “Come on, we’ll find a way.” Lin sniffed and stood straighter, “You’re right. I can’t give up before we have even began.” Alex held the seeds to his friends, “Who wants a little candy?”

Janine punched his shoulder and took the lightning seed. Lin grabbed the earth seed and said, “You have to tell me again how to evolve the seed. I don’t want to be stuck on a common one, while Jane has the rare seed.” He grinned, taking the sting from his words, then he threw the seed in his mouth.

Alex watched his friend agape. He didn’t just eat the seed that came from a deers…Nope. Instead he turned to Gatex, who held out his hand. “Congratulations, an evolution that early is an awesome achievement. Probably good for a new class on Level 25.” Alex grinned and shook hands.

The two watched Janine and Lin. They had sunken to the ground and were convulsing lightly. Alex knew nothing bad would come from this, but he still worried about his friends. He hoped he had prepared his friends sufficiently so they could make informed choices for their type and focus. He knew Janine wanted to become a defender, but Lin had still been unsure. Though time would tell.

Finally the girl stood up. For a moment, tiny bolts of lightning were visible in her eyes, but the effect vanished quickly. She grinned at Alex, punched his arm and began reading through her notifications. Alex knew the feeling well enough and didn’t disturb her. Lin woke up a moment later and the shadowblade helped his friend up.

“Thanks. I feel…the same…but not? How?” Lin stuttered. Alex nodded sagely, he had of course no idea what Lin meant exactly, but he was the most experienced sans Gatex and had to play his part. Lin quickly worked through his messages, stopped for a moment and a decisive look appeared on his face. A moment later, he was done.

“So, what did you take,” Alex asked. “In front of you stands the most recent earth crafter. I took Lapidarius, or something as my class. No idea what it means, but it apparently helps with crafting,” Lin proudly answered. Some time later, Janine looked up and grinned at the boys.

“Guess what my class is called,” she asked. “Lightning mage,” she grinned into the round. “That sounds boring,” Alex and Lin answered simultaneously. “Indeed, but it’s a strong starter class.” Gatex added. “You know about classes?” Alex span around. “Of course, but only superficial. Sadly I can’t offer you any consultation. I wasn’t trained in class knowledge and with the addition of your world, many new were added,” the Faun explained.

Alex face fell for a moment, but he caught himself quickly and asked, “Where can we find other groups to join? We had a falling out with our previous group…” The faun went back to his shop and came out a moment later, gripping a map in his hands.

“There are several groups next to yours. This one,” he pointed at a mark on the map, “is the biggest, probably best defended group. As far as I know, they don’t take everybody in, so take care.” Alex knew that he would try joining them immediately. They had good seeds and he even had another element to boot. Of course he would hold that knowledge back as long as possible.

The group discussed their options and finally made a choice. “Ah by the way, can we buy the map?” Gatex nodded, “The map and everything I’ve told you for 40 coins. Also, may I suggest taking my secret keeping package? For a measly 30 coins a month, I will keep you whereabouts secret. I think this Jones guy is pretty vengeful, isn’t he?”

Alex gulped. 70 coins at once, but he knew the money was well spent and trying to haggle would just add to later deals. He nodded and after a short struggle, handed the coins over. “Ah…Alex, we still need some gear,” Janine interjected. Gatex laughed, while the shadowblade groaned and facepalmed.